Jazz Articles about Darius Jones

Darius Jones / Matthew Shipp: Cosmic Lieder

by John Sharpe
May 13, 2011

Duets with saxophonists loom large in pianist Matthew Shipp's discography. His first release featured one such with a young Rob Brown--Sonic Explorations (Cadence Jazz, 1988)--and there have been further outings over the years with other reed men, including Roscoe Mitchell, Ivo Perelman, Evan Parker and Sabir Mateen. To add to that impressive roster comes a worthy addition in Cosmic Lieder, with talented newcomer alto saxophonist Darius Jones, who received serious plaudits for his stunning 2009 debut Man'ish Boy (A Raw ...

Mike Pride's From Bacteria to Boys: Betweenwhile

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 23, 2011

Ha offerto i suoi servigi alla corte di sua maestà Anthony Braxton così come ha scatenato la sua batteria per gli MDC, leggende del punk-rock americano. E' pressoché impossibile incasellare un'artista come Mike Pride e altrettanto impossibile immaginare in anticipo la musica contenuta nei suoi CD. From Bacteria to Boys, nato come trio e qui in versione quartetto, è, tra i gruppi dell'estroso batterista di Portland, quello più esplicitamente jazz. E infatti l'ascolto dell'iniziale “Kancamagus" sembra avvalorare appieno questa idea. ...

Darius Jones: From Johnny Hodges To Noise Jazz

by AAJ Staff
January 11, 2011

Alto saxophonist Darius Jones--who won most critics' nomination for the best jazz newcomer album of 2009 for Man'ish Boy (A Raw And Beautiful Thing) (AUM Fidelity, 2009)--is a great fan of Johnny Hodges. He says that the lyrical Duke Ellington altoist is his hero, and this is pleasantly noticeable at the beginning of Man'ish Boy. It is also a good thing; not only did Hodges possess one of the most beautiful sounds in music, but Jones' focus on Hodges-like bends ...

Little Women: Throat

by AAJ Italy Staff
July 21, 2010

Con una copertina molto à la ESP, l'etichetta di Giuseppi Logan e Patty Waters (ma anche di Ornette, Ayler, Sun Ra, e tanti altri), ecco un album che, come appunto quel glorioso modello, ha l'invidiabile pregio di non (voler) essere in alcun modo ammiccante, rassicurante, omologato; e invece, ruvido, magmatico, torvo, rovente, tra schizofrenia e turgore, sacralità laica e sberleffo iconoclasta. Vi si rincorrono due ance al calor bianco, allucinate (per lo più), una chitarra rovente/rantolante e una batteria secca, ...

Darius Jones: Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing)

by John Sharpe
December 9, 2009

Matthew Shipp once opined that Darius Jones arrived on the scene fully formed, and that is not far from the truth. His first appearance of note was at the 2008 Vision Festival, as part of trumpeter Lewis Barnes' Hampton Roads, confirming that Virginia native Jones was indeed the real McCoy. This debut recording with his own trio, which was a high point of the 2009 Vision Festival, backs that up with one of the strongest offerings of the year.

An ...

Darius Jones: Man'ish Boy

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 9, 2009

Nel suo primo CD da leader Darius Jones, contraltista e compositore trasferitosi da Richmond a New York nel 2005, si rivela uno strumentista notevolissimo. Non sono certo gli impianti tematici e strutturali a costituire l'aspetto innovativo e rilevante di Man'ish Boy, inciso in studio nell'aprile 2009: si tratta infatti di nuclei melodico-ritmici semplici e insistiti, ideali però per nutrire gli sviluppi improvvisativi. Sono appunto questi ultimi, fervidi e variati, mai occasionali, a rappresentare una densa, avvincente sintesi musicale. L'indispensabile interplay ...

Darius Jones: Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing)

by Andrey Henkin
October 14, 2009

Darius Jones sounds like it could be the name of an itinerant preacher or maybe a character in a Flannery O'Connor short story. Neither is actually that much of a stretch after hearing the alto saxophonist's debut as a leader, Man'ish Boy. Throughout run the concurrent threads of celebration and foreboding that exist in the rural south from whence Jones hails. Readers may know Jones best for his work in the two-sax onslaught known as Little Women ...