"Old Folks" provides one of the most surprising moments on Joey DeFrancesco's 2012 album Wonderful! Wonderful!, with the organist stepping away from the Hammond B3 to perform on trumpet. DeFrancesco, who began studying trumpet in his youth, delivers a three-quarter-chorus ballad solo over the 32-bar AABA form at 54 beats per minute in F major that reveals a genuine brass player's sensibility. Willard Robison's 1938 composition, a favorite of jazz musicians from Charlie Parker to Coltrane, receives a tender, emotionally direct interpretation that demonstrates the breadth of DeFrancesco's musicianship. His trumpet tone is warm and focused, his phrasing patient and melodically inventive as he moves through the ballad's changes with the confidence of a musician comfortable on the instrument. The absence of organ on this track gives the performance a markedly different timbral character from the rest of the album, the trumpet's clear, unadorned sound creating an atmosphere of exposed vulnerability. Guitarist Larry Coryell and drummer Jimmy Cobb provide sensitive accompaniment, their playing scaled to match the intimate mood. This track serves as a reminder that DeFrancesco is a multi-instrumentalist of rare versatility, his talents extending well beyond the instrument with which he is primarily identified.
