"...the group has matured into one of the finest and most exciting jazz groups around." -Billboard
"One Day In Brooklyn, the group's new EP, documents a two-pronged shift: toward countrified timbres and post-bop exposition." - New York Times
"Born in Tulsa and raised up on the road, this adventurous piano trio plus lap steel guitar get alternately scrappy and pastoral on their new EP, One Day in Brooklyn." -Village Voice
"On 'One Day in Brooklyn...you'll hear how creative and adventurous Tulsans, lap steel and all, are redirecting the future of jazz " -Kansas City Star
"They do Monk (a gorgeous “Four in One”), Abdullah Ibrahim, Roland Kirk (a crazier “Black & Crazy Blues” that weaves and darts and cooks), and some Beatles. Their own “Country Girl” is just lovely, a little off the track, languid here, hurried there....Recommended." -LA Weekly
"There’s a rustic foundation to the band now, thanks to the acoustic plunking of Mr. Hayes and the swoony embellishments of Mr. Combs...the current group pursues an earthy vigor. On Kirk’s “Laugh for Rory,” Mr. Combs reached for the uplift of a gospel revival; on Mr. Ibrahim’s “Imam” he struck a prayerful vocal timbre. Mr. Hayes was a less assertive presence, but he locked in well with Mr. Raymer, a smartly physical drummer. Mr. Haas steered from the piano, making use of an emphatic attack, a rococo sense of flourish and the trustworthy power of crescendo." -New York Times
"The Tulsa, Okla., combo is as ambitious as ever, playing improvisation-laced music that's equally heady and earthy, a feast for the ears and fuel for the feet." -SF Chronicle
JFJO hits the mark with a tribute to the late producer Joel Dorn on the Rahsaan Roland Kirk medley "A Laugh for Rory / Black & Crazy Blues," a reading of The Beatles "Julia," a stab at Thelonious Monk's "Four in One," and a pair of originals - including a clever mashup of Dr.Dre and Beethoven. JFJO ain't dead, just reborn" -Relix Magazine
"...sonically fascinating take on "Four in One," not unlike the streamlined approach you might expect from Bill Frisell. Rating:9/10" -Jazz.com
"The long notes of Combs' sliding lap steel guitar mix with the emotion that Haas can draw from the deepest corners of his piano, while likely the best rhythm section the Fred has ever unleashed in Raymer and Hayes give a text-book jazz lesson in keeping the parading jam on this universe." -Honest Tune
"JFJO distill the best of 1970s jazz-rock: up-tempo bashing drums, a little bit of funk, and crafty licks..." -The Stranger
"The Tulsa, OK-based Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey further cements its status as one of the most forward-thinking units in jazz with its new EP, One Day in Brooklyn." -Popmatters
"A breadth and vision nearly untouched in modern jazz except by the likes of Wayne Shorter and Bill Frisell."
- Signal to Noise
"....intensely improvisatory head-fuckery, which embraces Beatles covers, free jazz and just about everything in between."
- The Village Voice
"JFJO burns with a quiet intensity rather than dramatically explodes. The musicians play with a coiled looseness, improvising with quicksilver yet deliberate force. You can hear the band's power and inventiveness creatively eroding structure, and the tension produced from that is exhilarating. If JFJO isn't moving jazz forward, it is shifting its center of gravity interestingly askew."
- Jazz Times
"Delicious postmodern jazzitude from the Tulsa-based piano trio." 4 of 5 stars.
- Mojo (UK)
"...bathes in electro-blackness, a blood-red island in a skewed fantasy. Gorgeous or beastly, it sticks to your shivering bones."
- Under the Radar
"Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey weave the kind of impressionistic, imaginative new jazz that shatters any kind of identity, much less categories and classifications."
- Chicago Sun Times
"The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey step through the looking glass to emerge from the shadows of their disparate rock and jazz influences with something wholly fresh."
- The Absolute Sound
"It swings, it sways, but the jazz trio form in their hands has an almost primitive, inside-your-head, idiosyncratic quality to it that suggests the three are truly one."
- Downbeat Magazine
"In my humble opinion, one of the most fascinating trios currently walking around on God's green earth."
- SlagwerkKrant (NL)
JFJO (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey)'s Friend Space (Top 25)
thank you for the most beautiful night i've had in seattle since arriving. the show was phenomenal and i'm already anxiously awaiting my next opportunity to see you guys perform!
Loved the show at the Yacht Club in Iowa City last week man. Sorry the crowd wasn't as compelled to move as you would have liked but I was really focused on watching. I think there were a lot of musicians in the crowd that night and you know how we are about dancing sometimes. Lil' goofy.
o hey dudes remember my from buffalo? i want u guys on sirius radio if ur not allready we gotta get ur music out there. ur much better then an opening band. u guys are fucking awesome
thank you guys for blessing our state. depite the drama it was a great night thanks for turning a negative into a positive!!! =) thanks for making my tuesday night.