{"title":"Darius Jones","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"raw-demoon-alchemy-a-lone-operation","title":"Darius Jone - Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eRaw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eharnesses the gamut of raw, unadulterated emotions — suppressed feelings that we’ve all been allowed to “feel” again in the wake of a global pandemic. Born out of a live performance in fall 2019, during the last stop of his tour in Portland, OR, saxophonist Darius Jones renders a solo effort that evokes sadness, rage, and confusion, all the while still holding for glimmers of hope for the future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWith four of its five tracks on \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Jones selects compositions from artists who are not just unapologetically Black but also notably ones that he regards as “world builders.” From Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, and Roscoe Mitchell right up through the present with Georgia Anne Muldrow, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e draws immeasurable strength from each of these artists who dared to envision and create an entire universe unto themselves, on their terms.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“I want to capture a moment in time, to crystallize the beginning of something at the end of something else,” says Jones. Separated and now divorced from his partner of 10 years, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e balances the emotional heft of closure with the simple act of standing alone. Each track unearths a deep and profound vulnerability in every solo performance that isn’t just personal but also delves into the macro-level divisiveness of our current political climate.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWith “Figure No. 2,” Jones offers us a modern-day version of the blues. Courtesy of Muldrow, her refrain encapsulates the vast breadth of the Black experience in America, transforming our deep-seated pain into our beauty and armor of resilience. Jones also proudly rests on the shoulders of Coleman and Mitchell, two of this music’s known improvisers who often stood alone in this music’s ever-changing landscape. He pays homage to Mitchell with “Nonaah,” which in the late 1970s was initially met with jeers from an audience, that is, until his 21+ minute long version overtook them.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003euncovers a duality of what it means to be alone, especially resonant in today’s climate of social distancing. In one turn, we were all forced to put life as we knew it on hold — to simply be still and deal with our emotional realities unencumbered by the distractions of life. But at another turn, Jones taps into an unknown power of his lone voice, finding a newfound strength and enthusiasm that will carry him — and its listeners — beyond the uncertainty and doubt of not knowing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667188543711,"sku":"LP-NS-141","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667188576479,"sku":"CD-NS-141","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667188609247,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667188642015,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/ns141-cover-small-e1646413794315.jpg?v=1703789899"},{"product_id":"fluxkit-vancouver-its-suite-but-sacred","title":"Darius Jones - fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred)","description":"\u003cp\u003eDarius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of Black music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Jones makes his point by showing, not just telling. His compositions are so intensely honed and performed they seem to talk, moan, and cry about intimate experience in ways we might expect to find in novels, not instrumental records.” – Daniel Felsenthal, Pitchfork\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCommissioned by Western Front, an artist-run centre in Vancouver, Canada, with a legacy of continuing support for multidisciplinary exchange, experimentation, and the avant-garde. This project was developed by Darius Jones across a succession of residencies at Western Front in 2019 and 2022.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in June 2022 at Western Front’s Grand Luxe Hall in Vancouver, Canada, fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) is the first collaborative release with Brooklyn-based Northern Spy and Helsinki-based We Jazz Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Harmony Holiday writes in her liner notes, included with this release: “The playing here is gorgeous, but what stands out most is the rigor of the compositions, which feel like tributes to Sun Ra’s call that ‘only the impossible happens.’ Their mood is expansive, gleeful, wistful, sometimes frantic, but so coherent and poised at every turn that all you can do while listening is marvel at this fluency in the language of will and won’t that lives here alone.”\u003cbr\u003ecredits\u003cbr\u003ereleases September 29, 2023\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnsemble Personnel:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDarius Jones (alto saxophone, composer)\u003cbr\u003eGerald Cleaver (drums)\u003cbr\u003eJesse Zubot (violin)\u003cbr\u003eJosh Zubot (violin)\u003cbr\u003ePeggy Lee (cello)\u003cbr\u003eJames Meger (bass)\u003cbr\u003eDesign by Matti Nives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiner Notes by Harmony Holiday.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCover art: Occ6 (2016) by Stan Douglas\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced by Darius Jones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in the Grand Luxe Hall, Western Front on June 25, 2022.\u003cbr\u003eRecording engineer: Sheldon Zaharko, Zed Productions.\u003cbr\u003eMixing engineers: Jesse Zubot and Sheldon Zaharko at The Deep Bay Bunker and Zed Productions.\u003cbr\u003eMastering engineer: Matt Mehlan at The Stuudio.\u003cbr\u003efLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) was commissioned by Western Front.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional development support was provided by Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, and Prof. Kevin McNeilly of the University of British Columbia and the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional support from Robert D. Bielecki Foundation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA special thank you to Aram Bajakian, Ben Wilson, and Susan Gibb for all your hard work and belief in my art. Your support on so many levels helped and inspired me greatly throughout this entire process. To the whole Vancouver community, my heart is full from the love and support you have shown me over so many years. This one is for all of you!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Limited Edition Splatter Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667195228383,"sku":"LP-NS-163-COLOR","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667195261151,"sku":"LP-NS-163","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD+Digital","offer_id":46159561457887,"sku":"CD-NS-163","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667195293919,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667195326687,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a3463292076_10.jpg?v=1720899590"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.northern-spy.com\/collections\/darius-jones.oembed","provider":"Northern Spy Label Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}