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We're just trying to evolve and be better people every day. It's a very simple thing. All three of us are individually tired of ourselves being un-evolved. So, it's really a very personal thing for us. We three are learning to evolve and we're lucky that we have this music to help us through this process. I'd be doing the same basic process if I were a construction worker or a landscape architect or an accountant. God willing, I'd still hopefully be evolving.
-Brian Haas |
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Different Sandboxes
After years of non-stop touring, the trio has been spending a chunk of their musical time apart lately. Haas has toured both solo and with the Dead Kenny Gs, a madhouse combo with saxophone wunderkind Skerik and percussion genius Mike Dillon. Smart has been gigging with veteran pianists while home, done several stints with Robert Walter's 20th Congress, and a duo with wordsmith Al Howard ("At some point I envision some sort of Band of Gypsies band behind Al instead of the jam thing," says Smart). Mathis has made a splash in the jam world in a new quartet with guitar god Steve Kimock. Rather than putting distance between the band members, these extracurricular activities have only made the boys appreciate their primary gig all the more.
Kimock and Mathis |
"The whole thing with us playing with side projects wasn't planned. It's just beautiful cosmic accidents that came at the right times for all of us. We're all better musicians for it," says Haas. "Now when we get back together it's enabled it to evolve quicker. There's a lot less stagnation going on, though stagnation is part of any artistic process. It's the honesty of the ying and the yang. When we're back together the spiritual connection is even more obvious. Like the Tao Te Ching says, if you wish to expand something you must first shrink it. That's what we're learning. It's not something discussed much in capitalism where the status quo mentality is work, work, work, push, push, push. If you do that with art you're going to ruin it."
Haas continues, "I just stay open to the bad asses I play with, which is the whole tradition of jazz – learning everyone else's magic and making it your own. What we've noticed from Jacob Fred land is when we get back together the music's fresher, more relaxed, and we listen to each other more intently. Being away from each other causes us to miss each other. When we were doing 250 shows a year together I didn't know I could miss Reed or Jason."
Smart and Russo by Kevin Quinn |
Smart picks it up, "The time I spent with Robert Walter got me thinking much more about what constitutes a slammin' groove. He and Cheme [saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum] are doctors of that stuff. Instead of just playing free or locking into a groove for like four measures like [JFJO] used to do, now we're trying to play more textural music that has a groove for a longer period of time. It's a different vibe than if you're just avant and constantly switching every four bars. As we get older we want to try different things. The drums are a very earthy instrument and Robert helped me realize that facet. I had forgotten that for a while."
"I'm learning about leaving space, letting things develop," says Smart. "I'll be chomping at the bit to try all the stuff I've been thinking about but sometimes you force things into places they shouldn't be. It's good to breathe and remember, 'I'll play tomorrow, and hopefully, health willing, for a lot of years.' I don't have to play every lick I know now. I can develop things over many tours, with many ensembles."
Kimock and Mathis |
On the Kimock band, Mathis observes, "That's a real different scenario. Kimock's band is a lot more adept at playing song forms. Jacob Fred has a real heavy Jackson Pollock thing that's hard to get away from. In the Kimock band there's lots of composed tunes. I've never been in a group like that before outside of playing classical music. We're able to really sculpt stuff, rehearsing for 10 hours a day for three days to fine-tune things. Writing for that group is more like writing for a pop group. With Jacob Fred, I kind of shoot myself in the foot if I give us too much to do."
"Steve is the most confident improviser I've ever shared the stage with. That's been a huge eye-opener," says Mathis. "There's a patience and a sense of being a servant to the song that's new to me. He doesn't really flex too often. When we're driving from city to city, he sits in the back of the RV and practices all day. He plays circles around guys you'd consider chopsy guitar players. Kimock has that locked down in his sleep but it's not how he performs. You'll almost never hear a hint of that technique in his improvising. That's huge and has influenced the way I play."
Smart concludes, "I feel it's great for us to play with other people. It just adds to what we can do. It definitely doesn't take away anything. We're really good friends but even good friends can't spend every second together. Having time apart means we have so much to say to each other when we're together."
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