Jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and sometimes singer Joey Defrancesco has died; he was 51.
His career started when he met Miles Davis during a talk show segment in Philadelphia, where Miles was a guest, and the show decided to have a jazz band play to entertain Miles.
Miles immediately liked Defrancesco, so much so that he took him on the road with him about eight months after the show. The first stop was in Europe.
Joey DeFrancesco attended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and signed his first record deal with Columbia records at 16.
Defrancesco has released over 30 albums under his name and has recorded extensively as a side musician with such leading performers as Miles Davis, Houston Person, John McLaughlin, and many others early in his career. No word on the cause of death.
