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Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

Pianist Brian Haas, drummer Josh Raymer, and bassist/effects wizard/guitarist Reed Mathis occupy a rather unique place in the music world. To say that JFJO's music transcends boundaries is an understatement. 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 music generates an all-encompasing sensory experience for the listener. Since 1994 JFJO's virtuosic instrumental interplay, uncanny ability to communicate musically and near-telepathic improvisation has won over fans and critics alike all over North America, Europe and South America. In April 2008 JFJO released their fourteenth album, 'Lil Tae Rides Again,' their fourth release with Brooklyn-based Hyena Records. Garnering rave reviews in SF Weekly, Absolute Sound, Downbeat, and more, the album marks a departure from the past, with a focus placed on orchestrating sonic tapestries based on minimalist melodies and sweeping tonal textures. 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 (Bjork, Brian Wilson, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, Neil Young). This latest effort continues in the groups quest for constant change and exploration, once again re-imagining their creative horizons and blurring genres. 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 and the now defunct Tonic, 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 Steve Kimock and Les Claypool. 2008 will find JFJO at such prestigeous festivals as Guinness Cork Jazz Festival in Ireland, the 40th Umea Jazz Festival in Sweden, and the infamous Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island.

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Album Review

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: The Battle for Earth

Read "The Battle for Earth" reviewed by Doug Collette


The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has been an adventuresome group since first initiated as an eight piece ensemble in its home of Oklahoma in 1994 But the group has quite possibly never lived up so fully to its moniker since realigning itself as a trio (again) in 2013. Keyboardist and charter member Brian Haas, guitarist/lap steel/synth player Chris Combs and drummer Josh Raymer have engaged in ambitious projects like The Race Riot Suite (Kinnara Prod., 2011), as well as self-sufficient ...

17
Album Review

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Worker

Read "Worker" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Of all the bands playing jazz-rock, or fusion, or whatever-you-want-to-call it, the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (or JFJO as they're known by their fans) is the one that comes closest to embodying Joe Zawinul's dictum regarding Weather Report's modus operandi: ..."nobody solos, everybody solos." The similarities stop there, however, though JFJO's careening omnivorous creativity, like Weather Report's, has enabled the band to carve out some very distinctive sonic territory. While JFJO's omnivorous jazz aesthetic--one which embraces Earl Hines as well ...

15
Album Review

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Millions: Live in Denver

Read "Millions: Live in Denver" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Long associated, for better or worse, with the so-called jam band phenomenon of the mid-to-late 1990s, the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey continues to generate intelligent, daring, genre-defying music. JFJO's first live recording in a decade or so, Millions: Live In Denver, is part celebration of their 20th year of existence and part revelry in their new sound: a pared-down lineup of keys, drums and guitar. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based brainchild of keyboardist and composer Brian Haas, JFJO has gone through a ...

135
Album Review

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Race Riot Suite

Read "Race Riot Suite" reviewed by Doug Collette


Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's Race Riot Suite is a reminder how adventurous the group has always been since its inception in 1994--never more so, perhaps, than in its latest incarnation, in place beginning in 2010. Four intervals, labeled “Prayers," are interspersed throughout the seven formally labeled tracks and allow JFJO to demonstrate its own collective and individual skill at improvisation. That cursory and close listens whet the appetite for more such jamming is a tribute to the judicious ...

369
Album Review

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Lil Tae Rides Again

Read "Lil Tae Rides Again" reviewed by James Taylor


Jacob Free Jazz Odyssey's Lil Tae Rides Again unfolds more like an eclectic indie-rock album than the jam band romps they've been known to fashion. A marriage of instrumental post-rock-infused jazz in the vein of Tortoise's brilliant TNT (Thrill Jockey, 1998) and hyperactive avant-funk and digital illbient a la DJ Spooky, Lil Tae is the ultimate in accomplishments, a near perfect reinvention of direction and sound. And perhaps that has more to do with the way this ...

233
Album Review

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Lil' Tae Rides Again

Read "Lil' Tae Rides Again" reviewed by Chris May


With Lil' Tae Rides Again, their first studio album since The Sameness Of Difference (Hyena Records, 2005), the mercurially inclined Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey have taken their biggest step so far into the unknown, re-inventing themselves in the process, at least for this project. The band gave unfettered creative control of the finished disc to their Tulsa neighbor, producer and electronicist Tae Meyulks, allowing him to deconstruct and reassemble the raw tracks as the spirit took him.

