This is certainly an event that Jazz Butcher fans never expected to witness again, since the effervescent Pat Fish - sole constant member, songwriter and, for all intents and purposes, the Jazz Butcher himself - brought his “band” to a close three years ago. Moreover, the band had not toured stateside since 1992, aside from a pair of one-offs last year. Fish has assembled no mere pickup band for this special five-city reunion tour (of sorts); infact, it’s the most talent- and star-packed lineup in the band’s long and winding history. Longtime member Owen Jones and brothers David J and Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets) will be on board, along with guitarist Max Eider, who served as Fish’s main sidekick during the Butcher’s early years. Upon Eider’s departure in 1986 (following a bout of drunken fisticuffs, according to band lore), the Butcher was never quite the same band. Even though Fish would go on to write some of his best music, the group missed Eider’s fluid, jazzy flourishes and drinking partnership.

The black sheep of Creation Records for the past decade, the Jazz Butcher was a personal favorite of label owner Alan McGee, who was forced to finally drop it from the roster in 1996 after the label's post-Oasis corporate face-lift. But throughout the ‘80s and "90s, the Jazz Butcher quietly plowed its own furrow, leaving behind a catalog of classic drinking songs, timeless ballads (principally concerned with love, sex and travel) and playful bombast that consistently found favor throughout the odd corners of Europe and on American college radio. Indeed, it’s hard to avoid the term “cult artist” when talking about the Jazz Butcher - vinyl versions of its early albums regularly fetch upward of $100 on eBay, as they have never been available on CD. (Hello, record companies?)

On this tour, fans can look forward to plenty of JB classics (indeed, many of which this particular lineup had a hand in). Reports from the tour's-first show in L.A. found them unearthing the likes of "Jazz Butcher vs. Count Dracula," "Real Men" and their rousing cover of "Roadrunner." But the highlights will certainly be signature tunes such as "Partytime," "Drink" and, one can only hope, "Southern Mark Smith."