Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

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Jacob Fred Jazz Oddessy

Background information
Origin	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Genre(s)	Jazz Fusion
Years active	1994–Present
Members
Brian Haas: Pianist Jason Smart: Drummer Reed Mathis: Bassist, Effects Wizard, Guitarist

The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is the evolution of an ongoing musical discourse that's been developed over countless tours. Pianist Brian Haas, drummer Jason Smart, and bassist/effects wizard/guitarist Reed Mathis occupy a rather unique place in the music world. They generate an all-inclusive emotional, mental, spiritual and physical experience for the listener, an experience that moves one beyond any preconceived notions of musical possibilities. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's bold, amorphous and visceral music is influenced just as much by post-rock and ambient electronica as traditional jazz standards, chamber music and free improvisation. JFJO's virtuosic instrumental interplay and near-telepathic improvisation have won over fans and critics alike all over North America, Europe and South America.

1 History
2 Members
3 Current Tour
4 Discography & Album Descriptions
5 External links

[edit] History

Originating out in Tulsa, OK as a funky octet in 1994, JFJO became a trio around the turn of the century. Haas and Mathis have been playing together for almost fourteen years (Smart joined the band five years ago) and have, year after year, maintained a tour schedule that would crush less dedicated musicians. Over time, the trio has blossomed into one of the most visionary, fearless and tight bands around. JFJO's rare and different sound exhibits an abstract yet mature musical freedom and inquiry.

The only remaining original members, Haas and Mathis, formed a trio with Matthew Edwards in early 2000. Brian Haas' brother, Richard played with the band as a drummer for a period of time before they discovered former Ray's Music Exchange drummer, Jason "Jah" Smart. Original drummer and co-founder Sean Layton passed away in 2001. Edwards continues to play with the group from time to time. Despite all of the line-up changes, Jacob Fred has spent the past decade relentlessly touring the U.S. with their unique style of improvisational music. One of the most notable aspects of their music is Mathis’ innovative use of the bass guitar as a lead instrument. Mathis uses a combination of delay, volume swells, and digital octave shifting to take the instrument to new levels. JFJO, "Fred," or “The Fred,” are well-known for their high energy shows and are often likened to other modern jazz bands such as Medeski, Martin and Wood and The Bad Plus.

These three musicians are musical chameleons who can move crowds in small jazz clubs, big rock clubs and performing arts theaters. JFJO may be dropping jaws while opening up for Sound Tribe Sector 9 or they may be receiving multiple standing ovations while opening up for Al Di Meola - all in the same week of touring. They have been celebrated by the jazz world - playing regularly at NYC's Blue Note, in some of Europe's biggest jazz theaters and appearing in major jazz magazines such as Downbeat and JazzTimes - but they also have found success and audiences in the jam scene - playing large festivals and performing with the likes of Les Claypool, Steve Kimock and the Everyone Orchestra.

In 2004, JFJO released their first album with Hyena Records, Walking with Giants. 2005 saw the release of their second Hyena album, The Sameness of Difference, an album of 13 songs (all but one recorded in one day) produced by recording heavyweight and Hyena label head Joel Dorn. Unlike the all-originals Giants, more than half of Sameness’s tunes are covers of songs by a remarkably eclectic set of composers (Björk, Brian Wilson, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, Neil Young). Most recently in 2006, JFJO released Tomorrow We'll Know Today, a digital exclusive album containing re-mastered live tracks from the US and Europe.

[edit] Members

Brian Haas - Acoustic piano, Rhodes piano (various models) and Melodica
Reed Mathis - Fender Jazz Bass with effects pedals, Double Bass, Cello, Espana Acoustic Bass Guitar
Jason Smart - Drums

[edit] Current Tour

11/09/06: Halle, Germany @ Objekt 5 - Halle, Germany
11/11/06: Utrecht, Netherlands @ SJU Jazz Podium - Utrecht, Netherlands
11/12/06: Offenburg, Germany @ Spitalkeller - Offenburg, Germany
11/13/06: Radio Bremen Sendesaal @ Radio Bremen Sendesaal - Bremen, Germany
11/14/06: Enercity Expo Cafe @ Enercity Expo Cafe - Hannover, Germany
11/15/06: Naples, Italy @ El Pampero - Caivano, Italy
11/16/06: Rome, Italy @ La Palma - Rome, Italy
11/18/06: Venice, Italy @ Al Vapore - Marghera, Italy
11/19/06: Milan, Italy @ Blue Note - Milan, Italy
12/08/06: New York, NY @ Blue Note - New York, NY
12/09/06: New York, NY @ Blue Note - New York, NY

