Artist:     Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco

Album:     You’re Driving Me Crazy

Label:     Sony Legacy

Release Date:     4.27.2018

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This is a side of Van Morrison we rarely see: he laughs after a couple of tracks, while in a few other places his “Oh Yeah” prods other soloists. This collaboration between Morrison and jazz organ icon Joey DeFrancesco and his band has that bristling energy that would elicit bubbling enthusiasm from any listener, even the moody Belfast Cowboy.

Morrison is releasing his 39^th album, the third within the span of a year, matching the prolific output he had in the early ’70s. He’s going back to the blues and jazz that he started with, having released a raucous blues album, Roll With the Punches last year as well as an album of mostly jazz standards, Versatile, last fall. Buoyed by the success of these efforts, especially in the UK, Morrison decided to collaborate with DeFrancesco, thereby raising the bar even higher. Apparently all 15 tracks were recorded live in the studio and the chemistry was so strong that they could have kept playing for another three albums. Unlike his past two efforts, Morrison does not use his own band but instead is backed by DeFrancesco’s crack unit. The only guest is Van’s daughter Shana, who sings with her dad on two tracks.

DeFrancesco’s band includes Dan Wilson(guitar), Michael Ode (drums), and Troy Roberts on tenor and soprano saxes. DeFrancesco, who also plays trumpet on two tracks, signed his first deal with Columbia at the age of 16. He has performed with Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, Grover Washington Jr., and a staggering list of others. An inaugural inductee into the Hammond Hall of Fame, he has released more than 30 albums and has won the Downbeat Readers poll for organ every year since 2005.

Morrison did not compose any new material for this effort, instead revamping and rearranging some of his classic songs to mix with jazz and blues standards. The album begins with Cole Porter’s “Miss Otis Regrets,” featuring a trumpet solo from Joey D., Cleanhead Vinson’s “Hold It Right There” where Van and his daughter do their call-and-response thing, before moving into one of seven Morrison tunes, “All Saints Day” – one of several Joey D.’s mind-blowing organ solos. Morrison’s vocals are top shelf throughout and he adds his alto saxophone on several tunes.

The strongest interpretation is perhaps Morrison’s jazz arrangement of Guitar Slim’s “Things I Used to Do,” which has him soloing on harmonica and Joey D. on organ. The band gives an up-tempo swinging treatment to “The Way Young Lovers do” (from Astral Weeks) and Van and Shana duet on a lively version of his classic “Have I Told You Lately.” As you might expect, given Morrison’s reverence for Ray Charles, they include “Sticks and Stones.” The album concludes with a Morrison instrumental where, in true jazz style, each main soloist takes a turn.

These are two artists at the peak of their games, pushed by a stellar band. While Roll with the Punches was essentially a superb raucous blues party and Versatile was a lesson in vocal phrasing, the backing band and soloists seemed often a bit restrained, especially on the latter. This terrific session captures the fire of the blues album, provides ample room for aggressive soloing and never loses its energy.

—Jim Hynes