Review on Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey by Wesley Sharp

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is a particularly interesting band. At face value, they appear to be clones of Medesky, Martin and Wood, or even Bad Plus clones. But to be honest they are very different from all those bands and given that the band has been touring for 11 years now it's hard to say they are a clone of any of those bands. The music is a mixture of avant-garde, fusion and post-bop. They have no problem playing songs with a coherent melody and often use themes as a starting point for wild improvisations. They particularly like to play completely improvised songs. Brian Haas plays keyboards. He kind of fills the gap between Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor. He combines Monk's unique sense of timing with a willingness to step into the avant-garde/freeplay realm whenever the opportunity arises. Reed Mathis plays bass but can play cello, guitar, sitar, etc. at the same time. Reed often uses a wide range of effects to create very unique sounds on his instrument, ranging from squeaks and squonks to atmospheric waves and even violin and guitar. Reed plays an important role in the group and faces an interesting challenge. He has to keep up with Jason Smart's time-wasting drumming and Brian Haas' wild drumming at the same time. He is also often the leading solo voice. Reed's ability to listen to Jason and Brian and adapt his playing on the fly, as well as his ability as a soloist, make him one of the most talented young bass players. Jason Smart is an expressive drummer. He is able to stretch and warp time while absorbing Reed and Brian's constant changes. Listening and adaptability define this group, but that's not all. Every member of the group can compose and is good at it. Jason Smart clearly excels as a composer, but both Haas and Mathis wrote great tunes for the band. Enough about the band, let's talk specifically about this album. First of all, it should be noted that this album is actually called Symbiosis Osmosis. If you look closely at the picture on the cover, you can read it. More important than Amazon's mislabeling is the music itself. This album is indeed improvisation. The only improvisation that has any sort of pre-planned structure is "Son of Jah", which has a free melody that implies structure, but this structure is not very clear. The first four songs are performed by the trio of Haas, Mathis and Smart. The improvisations are packed with insanely addictive funk beats, with twists and turns at every turn and amazing solo work. They often seem to be able to read each other's minds and respond immediately. The interplay of these musicians makes them special, and there is no better example of this than their improvisations. The next ten songs are essentially a long improvisation with four guest saxophonists including Skerik and Mark Southerland. Longtime fans of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey will remember that they started out as a larger group that included various horns, but has since dwindled to a trio line-up. It's an interesting opportunity to hear how these musicians sound in this context. Imporv itself is a great example of what this band is capable of. The band covers the entire spectrum of jazz styles, from swing to bebop, post-bop to avant-garde. The music is very interesting and entertaining and the addition of wind instruments allows the band to summon the demons of the Solar Ra Arkestra. That being said, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone new to Jacob Fred's Jazz Odyssey, largely because it only has four songs that only feature a trio. Again, this album doesn't feature any of the band's fantastic must-hear compositions. However, I would say that anyone who likes improv music or enjoys other albums by this band should give this one a listen as it does not disappoint.