[edit] Discography & Album Descriptions

JFJO has released thirteen albums, many of which are live recordings. Their latest album sold in stores, The Sameness of Difference, was the second JFJO recording to be released by Hyena Records. It was also produced by Joel Dorn, who has produced hundreds of albums by artists such as Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Album cover	Album information
	Tomorrow We'll Know Today: Live in USA and Europe Released: 2006 Availability: Available exclusively from digital retailers
	The Sameness of Difference Released: 2006 Availability: Online & Selected Retailers This album was born from a truly epic, single day session at Sear Sound, a studio that has seen the creation of masterpieces by the likes of Wilco ("A Ghost is Born"), John Lennon, Norah Jones, and Jimi Hendrix. Engineered by Gene Paul (son of Les) and produced by the Grammy Award-winner Joel Dorn, who has also produced such greats as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Yusef Lateef, The Sameness of Difference was clearly created from the stuff from which legends are born. Following its release in October 2005, JFJO quickly made their debuts in South America and Europe.
	4 Improvisations For The Ghosts Released: 2005 Availability: Available exclusively from digital retailers For the Ghosts is a collection of live spontaneous music in tribute to the Supernatural.
	Walking With Giants Released: 2004 Availability: Online & Selected Retailers JFJO's first album with Hyena Records brought them into the studio to create 13 tracks of their most refined music to date. Reed Mathis can be heard not only bass, but also on cello and sitar. Includes Bonus DVD: "Live at Yoshi's"
	Symbiosis Osmosis Released: 2003 Availability: Online & Selected Retailers This eclectic collection of free-improvisations combines a fiery performance in front of thousands at California's High Sierra Music Festival with a forty-minute odyssey of poly-tonality, theme-and variation, and raw funk during the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 2002. Album features special guest saxaphonists Skerik, Brad Houser, Frank Catalano, and Mark Southerland.
	Slow Breath, Silent Mind Released: 2003 Availability: Online & Selected Retailers Recorded in acoustic jazz clubs all around the country, this collection of jazz standards (with a few originals) was compiled from JFJO's 2003 all-acoustic tour. Album includes compositions by Wayne Shorter, Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, and Freddie Hubbard, among others.
	Telluride is Acoustic Released: 2002 Availability: Original Pressing Out of Print/Available from digital retailers A live EP documenting a memorable outdoor performance at the 2002 Telluride Jazz Festival. It was JFJO's first major acoustic show since 1995.
	All Is One: Live in New York City Released: 2002 Availability: Out of Print/Available from digital retailers With the addition of drummer Jason Smart, this live record of two inspired nights at New York's legendary Knitting Factory established the bold new direction the trio was to take in the coming years. The compositions are more varied and melodic, the instruments achieve textures they'd never before dreamed of, and the trio takes the New York audience from a roar to a whisper and back.
	Self Is Gone Released: 2000 Availability: Online & Selected Stores Recorded in two afternoon sessions, one in Chicago and one in sunny L.A., Self Is Gone is a powerful dose of electric free-jazz first takes. The centerpiece of the album is nineteen minute "Tunjito/Singapore," where the trio flows from one wall of sound to another in seamless group improvisation. Self Is Gone features Matt Edwards on drums and is a great document of the trio's raw electric sound circa 2000-2001.
	Bloom Released: 2000 Availability: Out of Print A JFJO retrospective from 1996-1998.
	Live At Your Mama's House Released: 2000 Availability: Out of Print Recorded a few days into the new millenium, this live snapshot captures the 'Jacob Fred Trio' of Brian Haas, Reed Mathis, and Matthew Edwards during a weekly residency that lasted nearly a year, allowing them to hone their sound as a trio into something entirely new. A few months later, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey was officially reborn as a trio, and their second life began.
	Sean Layton: A Musical Retrospective Released: 1998-1999 Availability: Out of Print/Available from digital retailers Original JFJO drummer Sean Layton was not only a master of drumming, he was an innovative and genius songwriter, lyricist and vocalist as well. Mixed, compiled and produced by Reed Mathis after Sean's tragic death in 2001, this album presents 10 of Sean's amazing tunes with JFJO, The Neighbors and with Sean Layton unaccompanied.
	Welcome Home Released: 1998 Availability: Out of Print JFJO's first album on a national record label, Accurate Records, Welcome Home received rave reviews ("Rookies of the Year!" - Signal to Noise) and documents the seven-piece Jacob Fred at the peak of their unity and group-concept. This album finds them exploring a variety of odd-meter compositions ("Seven Inch Six," "MMW," "Seventh Greenbelt"), hip-hop poly-chomatic dixieland ("Muskogee Smalls"), and post-Miles sound-tapestries ("Road to Emmaus"). Welcome Home is widely considered the most evolved album by the old JFJO septet line-up.
	Live In Tokyo Released: 1996 Availability: Out of Print JFJO's second album launched them into the national touring scene, partly based on its expanded variety of styles & sounds, and partly based on the assumption that it was really recorded in Tokyo. Actually, it was recorded in Tulsa, OK - half live at The Eclipse and half in a studio owned by punk rock legends N.O.T.A.. With a feel of party-funk, many of these tracks feature the vocal stylings of keyboardist Brian Haas who demonstrates his affinity for The Roots ("The Good Times") and the Dead Kennedys' ("MTV Get Off The Air Part 2") and well as vocals by guitarist Dove McHargue & trombonist Matt Leland, and announcer Tai Chi Tamura. And of course, there is plenty of exploratory improvisation.
	Live At The Lincoln Continental Released: 1995 Availability: Out of Print In the beginning, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey was an octet with three horns, guitar, bass, drums, rhodes, and percussion, and their gigs at the old punk-rock bar Eclipse in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma are the stuff of local legend. Full of unbridled youthful adrenaline and inventive eight-piece arrangements, this record of their early shows is part Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, part Maceo Parker, and part Red Hot Chili Peppers.