COURTESY OF SO WHAT ENTERTAINMENT CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: BASS PLAYER MATT RUBANO, drummer Erik Egol, keyboardist Jesse Gibbon and guitarist Suke Cerulo have played together for seven years in the jazz band Schleigho.

For more than 10 years the city of Ithaca has been a stepping stone for many up and coming bands. Natalie Merchant performed at the Haunt when she was heading 10,000 Maniacs and so did Pearl Jam. On Nov. 1 the Odyssey will host one of the biggest noise makers in the jazz world of the past few years: Schleigho.

The band, whose name is pronounced shlay-ho, chose to join blues, rock and jazz musician Derek Truck of The Derek Truck Band, son of Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band, as part of its current tour in which it is promoting its new release, “Continent.”

Jesse Hill, one of the managers of the Odyssey, said the band’s management called the club to ask that Schleigho be added to the tour stop and that people have already been asking for tickets since the names of the performers were released.

“People around here know who Schleigho is,” he said. “They are excited to see what [the group is] going to do.”

People might be interested in the band because Schleigho keeps jazz traditions and fundamentals alive, adding the sounds of be-bop and funk to its music. For the new release, record company Flying Frog Records has put together a team of producers headed by the legendary Tom Dowd, who produced for the Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton and John Coltrane.

Dowd’s talent comes out in “Continent.”Although Schleigho does not use lyrics, the fully instrumental CD has a combination of soft ambiance, especially in “Babyman,” which highlights Matt Rubano’s bass playing ability, and faster, electronica injected beats as in “Keep it in the Car,” where Erik Egol drum solos and Jesse Gibson plays keyboard.

“Schleigho has the capacity to wow the most discriminating jazz aficionados, while irresistible grooves appeal readily to teen-age and college crowds,” said Scott Forsyth, the group’s manager. “They hope to rekindle popularity for the musical art, amidst the glitzy pop styling of our culture.”

The members of Schleigho met while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston where they studied under the great jazzman Bob Gulotto.

Its ability to cover standards by the likes of Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and Mahavishnu Orchestra has allowed the members to perform with Bela Fleck, Galactic and Maceo Parker at such important festivals like the NYC Jazz Festival, the High Sierra Music Festival in Bear Valley, Calif., and the Berkshire Mountain Festival in western Mass.

The band’s performance at the Odyssey is part of a 2000 tour which will also hit other clubs and bars in upstate New York. The show starts at 9 p.m. and costs $10. To obtain specific locations and dates, log on to their Web site at www.schleigho.com.