Jones Jones: Just Justice

  In an era of tremendous social upheaval around the world, a listener might expect rage and driven intensity from improvising musicians. After all, that’s what has heard on a lot of early ESP albums from the turbulent 1960s. But the world-class musicians of Jones Jones take a decidedly more thoughtful route for most of Just Justice, their new ESP-Disk CD. Larry Ochs on tenor and sopranino saxophones, Mark Dresser on bass, and Vladimir Tarasov on drums and percussion brought many hours of mutual musical encounters to the studio for this session, their first US release. The three first toured as a unit in 2008, with a few pieces released from concerts in Amsterdam and St. Petersburg. The flow they’ve developed for what the back cover describes as “spontaneous evocations” is nothing short of astonishing. All three of the musicians have been members of ground-breaking ensembles. Ochs is a founding member of the Rova Saxophone Quartet, begun in 1977 and still going strong. He has also participated in a number of other configurations, including this gem with a long-time collaborator, drummer Donald Robinson. Dresser was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet from 1985-1993, while Tarasov was one-third of the influential Ganelin Trio from the mid-Seventies until 1986. When you take a trio of masters who are committed to ego-free and deliriously empathetic music making, something special is liable to happen on a good day. And this January 2020 session in San Diego came on a very good day indeed. Musicians often have curious senses of humor, which explains the plain moniker they’ve attached to this band and the evocation of “Jones” in all of the titles assigned to their spontaneous inventions. From the nuanced Jones in the Sonar System to the wistful RBG Jones to the gently conversational And His Sisters Called Him Jones, Jones Jones’ music is carefully shaped in the moment, the result of deep listening and the kind of collective interaction that’s become second nature to these seasoned veterans. Highly recommended. 

ESP-Disk ESP5072; Larry Ochs (ts, sop s) Mark Dresser (b) Vladimir Tarasov (d, perc); San Diego, CA, January 16, 2020; Articulating Jones/ Bali Hai Jones/ Call of the Jones/ Jones in the Sonar System/ Jones Free Jones/ RBG Jones/ The Further Adventures of Ms. Microtonal Jones/ And His Sisters Called Him Jones; 49:53. www.espdisk.com