Results for "Jonah Parzen-Johnson"

Jonah Parzen-Johnson

Jonah Parzen-Johnson

Born: May 26, 1988

Jonah Parzen-Johnson is a saxophonist living in Brooklyn, NY. He writes lofi music for solo saxophone and analog synthesizer. Imagine the raw energy of an Appalachian Folk choir, tempered by a lofi, minimal aesthetic inspired by the music of Bill Callahan. His carefully assembled analog synthesizer breathes with his saxophone, building independent melodic layers to support his sound, or soaring above his extended technique driven saxophone playing. All performed live, without any looping or recorded samples. A Chicago native, Jonah’s circular breathing, multi-phonics and impossibly nimble vocalization owes a debt to the Chicago saxophone legacy, but his devotion to a quirky almost vocal style places him in new territory for the solo saxophone

You're Never Really Alone

By Jonah Parzen-Johnson

Label: We Jazz Records
Released: 2024
Track listing: When I Feel Like Myself; There Is So Much I'm Afraid Of; Not Writing About This; Everyone Is Somewhere; The Courage Song; There Is So Much I Regret; What They Love; Named For You.

Jonah Parzen-Johnson: You're Never Really Alone

by Karl Ackermann
April 3, 2024

You're Never Really Alone is the seventh solo album from baritone saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson. “Solo" is misleading as Parzen-Johnson's nuanced use of electronics has consistently added the kind of multiple dimensions that belie the work of a single player. This album, in contrast, is wholly acoustic but showcases Parzen-Johnson's remarkable ability to create enigmatic, deeply moving ...

Friendship Music for Turkey

Label: Self Produced
Released: 2023
Track listing: Giant's Sleep; Roots.

Karl Ackermann's Best Creative Music Of 2023

by Karl Ackermann
December 26, 2023

2023 was an exceptional year for pushing envelopes. The music took leaps backward and forwards in time, espousing social consciousness while embracing fundamentals laid down by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. What distinguishes this year from the pre-pandemic era is the palpable feeling that artists vented in the form of fresh enthusiasm that ...

Berke Can Özcan, Jonah Parzen-Johnson: Friendship Music for Turkey

by Karl Ackermann
March 30, 2023

The Brooklyn-based Chicagoan Jonah Parzen-Johnson has created clever, thought-provoking lo-fi music across all six of his previous releases. Each is a solo performance with Parzen-Johnson on baritone saxophone and a customized analog synthesizer. His work is entirely unique, but with a passing nod to the birthright of great Chicago saxophonists. Istanbul's Berke Can Özcan is a ...

Music For Ukraine

by Ian Patterson
March 29, 2022

Music For Ukraine is a benefit album whose proceeds are intended solely for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. This gargantuan compilation features artists from the roster of Finnish label We Jazz Records. The twenty-six tracks--contemporary jazz for the most part, with the odd foray into modern chamber and electronica- tinged experimentalism--amount to two-and-a-half hours of compelling music. ...

Solo Recordings for Non-Traditionalists

by Karl Ackermann
January 30, 2021

On January 24, 1975, a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano was to be wheeled onto the stage of the Cologne Opera House. Instead, a rehearsal piano, smaller, beaten-up, and out of tune, was the only instrument available to then twenty-nine-year-old piano prodigy Keith Jarrett. The pianist was not in much better shape than the piano. ...

Imagine Giving Up

By Jonah Parzen-Johnson

Label: We Jazz Records
Released: 2020
Track listing: Finding the Feeling; Focus Re-Focus; Everything is Everything Else; Up; The Smile When You Fall; Stand Still.