Brian Haas

Jambase review of JFJO’s world premier of Ludwig

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Words by: Dennis Cook | Images by: Rachel D. Hoefling
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey :: 06.12.10 :: OK Mozart Festival :: Bartlesville, OK

Messing with Beethoven is serious business. Foundational artists like Ludwig Van test one’s mettle and force them to grabble with fundamental structures and attitudes, particularly if one wants to put their own stamp on such a codified composer. Few are better suited to the task than Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, who took their joyously avant sensibilities right into the heart of traditionally snooty classical music by overhauling Beethoven’s 3rd & 6th Symphonies using arrangements by Noam Faingold and JFJO. A longtime coming, Ludwig had its world premiere as part of the OK Mozart Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with the 50-piece Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra melding with the forward leaning jazz quartet in an experience that proved as playful, unpredictable and gently exciting as one might hope.

Brian Haas (piano), Josh Raymer (drums), Chris Combs (lap steel) and new addition bassist Jeff Harshberger looked as squeaky clean as I’d ever seen them, excited in their crisp suits and itching to jump into the fruition of a journey that began years ago. Haas has been struggling to adapt Beethoven for ages, and after a false start in Brooklyn earlier this year they found their ideal creative foils in Faingold and Bartlesville Symphony music director Lauren Green, who both grokked how JFJO isn’t like the other children, even when they are playing with a very known quantity like Beethoven. In a pre-concert discussion, Faingold said he realized some time ago that “a classical symphony with acoustic instruments could be way bigger than a metal band.” It’s this kind of outside-the-box perspective that makes him such a good fit for this particular band; though he admitted he was “initially paralyzed by [JFJO's] approach, which really pushed everyone’s boundaries.”

This last point is vitally important with Ludwig because if classical works aren’t doomed to be artifacts laboriously recreated the boundaries must be pushed. We aren’t reading by whale blubber lanterns anymore, and kings don’t decide what’s appropriate music and what isn’t. We are wireless citizens of the world with whole record collections in our pocket. As such, antiquated modes of interpretation come off as particularly dusty, like the French in Vietnam in the ’60s desperately clinging to their privileged colonial existence before the populist uprising. If Beethoven isn’t going to be a relic studied and admired under glass he needs wild creatures like JFJO to dig their nails into his hide and pull out the meat underneath…..

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Tulsa World reviews JFJO’s world premier of Ludwig

‘Ludwig’ jazzes up Beethoven classics
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Published: 6/14/2010  2:20 AM

One thing is certain: A great deal of time and an incredible amount of effort went into the creation of “Ludwig,” which had its world premiere Saturday to open the 2010 OK Mozart International Festival in Bartlesville.

One other thing is certain: All that time and effort more than paid off.

“Ludwig,” conceived by the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, arranged by Noam Faingold and performed by the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra, is one incredible, exhilarating piece of work, a unique melding of classical and jazz music to create something remarkable and new.

Thankfully, Saturday’s performance at the Bartlesville Community Center was captured on audio and video — we counted about 10 cameras, stationary and mobile, on and around the stage — which means there is hope of a life hereafter for “Ludwig.”

In simplest terms, “Ludwig” is this: two Beethoven symphonies — the No. 3, “Eroica,” and the No. 6, “Pastoral” — that have been arranged to accommodate the quartet of piano, lap steel guitar, upright bass and drums that is the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey.

Simple, but inadequate. “Ludwig” is a complete reimagination of these symphonies. It is not a jazz combo being placed, as it were, on top of a classical symphony, or a back-and-forthing of musical phrases in the form of a concerto with the soloist being a jazz band.

What makes “Ludwig” work is that the jazz and classical entities are completely and organically integrated — something achieved by more or less deconstructing Beethoven’s music and rebuilding it according to the detailed plan established by the score but building it with some different materials.

The Beethoven symphonies are there in “Ludwig,” their musical structure intact, familiar melodies all in place. And yet, they sounded startling and new.

Read more from this Tulsa World article by clicking here.

