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Darius Jones
He joined the New York music community in 2005, after living and studying in Richmond, Va. Darius comes from a diverse musical background that has lead to his unique, alternative, and soulful approach to music. Jones has composed and performed in a wide variety of areas such as electro-acoustic music, chamber ensembles, contemporary jazz groups, avant-garde jazz groups, modern dance performances, and multi-media events.
Darius enjoys playing with a steady group of artists and improvisers. The current bands Jones works with are the Cooper-Moore Trio, Mike Pride’s From Bacteria to Boys, Nioka Workman’s House Arrest Band, William Hooker’s Bliss Quartet, Trevor Dunn’s Proof Readers, The Hub, Lewis Barnes' Hampton Roads, and Period.
Darius has collaborated with Andrew D'angelo, Esther Lamneck, William Parker, Flip Barnes, Jim Black, Charlie Looker, Dafna Naphtali, Sam Hilmer, Weasal Walters, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, S.E.M Ensemble, Lisle Ellis, Rob Brown, Warren Smith, Alex Waterman, etc.
In New York, Darius has produced records for Korean jazz vocalist Sunny Kim and country-folk artist Mary Bragg. Jones has performed in Italy, France, U.S. and Canada.
Jones has a band with Travis LaPlante, Ben Greenberg, and Jason Nazary called Little Women, which recently went on a national tour to promote the release of their first record Teeth on Sockets and Gilgongo Records. Jones is the recent winner of the Van Lier Fellowship awarded by Roulette.
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Music from Favourite Recordings played on One Man’s Jazz in 2024
by Maurice Hogue
Adding to the countless lists of “best-of"s for 2024, here are almost three hours of music from my favourite recordings of 2024. (See the One Man's Jazz web site for the full list.) The only album not among the favourites is the very recently received Landloper by famed bassist Arild Andersen; it's solo deliciousness. Playlist Luke Stewart Silt Trio “Unknown Rivers" from Unknown Rivers (Pi Recordings) 00:00 Host speaks 04:28 Patricia Brennan “555" from Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic) 06:37 ...
Continue ReadingJazzFest Berlin 2024
by John Sharpe
JazzFest Berlin 2024 Haus Der Berliner Festspiele Berlin, Germany October 31-November 3, 2024 Intro For its sixtieth edition, the renowned JazzFest Berlin not only presented a full program of 24 shows by over 120 performers from around the globe, but also ran a research lab looking back at the event's history, and organized a series of participatory community events in the nearby district of Moabit. Not that it in any way needed to gild the ...
Continue ReadingDarius Jones: Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)
by Jerome Wilson
As Darius Jones' new album shows, even the most harrowing music can serve as a form of healing, The alto saxophonist has released a trio album that draws from his attempts to deal with personal mental trauma via a daunting musical journey that begins in screams and ends with serenity. This album is the seventh volume in Jones' nine-volume Man'ish Boy series of releases. Working in a trio format with Gerald Cleaver on drums and Chris Lightcap on ...
Continue ReadingRyuichi Sakamoto, The Ize Trio, Jack Wood, & Nichaud Fitzgibbon, Darius Jones, Tommy Smith and John Taylor
by Cheryl K.
During this week's two-hour program of jazz and improvised music, two selections from two releases by the late Japanese pianist and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; the Boston, MA-based collective The Ize Trio; vocalists Jack Wood & Nichaud Fitzgibbon; composer & alto saxophonist Darius Jones; and saxophonist Tommy Smith and pianist John Taylor. Playlist Ryuichi Sakamoto “A Brief Encounter" from Coda (WeWantSounds) 2:28 Ryuichi Sakamoto “Lack of Love" from Opus (Milan) 4:53 Yonathan Avishai “La Mélancolie" from Shapes and Sounds ...
Continue ReadingDarius Jones, Thumbscrew, Oaagaada & Kira Kira
by Maurice Hogue
These two hours are filled with amazing music. Alto saxophonist Darius Jones continues his Man'ish Boy series with his new Legend of E-Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye). I'll be amazed if this doesn't show up on most best-of lists for 2024. It's Darius in his finest form. Thumbscrew's work is impeccable too, and their new Wingbeats continues the trio's run of brilliant releases--they're simply one of the finest trios. The Finnish Quartet, Oaagaada, finally solves the mystery of what this band's ...
Continue ReadingJazz Cerkno 2024
by Ziga Koritnik
A collection of photos from the Jazz Cerkno 2024 in Slovenia from May 16, 2024 to May 18, 2024 which featured Darius Jones Trio with Darius Jones, Gerald Cleaver, Bostjan Gombac; Radian with Martin Brandlmayr, Martin Siewert, John Norman; Ill Considered with Idris Rahman, Liran Donin, Emre Ramazanoglu; Musho with Sofia Jernberg, Alexander Hawkins; and theRok Zalokar Zhlehtet with Bostjan Simon, Kristijan Kranjcan and Rok Zalokar. ...
