Weeds, 36 and now a family man, and his quartet (led by the Hammond B3 organ played by Joey DeFrancesco) play soulful swinging jazz with a bit of funk, bossa nova and a smidge of traditional gospel.

Opening track on the album “Juicy Lucy” certainly defies you to not tap your toes, jive and sway your head in time with the music. The album’s energy continues to flow into the second track “Goin Down” where DeFrancesco takes over. It is certainly apparent to me, after hearing him make the B3 organ sing why Joey’s claim to be the finest jazz organist on the planet is spot on real.

The remaining six tracks on the CD carry on in the same exceptional, finely tuned body swaying jazz that ends up with one of my favourites “Roofin’ It”. Without a doubt this is one of the best jazz quartets I’ve heard in a long time with Cordy Weeds on tenor sax, Chris Davis on trumpet, Joey DeFrancesco on organ and Byron Landham on drums. I would crawl over crushed glass to get a front row seat to hear this group perform at anytime.

The material and execution on this disc is superb. Weeds and the rest of the quartet produce a big sound with an astoundingly laid beat that make you not only hear the music but feel the soul, passion and love of jazz. .

Weeds has now set the bar even higher for himself utilizing the talents of DeFrancesco, Landham and Davis and hope that future endeavours together result in the same high quality as on The Many Deeds of Cory Weeds. This is certainly an exceptionally worthy addition to anyone’s jazz collection.

By Dave Ferguson
Aug 30, 2010