Brian Haas, pianist and de-facto bassist of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, took a moment from his extensive travels to speak with the Grateful Web about the big year ahead for JFJO, including two new albums, one of which was recorded live in Denver, Colorado at Dazzle Jazz and is slated for vinyl release on Record Store Day.

The Mike Dillon Band and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey are set to launch a 16-date tour of the western United States. The run kicks off with three shows in Colorado beginning in Boulder on March 19. It then cuts North to Idaho and Montana before heading to the Pacific Northwest followed by a stretch down the West Coast to San Diego. The tour wraps in April with shows in Santa Fe, NM and Norman, OK.

With twenty-one records released through the genre bending marathon existence that is Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, the band has plenty of material to choose from. Original founder and ivory tickler Brian Haas, along with his well-versed cohorts, dug deep into their songbook for a set of re-worked classics spanning their twenty-year career last Thursday at Dazzle Jazz in Denver, Colorado.

Brian Haas and Matt Chamberlain have announced the October 15 release of their debut duo recording Frames on Kinnara Records/The Royal Potato Family. The album was written entirely by Haas, founder and pianist of the internationally renowned Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, as a through-composed work for piano and percussion.

Last week the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey played a total of four shows at Denver restaurant/lounge Dazzle. The quartet from Tulsa, OK did an early show and a late show on both Wednesday and Thursday, and I was in attendance at the early show on Thursday.

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey have announced a 34-city North American tour in September and October to support their new EP, One Day In Brooklyn. The band will begin the trek in their home state of Oklahoma before hitting Texas for two nights and then heading west where they'll work their way up the left coast to Seattle. After one night back in Tulsa for a release party and performance, they'll immediately join Phish bassist Mike Gordon as opening support on seven shows.

JFJO are just back from a tour of Europe where they hit a slew of festivals and turned on a whole new world of fans. At The Cork Festival in Ireland, they won the Guinness Award for "Best New Band," meanwhile Reed Mathis returned with a treasure trove of soundboard recordings from the tour, so we might even get a limited edition release of JFJO in Europe '08. Fingers crossed. Back in the U.S., look for JFJO to maintain a high touring profile throughout '09.