Darius Jones

The intergenerational partnership of alto saxophonist Darius Jones and pianist Matthew Shipp seamlessly meshes the talents of two of the most gifted and restlessly inventive instrumentalists-composers-improvisers-leaders working today. This singular duo project was first revealed in 2011 on their 13-part song cycle Cosmic Lieder, which was rightfully hailed as an original and compelling work of great emotional and intellectual heft. "It fascinates for its emotional and conceptual richness," wrote the BBC's Kevin Le Gendre. Jazziz' Jeff Jackson added, “they pack more genuine drama into three minutes than many performers could create in an entire album.” And Jason Bivens offered in Dusted, "These duo performances are truly sympathetic and move at the molecular level, making each piece wonderfully dense with information and ideas."

Since that first communion, Jones & Shipp have continued to develop their distinct song world live in performance. "The Darkseid Recital" is their new set of cosmic lieder, triple-distilled from recordings of astonishing NYC engagements at Jazz Standard and The Stone. The songs’ approaches here range from lyrical & gentle ear blessings to liquid flows of notes designed for caress to a full-frequency of human hearing range intensity that can potentially be quite frightening. All of them are rendered with exquisite control of touch & breath on their respective instruments and a laser-sharp focused intent toward communication, resulting in an album that is suffused with the sounds of both warm embrace and a mutual cognizance of the dark energy that humanity is fraught with.

PERSONNEL:

DARIUS JONES, alto saxophone
MATTHEW SHIPP, piano

TRACKS:

01. Celestial Fountain
02. 2,327,694,748
03. Granny Goodness
04. Gardens of Yivaroth
05. Lord of Woe
06. Life Equation
07. Sepulchre of Mandrakk
08. Divine Engine
09. Novu’s Final Gift