# Darius Jones (saxophonist)

Darius Jones (born May 3, 1978) is an American saxophonist, composer, and professor of African-American music.
Jones has been recognized for work ranging from solo saxophone to chamber and vocal ensembles, with musical interests including Black music, avant garde music, and experimental music. His compositions and recordings have been included in best-of lists in publications including NPR Music, The Wire, and PopMatters, and his live performances have been acknowledged as among the year's best in The New York Times.
In 2024, Jones was announced as incoming Assistant Professor of Music at Wesleyan University.

## Life and career

Jones was born in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies in 2003.
Jones moved to New York City in 2005. In 2008, he was awarded a Van Lier Fellowship and earned a Master of Arts in Jazz Performance/Composition from New York University. He received the French-American Jazz Exchange Award in 2013 and a Jerome Foundation Commission in 2014.
Jones taught saxophone and improvisation at Columbia University in 2017. The following year, Jones received a Harvard University Fromm Music Foundation commission and joined the faculty at The New School, where he taught in the College of Performing Arts and Contemporary Music.
Jones has presented and performed major compositional works throughout the United States and Canada, including during Western Front residencies in Vancouver in 2019 and 2022. Jones was the inaugural Artist-in-Residence and curator for the 2022 MATA Festival.
In 2024, Jones was announced as incoming Assistant Professor of Music at Wesleyan University.
Jones' musical collaborations include performing with Matthew Shipp, the quartet Grass Roots, and the punk-jazz quartet Little Women. Jones has composed for and worked on projects in new music, contemporary and avant-garde jazz groups, chamber ensembles, modern dance performance and multi-media.
Notable releases include Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing), his debut album as a leader (AUM Fidelity, 2009); Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) (AUM Fidelity, 2011); Raw Demoon Alchemy (a lone operation), his first solo saxophone project (Northern Spy Records, 2021); and the four track LP fLuXkit Vancouver (-i-t-s- suite but sacred), co-released in 2023 by Northern Spy Records and WeJazz.

## Discography
### As leader/co-leader

| Release year | Artist | Title | Label | Notes |
| 2007 | Little Women | Teeth | Sockets | Jones, Travis Laplante (tenor sax), Ben Greenberg (guitar), Jason Nazary (drums) |
| 2009 | Darius Jones Trio | Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Cooper-Moore (piano, diddley-bo), Rakalam Bob Moses (drums) |
| 2010 | Little Women | Throat | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Laplante (tenor sax), Andrew Smiley (guitar), Nazary (drums) |
| 2011 | Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp | Cosmic Lieder | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Shipp (piano) |
| 2011 | Darius Jones Trio | Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Adam Lane (bass), Nazary (drums) |
| 2012 | Darius Jones Quartet | Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Matt Mitchell (piano), Trevor Dunn (bass), Ches Smith (drums) |
| 2012 | Grass Roots | Grass Roots | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Sean Conly (bass), Alex Harding (baritone sax), Chad Taylor (drums) |
| 2013 | Little Women | Lung | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Laplante (tenor sax), Smiley (guitar), Nazary (drums) |
| 2014 | Darius Jones & Matthew Shipp | The Darkseid Recital | AUM Fidelity | Jones, Shipp (piano) |
| 2014 | Darius Jones | The Oversoul Manual | AUM Fidelity | Composer; performed by The Elizabeth-Caroline Unit: Amirtha Kidambi, Sarah Martin, Jean Carla Rodea, Kristin Slipp (voice) |
| 2015 | Darius Jones Quartet | Le bébé de Brigitte | AUM Fidelity | Mitchell (piano), Conly (bass), Pascal Niggenkemper (bass), Smith (drums), ft. Emilie Lesbros (voice, piano) |
| 2021 | Darius Jones | Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation) | Northern Spy | Solo |
| 2023 | Darius Jones | fLuXkit Vancouver (-i-t-s suite but sacred) | Northern Spy / WeJazz | Composer, Darius Jones (alto saxophone) with Gerald Cleaver (drums), Jesse Zubot (violin), Josh Zubot (violin), Peggy Lee (cello), James Meger (bass) |
| 2024 | Darius Jones | Legend of E'boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) | AUM Fidelity | Composer, Darius Jones (alto saxophone) with Gerald Cleaver (drums), Chris Lightcap (bass) |

### As sideman

| Release | Leader | Title | Label |
| 2023 | Matana Roberts | Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden | Constellation Records |
| 2021 | Marc Ribot | Hope | Northern Spy |
| 2020 | Eric Revis | Slipknots Through a Looking Glass | Pyroclastic Records |
| 2019 | Fay Victor | Barn Songs | Northern Spy |
| 2016 | Nasheet Waits | Between Nothingness and Infinity | Laborie Jazz |
| 2014 | Eric Revis | In Memory of Things Yet Seen | Clean Feed |
| 2013 | Gerald Cleaver | Life in the Sugar Candle Mines | Northern Spy |
| 2010 | William Hooker | Earth's Orbit | NoBusiness |
| 2013 | Adam Lane | Absolute Horizon | NoBusiness |
| 2013 | Sabir Mateen | The Sabir Mateen Jubilee Ensemble | Not Two |
| 2013 | William Parker | Essence of Ellington | Centering |
| 2010 | Mike Pride | Betweenwhile | AUM Fidelity |
| 2013 | Mara Rosenbloom | Songs from the Ground | Fresh Sound New Talent |
| 2012 | Federico Ughi | Songs for Four Cities | Skycap |