The ...

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Interview

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Three-Way Street

Read "Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Three-Way Street" reviewed by Paul Olson


There's no better gigging band than the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. The trio of pianist Brian Haas, bassist Reed Mathis and drummer Jason Smart ought to be a great live band--Haas and Mathis have been playing together for well over a decade (Smart joined the band more recently) and have, year after year, maintained a tour schedule that would crush a less hardy group.JFJO started out in Tulsa (Mathis and Haas still reside there when not on the ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Marcello Benetti, Matt Kane, Dave Dickey Big Band, the 442s, and More

Jazz This Week: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Marcello Benetti, Matt Kane, Dave Dickey Big Band, the 442s, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's lineup of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features visits from two different drummers leading quartets playing original music, plus the return of a well-known touring act with a revised lineup of players, several shows by local big bands, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly “Open Stage" at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and the Sidney Street ...

Performance / Tour

Coming Soon: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Andre Delano, Alan Evans' Playonbrother

Coming Soon: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Andre Delano, Alan Evans' Playonbrother

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

From StLJN's various in-boxes, word of three more upcoming shows of interest to St. Louis fans of jazz and creative music: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey will return to St. Louis for their second show here this year at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, June 21 at The Blind Tiger at Sutton Place, 7376 Manchester Rd in Maplewood. JFJO, now a three-piece with keyboardist and founder Brian Haas, lap steel guitarist Chris Combs, and drummer Josh Raymer, last played here in January at ...

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Recording

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey To Release Limited Edition Live Lp "Millions: Live In Denver" On Record Store Day

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey To Release Limited Edition Live Lp "Millions: Live In Denver" On Record Store Day

Source: Calabro Music

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey celebrate their 20th Anniversary in 2014 with the Record Store Day exclusive, limited edition LP, Millions: Live In Denver. Recorded over two sold out nights at the esteemed Denver, CO jazz venue Dazzle this past November, JFJO presented classic material from throughout their history that hadn't been performed live in years, including “Muskogee Smalls," “Tae Parade" and “Grub Ridge Stomp." Defined by consistent evolution and change over the course of two decades, 21 albums, and countless ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Jazz at Lincoln Center Quartet, and More

Jazz This Week: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Jazz at Lincoln Center Quartet, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Here's a look at some of the most noteworthy jazz and creative music performances happening this week in and around St. Louis: Tonight, the Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University presents “A Tribute to Jim Hall" with guitarists William Lenihan & Vincent Varvel; and it's the monthly “Experimental Arts Open Mic Night" with live improvised music at the Tavern of Fine Arts. Tomorrow night, four musicians who are part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra - ...

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six from Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six from Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, let's look at some videos featuring Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, who are coming back to St. Louis to perform next Saturday, February 1 at The Demo. Formed in Tulsa, OK in 1994, JFJO are celebrating their 20th year as a band with, among other things, a set at the recently completed Winter Jazzfest in NYC, and having a craft beer named in their honor by Oklahoma’s Prairie Artisan Ales. (They last appeared here in St. Louis in 2011 ...

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Recording

JFJO Plan Digital Releases

JFJO Plan Digital Releases

Source: JamBase

NEW DIGITAL SERIES STARTS FEBRUARY 19 Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey have unveiled the trailer for a new series of A & B side digital releases out once a week beginning February 19. These lo-fi unmastered tracks capture a raw, distilled, and reconstructed versions of The Race Riot Suite material. The A Side will be a solo piano version of a song from The Race Riot Suite as interpreted by Brian Haas. The B Side will have a remixed version of ...

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Performance / Tour

JFJO: East Coast Tour

JFJO: East Coast Tour

Source: JamBase

TOUR DATES IN BOSTON, NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT, PHILADELPHIA, PORTSMOUTH, AND MORE Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey have unveiled plans to hit cities up and down the East Coast in support of their new album The Race Riot Suite. See below for a complete list of tour dates. As previously announced, the band has decided to enlist the help of local horn players in your city by way of a contest. Click here to learn how you could get the chance to ...

