July 6, 2005

The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey have been moving at a dizzying pace since the release of their critically-acclaimed recording, Walking With Giants, on HYENA Records in August 2004. Tour dates have led them from California to New York and back again multiple times over, while individually, pianist Brian Haas has just released his first ever solo album, The Truth About Hollywood, bassist Reed Mathis has stepped up his appearances as a special guest of the Steve Kimock Band and drummer Jason Smart continues to split his time as the drummer for Robert Walter’s 20th Congress.

In July 2005, the Tulsa/Cincinnati-based trio will head out for a string of shows as the hand-selected opening act for ingenious bassist, Les Claypool. The tour comes on the heels of high profile performances at the JVC Jazz Festival’s “New York Now” night and the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA. The band has also just completed the recording of basic tracks in New York City for a new album being produced by veteran producer Joel Dorn (Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Neville Brothers, Leon Redbone). The album, tentatively scheduled for release in October 2005, is set to include JFJO’s highly distinctive and one-of-a-kind interpretations of music by Bjork, The Flaming Lips and Charles Mingus, as well as, original material developed “live” over the last year, including audience favorites “Santiago” and “Halliburton Breakdown.”

In addition to upcoming opening dates with Les Claypool, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey will appear at Minnesota’s “10, 000 Lakes Music Festival,” Chicago’s “Wicker Park Music Festival” and launch a West Coast headline tour in August.

The tour dates are:

July 7 & 8 / Boulder, CO / The Fox Theater (w/ Les Claypool)
July 9 / Lawrence, KS / The Grenada (w/ Les Claypool)
July 11 / Atlanta, GA / The Variety (w/ Les Claypool)
July 12 / Asheville, NC / Orange Peel (w/ Les Claypool)
July 14 / Columbus, OH / Newport Music Hall (w/ Les Claypool)
July 15 / Covington, KY / The Madison Theater (Headline Show)
July 16 / Cleveland Heights, OH / The Grog Shop (Headline Show)
July 19 / Hamilton, Ontario / Pepperjacks
July 20 / Royal Oak, MI / Royal Oak Theater (w/ Les Claypool)
July 22 / Detroit Lakes, MN / 10, 000 Lakes Music Festival
July 30 / Chicago, IL / Wicker Park Music Festival

August Dates To Be Announced Shortly.

JamCam Chronicles (www.jamcamdvd.com) DVD Magazine will be running tape at this coming weekend’s BIG Summer Classic stop in Schaumburg, Illinois, for the third installment of its second season of festival centered DVDs. The String Cheese Incident, Keller Williams, Umphrey’s McGee, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Yonder Mountain String Band and New Monsoon are all on board, and JamCam Director and spokesperson Tom Ledermann has assured “BIG performances, BIG interviews, and BIG Behind the ‘Scene’ extras” for what promises to be one “BIG” DVD. The first three issues of JamCam season two (Summer Camp, Wakarusa & The BIG Summer Classic) can be pre-ordered individually at a special advance-order rate or as part of a more heavily discounted 6 DVD (plus one free year of An Honest Tune Magazine) subscription, by visiting www.jamcamdvd.com.

Guitarist Bill Frisell captures two trio performances on an upcoming live album, “East/West.” Due Aug. 9 via Nonesuch, the double-disc chronicles a set with drummer Kenny Wolleson and bassist Tony Scherr at New York’s Village Vanguard, as well as a show with Wolleson and bassist Viktor Krauss at Yoshi’s in Oakland, Calif.

Beyond covers of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” the “West” disc sports such Frisell originals as “Blues for Los Angeles,” “Boubacar” and “Pipe Down.”

“East” rounds up originals like “Ron Carter” and “The Vanguard” alongside covers of Henry Mancini’s “The Days of Wine and Roses,” Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene,” Johnny Cash’s “Tennessee Flat Top Box” and George and Ira Gershwin’s “My Man’s Gone Now.”

Nonesuch is planning to make second sets from both performances available as a special download, but specific details have yet to be confirmed.

The always-busy Frisell has tour dates lined up in various incarnations through early 2006, and will next play the Winnipeg Folk Festival Thursday (July 7) and Friday with violinist Jenny Scheinman, guitarist Greg Leisz and banjo player Danny Barnes.

Frisell has also recorded a new album with multi-instrumentalist Petra Haden, due in October via Sovereign Artists. The set features interpretations of the Foo Fighters’ “Floaty,” Coldplay’s “Yellow,” Elliott Smith’s “Satellite,” Stevie Wonder’s “I Believe” and Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,” among others.

Of perhaps most interest to fans is Frisell’s contribution to Paul Simon’s long-in-the-works new album, but no release date has been announced for the Warner Bros. set, which is being produced by Brian Eno.

Here is the track list for “East/West”:

Disc one (“West”):
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
“Blues for Los Angeles”
“Shenandoah”
“Boubacar”
“Pipe Down”
“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

Disc two (“East”):
“My Man’s Gone Now”
“The Days of Wine and Roses”
“You Can Run”
“Ron Carter”
“Interlude”
“Goodnight Irene”
“The Vanguard”
“People”
“Crazy”
“Tennessee Flat Top Box”

]i] Source billboard.com.

Jay Kay is planning an explosive fall return for his pop/dance/funk outfit Jamiroquai. “Dynamite,” the U.K.-based group’s sixth studio album, and first in four years, is due Sept. 20 in the United States via Epic.

The set was released June 20 by Sony Music in the United Kingdom, where lead single “Feels Like It Should” bowed at No. 8 on the official singles chart. Though the album saw a strong debut last week at No. 3, it has the dubious honor of being the first Jamiroquai title not to bow in one of the U.K. album chart’s top two positions.

“Feels Just Like It Should” will also be the first U.S. single from the disc. The Joseph Kahn (U2, Black Eyed Peas) -directed video — and its “making of” featurette — will appear on a Dual Disc version of the title, along with “a collection of various eye and ear candy,” according to Epic.

“The groove in that song is absolutely filthy,” Kay says of the single. “If you haven’t released an album in four years, you want to return with an impact. This song says ‘I’m back with a vengeance.'”

The material on “Dynamite” was recorded in Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, Scotland, New York, Los Angeles and Kay’s own Buckinghamshire, England, studio, and produced by Mike Spencer (Kylie Minogue, Appleton). Other songs on the 12-track album include “Black Devil Car” and Seven Days in Sunny June.”

“Jamiroquai plays Vienna on Saturday (July 9), with stops throughout Europe scheduled into mid-August. A second European leg of dates is planned for September and October, opening Sept. 7 in Birmingham, England. A U.S. visit is being eyed for later in the year.

Here is the “Dynamite” track list:
“Feels Just Like It Should”
“Dynamite”
“Seven Days in Sunny June”
“Electric Mistress”
“Starchild”
“Love Blind”
“Talulah”
“(Don’t) Give Hate a Chance”
“World That He Wants”
“Black Devil Car”
“Hot Tequila Brown”
“Time Won’t”

Source billboard.com.