Artistic Director Speaks: Darius Jones
May 30, 2014
Twitter: ken_pickering
June 27, 2014 – The Ironworks – 9pm
"Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the holy ghost." – Albert Ayler
Darius Jones (photo: Michael Lease)
First heard in Vancouver at the kick ass Ironworks show we presented in October of 2010 with his trio, Darius Jones returns to the festival with Tarbaby, one of the heaviest trios in jazz – with Orrin Evans - piano, Eric Revis - bass and Nasheet Waits - drums.
Tarbaby with Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits, Eric Revis
Alto saxophonist Darius Jones is steeped in, but not limited to that amorphous classification that most of us consider to be the jazz tradition. Jones brings the broadest frame of reference imaginable to a wide range of music projects that encapsulate all eras of jazz, blues and funk, noise and beyond that positions his singular artistry squarely in the continuum of (what the Art Ensemble of Chicago called) great black music.
His sound possesses a distinctive sweet, searing vocal quality; having come up in the American south (Richmond, Virginia) Jones is no stranger to the country preachers of the Pentecostal church and in interviews has talked about “speaking in tongues” and “searching for the holy ghost”. (Thus the opening Albert Ayler quote).
It’s no surprise that Darius has studied all of the masters, delving deeply into the music of his saxophone heroes: altos such as Johnny Hodges (his all time favourite?), Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman, to tenor men John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sam Rivers and Sonny Rollins. He feels a kinship to modern tenors – greats of today like Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin and Chris Speed.
The Legendary alto saxophonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra - Johnny Hodges
For Darius, it’s not about aping your heroes, it’s about finding one’s own voice, a notion integral to the best jazz since inception and although aligned with the adventurous or non traditional wing of contemporary jazz most of his music has plenty of structure and swing without quite being straight ahead.
Some of my favourite Darius Jones to date is drenched with that greasy soulful feeling, taking cues from the best soul singers – music that has nothing to prove, that isn’t overly intellectual but moves and touches people where it counts. Check out this video clip at Roulette with his quartet.
Also check out Book of Mae’bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) on Aum Fidelity with the same quartet (Matt Mitchell, Trevor Dunn, Ches Smith) here. When I first encountered this music it reminded me of an album that I first heard and loved when I was in high school at the end of the 60'a by the late alto saxophonist Marion Brown Why Not? on ESP (La Sorrella). Something seemed familiar in the looseness of the swing feel and the bittersweet alto tone shared by both saxophonists that drew me in. I can't say enough about Matt Mitchell - a great pianist that Tim Berne first twigged me to a few years back.
Darius Jones Quartet Book of Mae'bul (on Aum Fidelity with cover art by Randal Wilcox)
Still in his 30’s Darius arrived in NYC in 2005 (in his 20’s), if not fully formed as a musician, still potent, his presence exuded strength and confidence, his talents brought a soulful new blues and gospel drenched take into the scene that slowly brought him support and recognition by his peers and elders. His continued development is based on deepening his historical knowledge, understanding and recognizing the importance of earlier musical forbearers and working with great musicians both young and old.. His fundamentals are sound - he’s primed to be a difference maker in this music. As pianist Cooper-Moore (with the trio Man’ish Boy - Darius and legendary drummer Bobby Moses) said, “Darius knows what the journey is. He knows how far he has to go, and he knows how hard you have to work at it. He knows the tradition and he knows his place. Without being a braggart about it – that he’s going to make a difference.”
Darius Jones (photo: Peter Gannushkin)
A sonic explorer - his influences and interests are wide ranging taking in John Cage and Muddy Waters, Duke Ellington and all of jazz history, Mozart, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Patti Labelle, Nirvana, Lightning Bolt and Prince. He works in selective situations: among them are Mike Pride’s Bacteria to Boys, Eric Revis Quartet, Trevor Dunn’s Proof Readers, the collective quartet Little Women, Man’ish Boy, his own trio and quartet.
Man'ish Boy (cover art by: Randal Wilcox)
The respect that his peers have for this young man – especially among those that are at least a generation older speaks volumes – for instance Matthew Shipp at the 2009 Vision Festival in NYC had this to say. “I’m cynical. But I was completely blown away. My first impression was that Darius was approaching avant-garde playing with an extremely authentic jazz sensibility. His phrasing was so snakelike, elastic and rooted in a Cannonball-ish way that night. I was shocked, because I didn’t expect to hear that from a younger guy.”
The fact that the heavyweights in Tarbaby: Orrin Evans – piano, Eric Revis – bass and Nasheet Waits – drums are in the Darius Jones camp is significant. Tarbaby is a whole other thing that deserves another page or two. YOU NEED TO BE AT THIS SHOW! Darius Jones & Tarbaby will SMOKING HOT! That’s guaranteed.
June 27, 2014 – The Ironworks – 9pm
Steven Joerg's great record label
A big thank you, to our Manager of Artistic Programming - Rainbow Robert for her good taste. Not to mention the significant elbow grease invested into this project thus ensuring that Darius and Tarbaby got the right gigs in Canada.
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