Joey DeFrancesco, 51, formerly of Springfield, a soulful keyboard prodigy, particularly on jazz organ, died Aug. 25 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

DeFrancesco created a jazz renaissance of the Hammond B-3 organ in the 1990s. He’s a five-time Grammy Award nominee as well as a skilled pianist, trumpeter, tenor saxophonist and vocalist.

He recorded more than 30 jazz albums and played with numerous music greats including Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, and George Benson.

Mr. DeFrancesco was inducted into the inaugural Hammond organ hall of fame in 2014 and the Philadelphia Music Alliance’s walk of fame in 2016.

He won numerous awards, earned a top spot on the DownBeat magazine critics poll 12 times in the last 15 years, and won the readers poll as best organist every year since 2005.

Mr. DeFrancesco grew up in Delaware County. He entered Settlement School at age 10, built his own electronic organ at 13 and studied classical music.

 “More music is what’s needed to create positivity and wellness for everybody, regardless of what’s happening in the world,” Mr. DeFrancesco recently told his friends at Mack Avenue Music.

Read more about the life of Joey DeFrancesco in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Joey DeFrancesco Trio performs One Hundred Ways.

The Joey DeFrancesco Trio plays Monk—Live at Dizzy’s NYC October 2017.