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.