Tonight: Jazz and Blues Organist Joey DeFrancesco at Jazz Alley

Michael Woodall

Joey DeFrancesco. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., 441-9729. 7:30 p.m. $24.50. The distinctive purrs and growls of the Hammond B3 organ have been integral to rock and blues for decades. Jazz, too, for a while - Jimmy Smith became a fixture on the scene with his Hammond prowess in the '50s and '60s, before the instrument fell out of favor with jazz musicians. And then came Philadelphia-born Joey DeFrancesco, who took his father's passion for the organ, added his own remarkable talent, and ran with it starting at age eight to an internationally acclaimed career. At 39, DeFrancesco - who joined Miles Davis's band when he was just 17 - is considered jazz's pre-eminent Hammond B3 organist. Tonight he'll burn up the keys with his group, which features guitarist Paul Bollenback, drummer Byron Landham, and vocalist Colleen McNabb. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG