Search - Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey :: All Is One Live in New York City

Jazz is alive and well in JFJO

Daniel Read | Atlanta, GA USA | 09/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've really been digging these guys for the last couple years, ever since I picked up their previous CD, Self is Gone. I've caught them live twice now (both shows were truly impressive), and I picked up this new CD at their show in Atlanta the other night. JFJO is really in the pocket right now, and this Live in New York CD captures that. I don't think it would make any sense for these guys to go into a studio and record. If they did, the only way to do it would be to just start the tape and let them go.JFJO is an improvisational ensemble, and that's the only way to experience them. They play with so much positive energy, flirting constantly with chaos, but always keeping a groove. This groove aspect will please fans of the "jam band" genre, especially those who also enjoy old school jazz. Make no mistake, though: JFJO is not a jam band; you will never hear them fall into any tired chump shuffle jam band beats and you will never hear any endless noodling solos. The music is so much more dynamic and unpredictable than that.As a final note, I'll try to identify some influences I hear in JFJO that might help you make a decision to pick this CD up: Weather Report, '70 to '72 era Miles Davis, the more experimental side of MMW, Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, and Thelonious Monk. It makes me feel good to know a band is out there pushing the envelope and keeping that amorphous thing called jazz alive."

GREAT BAND - never mind the ignorant nay-sayer below

jazz lover | 06/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm confused by the remarks of the reviewer below, who calls himself M Zito. He accuses Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey of not playing jazz, and of having nothing to do with the jazz tradition. I'd like to refer him to their 2003 release "Slow Breath Silent Mind" where they perform the works of Duke Ellington, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Thelonius Monk, and Freddie Hubbard, among others. In concert I've heard them play songs by Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Pat Metheney, and Jaco Pastorius, as well as a number of 'show-tune' standards. This is not....what did you call them?...JAM ROCK GARBAGE. You, sir, seem a bit insecure and eager to bring down musicians who have worked hard and are seeing some success. Too bad. The players in Jacob Fred improvise over changes and complex forms with ease and originality. Perhaps M. Zito has been so damaged by all the Tribal Tech he's ingested that he's forgotten that all the masters of the jazz tradition have a few things in common...THEY ALL HAD THEIR OWN VOICE, they all created their own musical vocabulary and integrated it with elements of the past, and they all reflected the sounds of the society they found themselves in. Oh, and like Jacob Fred, they were all put down and slandered by those who were too afraid or simply too ignorant to hear the beautiful sound of evolution. In the words of Lao Tzu, "If the fool did not laugh at the Tao, it would not be the Tao." I'm sorry Jacob Fred hurt your feelings, M Zito. Personally, I like their music quite a bit. I find it to be wholly congruent with the music of Ellington, Shorter, Monk, Mehldau, Frisell, and many other great masters of jazz. I recommend their most recent album "Walking With Giants," and their live album of standards, "Slow Breath Silent Mind" over "All Is One," but A.I.O. is a fine album, featuring some of JFJO's best loved compositions. Oh, and Mr Zito, if you want to have any credibility, perhaps "Three Sheets to the Wind" isn't the BEST choice of an alias. And you might want to move out of Vegas. :)"

This album is outstanding

Andrew Kelly | San Francisco, CA United States | 07/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I used to hate this band. Then I liked them a little bit. Now I really, really like this band. I think these guys are the next step in jazz. This was one hell of a show."