RICO JONES

BLOOD LINES

Giant Step Arts

Rico Jones, tenor saxophone/composer; Max Light, guitar; Joe Martin, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums.

Rico Jones is a native of Colorado, but currently resides in the New York area. This album is a personal adventure into Rico’s bloodline, heritage and culture.

“The Latino and Indigenous perspectives have always been a part of my life.  I saw much of those cultural expressions in my mother and extended family.  The art in my home and the food I ate growing up.  My ancestry can be traced back to the Manso people who lived from New Mexico to Juarez, Mexico,” Jones shares in his press package.

Consequently, critical to Jones as a musician is his multicultural heritage. He blends this with the important influence of the African American traditions, inspired music imparted to him from icons like Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Wardell Gray, Lester Young and also what he learned by playing each Sunday in a predominantly Black Catholic Church.

Rico Jones opens this album with his tenor saxophone weeping across space, sounding like the call of a wild wind across the plains.  It’s an original composition titled “Invocation.”  He is soon joined by the guitar of Max Light, with Nasheet Waits laying down a rolling drum accompaniment that locks hand in hand with Joe Martin’s bass lines.  Jones says their wild and free improvisation is a way of speaking to the divine and acknowledging the universe they inhabit.

“It’s the act of calling upon divine spiritual powers when entering a state of prayer,” Jones explains.

The first song on his album is an over 30-minute suite that he calls “Suite of the Eternal & Omnipresent Sprit.”  It opens with “Invocation.”  After this prayerful first part of the suite, Part II is called “Lone Wolf.”

Rico has composed every song on this album, and each has a significance to his life and spirit.  “Lone Wolf” is celebrating a deceased friend who he beautifully memorializes during this arrangement. His tenor saxophone pays tribute, until the rhythm section adds a staccato and melodic underlay, creating a place where his horn can bounce. The notes jump freely atop their musical trampoline. Ten-minutes into the suite, the talents of his guitarist, Max Light is spotlighted with Nasheet Waits supportive and brilliant on drums.  Light is the member of his band that Jones has known the longest.

The title tune comes next. “Bloodlines” spotlights drummer Waits.  He introduces the piece solo, letting the percussive rhythms call up the ancestors.

“Martin and Waits bring their wisdom and experience add a level of creative musical power that both inspires and guides Max and Me in ways we might not otherwise encounter,” says Rico.

The success of the Rico Jones ensemble is his blend of the traditional with a multi-generational concept. Joe Martin opens the fourth part of the suite “Queen Isabelle” with his rich double bass solo presentation. When the other bandmembers join him, they hit a comfortable, slow groove. One of my favorites on this album is “The Voice of God Shines Brightly on My Heart” that recalls the Coltrane days and touches me with the composition’s beauty.

“Just as films transport the audience, I hope the music connects people to a musical narrative, a singular expression of the divine seen through different lenses; my ancestors, my departed friends, my creativity, and my lived experience,” Rico Jones offers testimony to his music and creativity.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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