[golgiaparatus]

I do a gooad amout of work for musicians and record labels... well here is my latest finished project... Its pretty crazy, but then again, so is the musician.

Thats Megan displaying it for all to see

If anyone likes crazy jazz piano this guy is amazing.
Brian Haas From The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

Some Reviews below from Jazz Times and Keyboard Magazine of their last album (which I also designed) and one from Modern Drummer.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Jazz TImes:
11/04 JazzTimes - Walking With Giants

One look at this scruffy trio of touring bohemians from Tulsa, Okla., (they play 150 dates a year across the country), and “jam band” immediately comes to mind.* However, what pianist Brian Haas, bassist Reed Mathis and drummer Jason Smart are doing as Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is more harmonically involved and rhythmically intricate than anything coming out of the jam-band scene.* Formed 10 years ago, JFJO was initially inspired by Medeski, Martin & Wood.* But the trio has gradually embraced more audacious experimentation, pushing the envelope from 1998’s Welcome Home (Accurate) to 2002’s All Is One (Knitting Factory) and two simultaneous Kufala releases in 2003: Symbiosis Osmosis and the live Slow Breath, Silent Mind.* No neo hippie, post –Phish group would have the skill or even the nerve to tackle Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” (at least without irony) and yet, JFJO does precisely that with a heartfelt rendition on the live CD, which also features Monk’s “Off Minor,” Coltrane’s “Central Park West,” Freddie Hubbard’s “Up Jumped Spring” and Wayne Shorter’s “Fall.”

*JFJO’s latest, Walking With Giants (HYENA), shows* more growth in their writing and more dynamics in their overall interplay and it includes a DVD documenting a March 2004* two night stand at Yoshi’s in Oakland.*Haas, who in the past has dabbled on heavily-effected Fender Rhodes, focuses strictly on acoustic piano here, blending touches of playful stride (“Muppet Babies”)* with spiky Cecil Taylor-isms (“Calm Before The Storm”) and a dynamic Ahmad Jamal touch (“Sean’s Song”).* Often Haas will assume the traditional bass role with his left hand, as on “Nibbles,” “Son of Jah” and the ethereal “Hover,” freeing Mathis to soar majestically into the high register and carry melodies with his bass, which is run through an octave pedal.*

Mathis says the title Walking With Giants “was originally conceived during a hike in the Redwoods, just absorbing the ancientness and timelessness of the forest.* But it also refers to our heroes in the music—everyone from Bird and Bud Powell to Trane, Monk, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Jimi Hendrix and Jaco Pastorius.*These are the giants that paved the way for us.” - BILL MILKOWSKI



Keyboard Magazine
November 2004

*
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
Walking With Giants
Piloted by Brian Haas at the keys, the JFJO has created a huge following by applying a jam band approach to a piano trio format. Recent releases from this adventurous group have included standards realized with their unique vision; this disc contains all original compositions, with Brian on piano. Grooving at times, yes, but with a thinkin’ feller’s attention to texture, melody, and form. Reed Mathis switches between electric and acoustic bass, but leaps the top of the sonic heap with the help of surprisingly musical octave effects occasionally. These guys are doing something really creative, check them out soon. - ERNIE RIDEOUT


Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey's
JASON SMART
A Thinking Man's Drummer
by Robin Tolleson

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey demands a lot from twenty-seven-year-old Jason Smart -- big ears, great hands, a large vocabulary, and a sense of humor to boot. "We're trying to make music that excites us on a daily basis, and to create something new," Smart says. "A lot of times the drums are the focal point to make changes in the music, to switch around different feels and stuff. We take those sketches of songs, and probably eighty to ninety percent of it is us improvising every night."

The new Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey album (their fourth national release) is Titled Walking With Giants. "It's our humble offering to our heroes, like Wayne Shorter, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane," Smart explains. The CD is also dedicated to the late Elvin Jones. While showing his respect for the great jazz drummers on Giants, Smart also plays some thunderous rock -- and a wild tango. "For jazz to grow," the drummer insists, "it has to add some world elements and other styles. I've always been into drumming as an art form, so some of my facorite musicians are Ringo, Levon Helm, and Jim Keltner. Guys like that are just as exciting to as Tony Williams and Elvin Jones."

Smart grew up in Ohio and was influenced by The Beatles, Rush, The Police, and Led Zeppelin. Teachers introduced him to the music of Art Blakey, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk, and he studied drums at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. "This band was what I'd been looking for," Smart states. "The whole idea of jazz is very cool because it works on independence of your limbs, and it's very conversational. The moment where you feel the group is really listening, focusing, and speaking to each other -- well, there's nothing else like that."

During time off from the Jazz Odyssey, Smart has recently been touring with keyboardist Robert Walter and saxman Cochemea Gastelum. "That's been fun because Robert and Cochemea are encyclopedias of the old soul-funk stuff." For more on Smart and the Jazz Odyssey, check out www.jfjo.com.

 

[binary visions]

Who gave her that fugly ring she's sportin' on her left hand?

 

[binary visions]

Oh yeah, and cool graphics