Continue Reading2023 Look Back
by David Brown
For this week's show, let's look back at 2023 and give a listen to projects that stuck with me in my listening. This is not a best of the year list. I think of it more of a revisiting of excellent works that I would highly recommend. Welcome friends and neighbors to The Jazz Continuum. Old, new, in, out... wherever the music takes us. Each week, we will explore the elements of jazz from a historical perspective. Playlist ...
Continue ReadingDarius Jones' New Album To Be Released August 21 On AUM Fidelity
Source:
Steven Joerg
On August 21, 2015, AUM Fidelity will release alto saxophonist-composer Darius Jones' new album, the 5th installment in his ongoing Man'ish Boy epic. This acclaimed series began in 2009 with his debut, Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing), and shall be comprised of nine albums. This release arrives soundly at the mid-way point with aplomb. Le bébé de Brigitte (Lost in Translation) is performed by the Darius Jones Quartet featuring Emilie Lesbros. As ever with Jones’ work, the compositional ...
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Darius Jones To World Premiere New Work, The Oversoul Manual, At Roulette, Brooklyn On March 6
Source:
Steven Joerg
On Thursday, March 6, composer-alto saxophonist Darius Jones will present the world premiere of The Oversoul Manual at Roulette in Brooklyn. An a cappella work crafted in and utilizing a heretofore unheard alien language, it will be performed by his all-female vocal quartet, The Elizabeth-Caroline Unit, featuring Amirtha Kidambi, Sarah Martin, Jean-Carla Rodea, Kristin Slipp. Introducing a new verse and set of characters in Jones' ongoing Man'ish Boy epic, The Oversoul Manual signifies both an elemental part of his mythology ...
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Darius Jones - Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) (Aum Fidelity, 2011)
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Music and More by Tim Niland
Since alto saxophonist Darius Jones moved north from Virginia to New York City in 2005, he has created quite a splash with his own work as a leader and sideman, and as part of the punk-jazz collective Little Women. Accompanied by his working band which consists of Adam Lane on bass and Jason Nazary on drums, the music has the spaciousness to move from bop-based jazz to free music, using space as a malleable entity. Jones uses his raw saxophone ...
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Darius Jones Trio Comes to Outpost 186, Cambridge Friday October 14th
Source:
Chris Rich
Rob Chalfen & Subconscious Cafe new music presents the Darius Jones Trio. “Some of most beautiful sounds ever committed to disc" —John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com) “An incredible recording that will make you sing, make you weep and make you marvel" —Jason Crane, PopDose.com Darius Jones is an extraordinarily gifted young alto saxophonist and composer; Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) is his remarkable debut as a leader. Jones joined the New York music community in 2005, after living and studying ...
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Darius Jones Trio - Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) (2011)
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Something Else!
Darius Jones might be the fastest rising star in the whack jazz world or at least, the fastest rising alto saxophonist within that realm.Man'ish Boy (A Raw And Beautiful Thing)) and a great, primal punk jazz album last year with Little Women, Jones solidified his position among the current crop of improvised music heavies earlier this year with his terrific duo record with Matthew Shipp, Cosmic Lieder. Given all that, his next solo record is bound to get more attention, ...
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Darius Jones and Matthew Shipp - Cosmic Lieder (Aum Fidelity, 2011)
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Music and More by Tim Niland
Alto Saxophonist Darius Jones has made quite a splash for himself in the avant- jazz scene, with his debut album Mannish Boy and his playing in the extraordinary collective Little Women.
Joining forces with the great pianist Matthew Shipp was a masterstroke, as the two musicians complement and combat each other on a series of thirteen short improvisations. Jones and Shipp start off slowly like two boxers feeling each other out in the early rounds of a bout, before delving ...
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Darius Jones and Matthew Shipp - Cosmic Lieder (2011)
Source:
Something Else!
By S. Victor Aaron Going from unknown two years ago to co-leading a duet record with Matthew Shipp is a meteoric rise in the avant jazz world, much less any world, but that's just what alto saxophonist has accomplished in this short time frame. In the fall of 2009, Jones released his debut album, the critically praised Man'Ish Boy. I managed to miss out on that one, but stumbled upon him on two occasions last year when examining new releases ...
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"Man'ish Boy" Saxophonist Darius Jones Interviewed at All About Jazz
Source:
John Kelman
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 ...
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Darius Jones Trio to Play New York, Seattle and Vancouver in October
Source:
Improvised Communications
Two weeks from tonight, on October 14th, alto saxophonist/composer Darius Jones and his working trio, featuring bassist Adam Lane and drummer Jason Nazary, will perform at SALT Space in New York as part of Destination:Out's new Loft/Lab concert series. The following week, the band (with Ryan Sawyer sitting in for Nazary) will make its first-ever trip to the West Coast for dates at The Ironworks in Vancouver (10/22) and the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle (10/23). Jones is a rising ...
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"4-Stars. Today, he demonstrates that his musical persona will not be easily pigeonholed." —DOWNBEAT, Alain Drouot
"Equally earthy and avant-garde .. intellectually stimulating [though] anything but academic .. Jones can keen, weep, caress–and cut, too. The appealing unruliness to his music coexists with authority." —JAZZTIMES, Carlo Wolff
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Darius Jones
Location: New York City
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Publicist: Fully Altered Media
