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Reviews

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey — Welcome Home
(Accurate Records AC-5033, 1999, CD)

by Jerry Baiden, Published 2000-05-01

Welcome Home Cover art

Youthful energy explodes out of this release by these seven twenty-something Oklahomans. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s Welcome Home is a jazzy blend of free but focused improvisational funk and rock. The album opens up with Kyle Wright’s composition, “Seven Inch Six;” a ditty, of course, in six time. This tune as well as everything else on the album provide a strong improvisational vehicle for the players. “Stomp” is the only tune with vocals. The drummer, Sean Layton, provides the slick and cool, slightly Leon Redbonish with a higher range, vocal delivery. Apparently, some others in the band along with keyboardist Brian Haas are big rap and hip-hop fans. Jacob Fred’s first album, Tokyo, featured rap within the same improvisational environment. This time, with Welcome Home, they elected to leave rap completely out of the picture. Welcome Home is and will be a snapshot of the development of this young band from Tulsa. The keyword here is “young.” Their improvisation skills are full of good ideas and energy, however but, lack the emotional depth of more mature players. Their melodies need work only so much to make them more memorable. Overall, this is a good effort by Jacob Fred and very much worth a listen.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 19, 1999 releases

Related artist(s): Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

 

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