Apex of avant-garde sounds

Photo: alternatorcentre.com

World renowned saxophonist and composer Darius Jones will be giving a very special solo performance on March 12th in the Pyramid at the Summerhill Winery in Kelowna. This concert is the twenty-sixth installment of the Skin And Bones Music Series.  Now in its third year of production, Skin And Bones is an Okanagan Arts Award nominated concert series dedicated to the presentation of experimental music in the Okanagan, produced through the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art.  

Darius Jones is an internationally recognized alto saxophonist and composer who has been described as having the opulent fluidity of Johnny Hodges but with “a knack for flipping innocent melodic utterances into lines fraught with chancy harmonic and rhythmic ambiguities…”  (Philip Clark, The Wire Magazine.) Since 2005 Jones has been an integral part of the New York creative music scene, appearing on many critically acclaimed albums.  Darius’ rich plaintive tone is unmistakable in any ensemble, making him one of the most expressively emotive saxophonists in the avant-jazz world.  In addition to leading his own quartet/trio, Jones is a member of the chimeric genre-bending ensemble Little Women as well as a regular collaborator with pianist Matthew Shipp.  Darius has also performed with Branford Marsalis, Yo La Tengo, Andrew Cyrille, the Sun Ra Arkestra, and many others.

Also appearing on the concert bill is Behemoth Sleeps, a solo project by local guitar hero Brian Looney. Originally from South Carolina, Looney moved to Kelowna in 2014 and has embedded himself in the Okanagan music scene.  Whether playing blistering lead guitar in the doom rock/alt. country outfit The Civil Dead, fronting his own power prog trio High Horse, or just jamming at the Fed, Looney’s muscular tone and blues-driven shredding are only matched by his spirit for experimentation and his penchant for texture, noise, and drones.  Behemoth Sleeps, consisting of only one guitar and various pedals, delivers an evocative performance of layered sounds that is exhilarating, pensive, and hypnotic.

Darius Jones and Behemoth Sleeps perform in the Pyramid at the Summerhill Winery as part of the Skin and Bones Music Series on March 12th.  Doors open at 7:30 pm and the concert will begin at 8:00 pm sharp.  The Summerhill Pyramid Winery is located at 4870 Chute Lake Road in Kelowna.  Admission at the door is $20 for the public and $15 for students and Alternator members.  Annual membership passes for Skin And Bones can also be purchased at the Alternator or online at www.alternatorcentre.com.  This concert is also made possible by the generous support of the Summerhill Pyramid Winery.