Brian Haas

Brian Haas
Background information
Birth name	Brian Roy Haas
Born	(1974-03-18) March 18, 1974 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Genres	Jazz, pop, rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Royal Potato Family
Website	www.brianroyhaas.com

Brian Roy Haas (born March 18, 1974) is an American jazz pianist and founding member of the band Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey.

Early years

Haas spent his formative years in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. He began studying classical piano at age five. He won local and regional piano competitions at a young age. When he was sixteen, he won the Oklahoma Concerto Competition. He performed with the Tulsa Philharmonic.^[1]

After graduating from high school, he received a scholarship to study classical music at the University of Tulsa, but while in college he became interested in jazz and switched his major.^[2] In 1993 he founded the Sphere Jazz Quartet. During the following summer he was accepted by the Aspen Music Festival and School to study composition with Lukas Foss.

He formed the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey with members of the Sphere Jazz Quartet and Matthew Edwards, Rod Mackey, Reed Mathis, and Kyle Wright.

Haas signed with Rykodisc/Hyena Records, which released his first album, The Truth About Hollywood (2005)^[2], a combination of Hass's compositions and cover versions of songs by Thelonious Monk.^[3] He toured to support the album, performing at the Blue Note in New York, the Zeitgeist Gallery in Boston, and the Hot House in Chicago. During the tour he was joined by guest musicians Fareed Haque, Marco Benevento, Mike Dillon, Marc Friedman, Joe Russo, and Skerik. In 2006 Haas toured as a founding member of The Dead Kenny G's with Skerik on saxophone and Mike Dillon on drums.

Haas released Petting Sounds (2009), an improvised symphony for solo piano that was recorded in one session. The album was recorded in Ojai, California, in 2008 at the Institute for Universal Healing Arts with the same UA mixing board that was used for the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. The album was produced by Teddy Jack Russell and Brian Haas.

In September 2009 JFJO released the EP One Day in Brooklyn, marking their debut on Kinnara Records.

2010 to present

In 2010 Haas played on and executive produced JFJO's "The Sensation of Seeing Light", a 7" vinyl single, for Record Store Day in April, as well as the JFJO LP Stay Gold. In October 2010, after the last JFJO tour of the year, Haas played a number of duo shows around Los Angeles with DJ Jeremy Sole, including the KCRW Halloween Ball and an opening set for Beats Antique.

In January 2011 JFJO recorded a suite of music based on the Tulsa Race Riot.^[4] The Race Riot Suite debuted live on May 20, 2011 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. The album reached No. 1 on the CMJ Jazz chart.

Hass has worked with Scott Amendola, Andrew Barr, Brad Barr, Marco Benevento, Bluetech, Bonerama, Mike Clark, Les Claypool, Karl Denson, Mike Dillon, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Annie Ellicott, John Ellis, Eskmo, Robin Eubanks, Jason Fraticelli, Marc Friedman, Bill Frisell, Galactic, George Garzon, Cochemea Gastelum, Charlie Hunter, Kirk Joseph, Elliot Levin, Joseph "Zigaboo" Modileste, moe., Stanton Moore, Rebirth Brass Band, Joe Russo, John Scofield, Skerik, Mark Southerland, Vibesquad, Johnny Vidacovich, and Welder.

Discography

References

External links

• Official site