Saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and producer
Darius Jones has been an integral member of Brooklyn, New York's jazz community since 2005. He has composed, performed, and recorded in a variety of settings that include vanguard and contemporary jazz groups, electro-acoustic and chamber ensembles, multi-media events, dance troupes, and vocal groups. He co-founded free jazz/avant-rock quartet
Little Women, whose three-album discography includes 2007's Teeth, 2010's
Throat, and 2013's
Lung. In 2009,
Jones signed with Aum Fidelity and released his widely acclaimed trio debut,
Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing), the first in a series of conceptually linked albums devoted to Afro-Futurist music and images. In 2011, he issued
Cosmic Lieder and
Darkseid Recital in duo with pianist
Matthew Shipp, and a trio offering in
Big Gurl (Smell My Dream).
Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) appeared in 2012. His vocal quartet, the
Elizabeth-Caroline Unit (founded four years earlier), released their debut,
The Oversoul Manual, in 2014. The intricate vocal work, utilizing a created language, premiered to a packed house at Carnegie Hall and received a standing ovation.
Jones followed with 2015's
Le Bébé De Brigitte (Lost in Translation), a quartet offering that featured the voice of French vanguard composer
Emilie Lesbros. He spent six years touring and working in the bands of
Marc Ribot,
Nasheet Waits, and
Eric Revis. In 2021
Jones released his
Northern Spy debut, a solo saxophone outing titled Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation).
Jones was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1975. He began playing saxophone in the sixth grade. Two years later he started playing in church and did so until he began attending Virginia Commonwealth University. While still in school,
Jones joined the rock collective
Tanakh and made his recording debut on 2002's
Villa Claustrophobia. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies in 2003, he cut
Dieu Deuil and a self-tilted double-length with
Tanakh in 2004 before moving to Brooklyn in 2005. His neighbor introduced him to future roommate, painter and visual artist Randal Wilcox. The pair began the conversation that led to the rise of
Jones' The Man’ish Boy, an epic, ongoing musical series conceived to encompass nine albums.
Jones continued his education at New York University and made his mark on the music scene early on. He contributed to
Tanakh's
Saunders Hollows in 2006 and joined Mike Pride's from Bacteria to Boys to appear on Hang. He also co-founded the avant-rock/free jazz ensemble
Little Women with drummer
Jason Nazary, guitarist
Ben Greenberg, and tenor saxophonist
Travis LaPlante. Teeth, their debut album, was released in 2007.
In 2008,
Jones earned a master's degree in Jazz Performance/Composition and taught New Music Improvisation there for a year as an adjunct professor. He was also awarded the Van Lier Fellowship by Roulette, and used it to launch his chamber ensemble,
Elizabeth-Caroline Unit, a project dedicated to new works for voice. He also produced Android Ascension for Korean jazz vocalist Sunny Kim, and Sugar for Americana artist
Mary Bragg that year.
While playing and recording with the Mara Rosenbloom Quartet and the
Marc Edwards/Weasel Walter Group, he signed to AUM Fidelity in 2009 and issued his debut offering
Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) with drummer
Rakalam Bob Moses and pianist
Cooper-Moore. The initial entry in his projected series, the album's compositions were based on the theme of growing up in the South. He was nominated for a Jazz Journalists Association Award for Up and Coming Artist, and selected as one of Jazz Times' Debut Artists of the Year. The following year,
Little Women -- also signed to AUM Fidelity -- replaced
Greenberg with guitarist
Andrew Smiley and issued
Throat.
Jones appeared on the Pride group's Betweenwhile, joined drummer
William Hooker's ensemble for Earth's Orbit, and cut Blood of the Earth with
Walter and
Edwards.
In 2011, the
Darius Jones Trio (now with
Nazary on drums and
Adam Lane on bass) released
Big Gurl (Smell My Dream), the second entry in the Man'ish Boy concept. The following year,
Jones released two widely acclaimed duo outings with pianist
Matthew Shipp:
Cosmic Lieder and
Darkseid Recital. In 2012 saxophonist founded the quartet
Grass Roots with drummer
Chad Taylor, bassist
Sean Conly and baritone saxophonist
Alex Harding and issued their eponymously titled debut (and third installment in the Man'ish Boy epic)
Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) leading a quartet with
Trevor Dunn,
Ches Smith, and
Matt Mitchell. That year
Jones also contributed to recordings by
the William Parker Orchestra,
Steve Swell,
Federico Ughi, and
Sabir Mateen.
In 2013,
Little Women released
Lung, their final outing, and
Jones played in
Lane's quartet on Absolute Horizon. He recorded Songs from the Ground with the Mara Rosenbloom Quartet and Wheels with the
Oliver Lake Big Band.
Jones also joined drummer
Gerald Cleaver's
Black Host -- alongside
Cooper-Moore and
Brandon Seabrook -- to record and release
Life in the Sugar Candle Mines. The following year he played on 2 by experimental metal-cum-free jazz band Period!, and joined the Eric Revis Quartet on In Memory of Things Yet Seen. In 2014,
Jones' chamber vocal ensemble
Elizabeth-Caroline Unit made their long-awaited recording debut,
The Oversoul Manual. The work's world premier took place at Carnegie Hall in front of a capacity crowd and received a standing ovation and rave reviews across the globe.
In 2015, the
Darius Jones Quartet featuring
Emilie Lesbros recorded
Le Bébé De Brigitte (Lost in Translation) -- a tribute to experimental French singer
Brigitte Fontaine -- as the fifth installment in his Man’ish Boy cycle. He also reprised his recording and touring role with
Swell on Kanreki, and performed live with vocalist
Katja Cruz's band to record her I Am the Wind album. He rejoined
Waits for that year's Between Nothingness and Infinity.
In 2017,
Jones began teaching saxophone and improvisation at Columbia University. He re-teamed with
Revis to play on
Slipknots Through a Looking Glass, and joined guitarist
Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog for What I Did on My Long Vacation and 2021's Hope (which also featured
Syd Straw on vocals). He also worked with Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy on the freely improvised The Myth of Time: An Elastic Experience. That November,
Jones released Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation). His first solo saxophone outing, it was drawn from a deeply emotional live performance during the fall of 2019. Containing four covers of tune that were were composed by "world building" Black artists
Sun Ra,
Ornette Coleman,
Roscoe Mitchell, and
Georgia Anne Muldrow, it also included a reading of the Wayne King-Victor Young standard "Beautiful Love" from the 1930s. ~ Thom Jurek