''Like every other jazz organist since 1956, Joey DeFrancesco owes an enormous debt to Jimmy Smith, the Philadelphia musician who not only transformed the B-3 organ from a skating-rink novelty into a mainstream jazz instrument but also defined the organ-trio format and pioneered the soul-jazz movement. DeFrancesco, however, has done more than most in repaying that debt.
The younger man, also from Philadelphia, was just 7 years old when he first met Smith in 1978 and has stayed close to him ever since. Both men were living in Arizona last year when they recorded their first studio collaboration, "Legacy." That album was released Feb. 15, and the two organists were scheduled to launch a national tour the next day, but the 76-year-old Smith died unexpectedly Feb. 8. "Legacy" revives several of Smith's best-known compositions -- most notably "Midnight Special" and "Back at the Chicken Shack" -- to showcase the well-known soul-jazz side of his playing. But DeFrancesco makes sure that the other sides of Smith's playing are also acknowledged. Smith's affinity for Brazilian music, for example, is spotlighted on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Corcovado." John Coltrane played in one of Smith's early combos, and that relationship is explored on two DeFrancesco compositions: "Jones'n for Elvin," a tribute to Coltrane's longtime drummer Elvin Jones with a tenor-sax solo by James Moody, and the title track, which features a McCoy Tynerlike piano part from DeFrancesco, electric sitar from D.C. guitarist Paul Bollenback and a sheets-of-sound organ solo by Smith.
Smith could not use his injured left hand during the session, but his right hand displayed both a melodic fluidity and a bold harmonic imagination. Bollenback played bluesy guitar on eight on the 11 tracks, and DeFrancesco proved himself a worthy successor to his mentor.'' Washington Post