In The Key Of The Universe

Vinyl LP pressing. As he's made abundantly clear over the past 30 years, Joey DeFrancesco has plenty of soul. What most listeners probably haven't spent much time pondering is that soul's place in the universe. On his adventurous new album, In The Key Of The Universe, the master organist turns his musical attentions to his spiritual side, tapping into a strain of metaphysical jazz that's fueled sonic searchers for more than half a century. Joey D calls upon disciples and missionaries of jazz to join him in paving the way to enlightenment. In The Key Of The Universe arrives almost exactly 50 years after the release of Karma, the landmark album by legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. One of the primary exponents of spiritually-oriented jazz, Sanders makes three guest appearances on the album, including an update of his best-known track from Karma, the cosmically influential "The Creator Has A Master Plan." Playing drums on that track was the great Billy Hart, who reunites with Sanders as well as DeFrancesco, with whom he's worked several times over the years since joining the organist for his 1989 album Where Were You?