Keyboard artist Danny Federici was one of the founding members of the E Street Band. Playing organ, glockenspiel, and accordion, Federici made a major contribution to the band’s distinctive sound. He worked alongside Bruce Springsteen for 40 years on numerous hits, from “Hungry Heart” through “The Rising.”

Danny Federici and Bruce Springsteen

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. News of his death was posted late Thursday on Springsteen’s official Web site.

He last performed with Springsteen and the band last month, appearing during portions of a March 20 show in Indianapolis.

“Danny and I worked together for 40 years — he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much … we grew up together,” Springsteen said in a statement posted on his Web site.

Springsteen concerts scheduled for Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Saturday in Orlando were postponed.

Federici was born in Flemington, N.J., a long car ride from the Jersey shore haunts where he first met kindred musical spirit Springsteen in the late 1960s. The pair often jammed at the Upstage Club in Asbury Park, N.J., a now-defunct after-hours club that hosted the best musicians in the state.

It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band.

By 1969, the self-effacing Federici — often introduced in concert by Springsteen as “Phantom Dan” — was playing with the Boss in a band called Child. Over the years, Federici joined his friend in acclaimed shore bands Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom and the Bruce Springsteen Band. (More.)

“4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” - Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, 1978

Danny Federici plays “Sandy” - November 19, 2007

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band take their bows in Boston on November 19th 2007,
with special tribute to Danny Federici, on his last performance before taking a leave of absence.

Danny Federici’s last performance with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, March 20, 2008