Quotes about Brian

“And what of dear Brian Haas? What this performance cemented for me is his place as my personal favorite pianist alive. No hype, no bullshit. I’ve heard most of the major dudes working ivory today and there’s just nothing quite like Haas. I’ve grown tired of comparing him to the greats and during this set one felt his originality slosh all over them.” — Dennis Cook, Jambase

“Piano giant Brian Haas is taking the instrument deep into an explosive, exploratory future where genres blur and stylistic lines are not so much redrawn but re-imagined. Haas’ matchless originality and soul are as much a product of his unique upbringing as they are his process of self-discovery, and his vibrant energy and musical vitality are testament to his determination to remain true to his ideals.”—Keyboard Magazine

“Brian Haas blends touches of playful stride with spikey Cecil Taylor-isms and a dynamic Ahmad Jamal touch.”—Jazztimes

“Brian Haas paints with his fingers. In a flurry, his joyful digits add color to 88 black and white keys. He plays with the assured abandon of an artist in complete control of his craft.” — Keyboard Magazine

“Brian Haas can play with the finesse of Keith Jarret, but still get across to the ecstasy generation.”—New Orleans Gambit

“Haas solos and comps with a keen sense of post-bop, ragtime, and abstract styles.” — JazzIz

“Since folks adore (and perhaps even require) touchstones to “get” a contemporary player, I’ll offer this: Monk and Bud Powell wouldn’t kick this modernity-addled Jelly Roll Morton out of bed for eating crackers. Even those high-minded glosses don’t really do the trick. There’s too much hair and sweat on his stuff to make it work in hierarchical terms. He’s an original and remains the throbbing muscle pumping blood through JFJO’s arteries. If anything, he seems more possessed than ever to continue the Odyssey down its own path, finding fresh ways to combine accessibility with innovation, melody with dissembling, the past with the future, all coalescing in the present like a fog that remains but a moment yet drenches us good.” — Dennis Cook, Jambase

“A breadth and vision nearly untouched in modern jazz except by the likes of Wayne Shorter and Bill Frisell.” - Signal to Noise

New interview in State of Mind

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“When Jacob Fred stops evolving‚ that’s when I’ll stop doing it‚” pianist and composer Brian Haas of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey says with as much conviction‚ intensity and humanness as the music he plays. It seems like this band wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t continuous motion and evolution. As surprising and sad it was to hear that bassist and founding member Reed Mathis was leaving the band earlier this year‚ in retrospect‚ it all makes sense. This band lives and breathes vibrant growth. And if it ain’t happening‚ then it ain’t happening.

Reed’s parting shot comes with Winterwood‚ an album that JFJO is giving away as a free download‚ and it brilliantly displays the new sonic experimentations of the band. The atmosphere is modern‚ hip and forward-thinking‚ but still holds the tried and true tradition of jazz. And in that sense‚ it might be where the band’s sound has advanced the most–understanding each other’s space and knowing how to let a killer melody breathe. Listen to the way the band moves and how Haas’ fingers work magic on the Grateful Dead’s “Crazy Fingers” to see what I’m talking about.

With Chris Comb on lap steel and Matt Hayes on upright bass joining Haas and drummer Josh Raymer‚ Jacob Fred is launching full speed ahead into the next chapter. There’s urgency in their music‚ there’s excitement in Haas’s voice‚ and there’s magic happening onstage. Things are moving quickly‚ too. Since my conversation with Haas‚ the band finished their first leg of a successful run of shows‚ offered up the tools to do your own remix of their song “Tetherball Triumph” [see STS9 doing it live during a P.A. set]‚ had guitarist Bill Frisell sit in for some tasty improvisation during their show in Seattle‚ and now Haas is giving away a new album, Petting Sounds‚ an improvised symphony for solo piano that was recorded in one continuous session‚ away as a free download.

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I have played with:

JFJO, Bill Frisell, Scott Amendola, Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore, Marco Benevento, Les Claypool, Mike Dillon, Skerik, Johnny Vidacovich, Karl Denson, Joe Russo, George Garzon, Brad Barr, Marc Friedman, Andrew Barr, Annie Ellicott, Mark Southerland, Jason Fraticelli, etc.

I have toured with:

JFJO, Mike Clark’s Prescription Renewal, Les Claypool, Brian Haas & Friends, The Dead Kenny G’s

I exclusively play Suzuki Melodions