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Interview

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's Chris Combs Interviewed at All About Jazz

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's Chris Combs Interviewed at All About Jazz

Source: All About Jazz

On a Memorial Day in 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, an encounter between a young black shoe shiner named Dick Rowland and a white elevator operator named Sarah Page—an incident that was reported with hazy details and shocking incompleteness—started one of the most brutal and tragic race riots in American history. Even more tragic, however, was how little the event was discussed by national or even Oklahoman sources. It was an event that Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's pedal steel guitarist Chris Combs, ...

140

Recording

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - The Race Riot Suite (2011)

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - The Race Riot Suite (2011)

Source: Something Else!

The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is a band that's clearly relished keeping people guessing—down to the fictional person in the band name—and while jazz has always been the starting point for their music, it's anyone's guess where the band would take it from one album to the next. We last visited JFJO more than three years ago when Lil Tae Rides Again was the fresh new dish, and there's been two albums since then. The third one just went on ...

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Credentials/Background

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey Master Classes/Workshops Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has developed a program of workshops and master classes for aspiring professional musicians, music students and music lovers. Having played together in JFJO since 1994, Brian Haas and Reed Mathis have shared over a decade of experience, training and insight in the music business. Recent addition Josh Raymer grew up drumming in the Salvation Army, and has drummed a variety of settings across the country. The trio has performed together numerous times including shows at countless universities, at America's finest jazz clubs, and in seven foreign countries. Besides being seasoned professional musicians and having played with the likes of John Scofield, Charlie Hunter and Jon Fishman, the members of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey are all experienced instructors. For years, all three musicians have given individual private lessons and together they have given master classes in the United States and Brazil. Haas earned a degree in Music Composition from the University of Tulsa while the others have gained their education largely on the road. The members of JFJO are personable, friendly individuals who are adept at engaging audiences in stimulating discussion. JFJO's workshops are like their music; they are a lively dialogue of ideas and conversations rather than a rigid lecture. The goal of workshops is for participants to learn and grow, but to also have an enjoyable time. Workshops are an opportunity for personal interaction between participants and members of JFJO, in which all can share thoughts and ideas, on music and other subjects, in a relaxed and comfortable environment. Any program of instruction can be tailored to meet specific needs and an individual master class could contain components of all or some of the below programs. All master classes are concluded with a Q & A session. The Music Business Surviving as an avant-garde music ensemble is no easy task. Taking an avant-garde jazz trio from the bars of Tulsa, Oklahoma to some of the best jazz clubs and festivals in the world is even more impressive. Listen to the members of JFJO discuss the perseverance, sacrifices and hard work necessary to survive and thrive on the road. Hear stories and find out what it takes to "live the dream" and what it feels like to play over 250 shows a year while touring and living almost full-time in a van. Learn JFJO's secrets on how to stay mentally and physically healthy on the road. Making Music Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has received enormous praise from music critics. Critics have lauded the trio for being different, innovative and defying musical categories. Hear the members of JFJO discuss how to find your own musical voice and make original art in a homogenous music business as they also consider the sources of their creativity and artistic decisions as individual players and as an ensemble. Possible topics of discussion include "Relaxing at Your Instrument: The Art of Saying Something New," "Making a Standard Your Own," and "Playing as an Ensemble: The Art of Not Soloing." Other topics that will be discussed are taking your improvisation to the next level, composing, and how to develop self-discipline, good habits and personal goals for practicing your instrument. For Music Lovers and Listeners Workshops for non-musicians will explore the role of art and music in society, including art's role in communication and social change as well as ideas of creativity. The members of JFJO will discuss influential recordings and musicians that have inspired JFJO's musical direction and journey. JFJO will also instruct workshop participants in how to become a better active listener. Subjects may include how to listen into the music, what to listen for, listening between the notes, who to listen to, and how to do it. For more information, please contact Eric Dunn at [email protected]

Clinic/Workshop Information

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Worker

Royal Potato Family
2015

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The Battle for Earth

Royal Potato Family
2015

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Millions: Live In...

Royal Potato Family
2014

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The Race Riot Suite

Curling Legs
2011

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Race Riot Suite

Kinnara Records
2011

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The Sensation Of...

Curling Legs
2010

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Lost In The Battle For Greenwood

From: The Race Riot Suite
By Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

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