Darius Jones Quartet – Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise)

"With each new recording we're seeing another facet of a magnificently gifted musician." –Peter Margasak, DownBeat

"Editor's Pick: Book of Mæ’bul (Another Kind Of Sunrise) is the incredibly thoughtful, powerful conclusion to a trilogy of recordings by Darius Jones. He’s not just another young saxophonist out to blow the doors off the back of the club. He has a big, adventurous plan. He’s telling a story that’s long and involved, but gripping. It’s intricately well-written and performed with Matt Mitchell on piano, Trevor Dunn on bass and Ches Smith on drums. Jones has just the right wailing tone on his alto—one part soothing, one part stabbing—and he knows just when to employ each. It’s one of the best, most thought-out recordings I’ve heard this year." –Frank Alkyer, DownBeat

"Each head provides a springboard for improvisations that balance abstraction and complexity with stunning rhythmic cohesion." –Marc Medwin, Dusted

"An all new quartet drawn from NYC's finest, who shift between intricate script and flowing invention in the blink of an eye." –John Sharpe, All About Jazz

"Although there's always a 21st century consciousness galvanizing his odes on love, truth and beauty, his sonic verses have, in their most alluring, lyrical passages, the afterglow of a 19th century romantic poet like John Keats, a verbal soloist who thought deeply and wrote enigmatically about beauty and truth." –Owen McNally, Hartford Courant

"4-Stars: Jones' playing and composing may have some of the mercurial energy associated with the avant-garde but the communicative immediacy of African-American folk traditions stands like a bedrock in his work. Like all players that matter, Jones brings a lived-in, wizened quality to his performances, as if he knows something not just of black diasporan musical traditions but of the lives behind them." –Kevin LeGendre, Jazzwise

“Jones’ playing is both searing and drenched in the gospel church, achingly delicate and bubbling with joy. He gets into areas that are almost impossible to describe, though the feeling is of a gentle roundness and liquid caress both incredibly pure and powerful." –Clifford Allen, The New York City Jazz Record

The third release / verse / character in Darius Jones' on-going Man'ish Boy epic, Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) documented a next level in his estimable work as composer and bandleader. It was his first Quartet release, and once again featured a stunning new book of compositions written specifically for the project. The band consists of highly talented generational peers, each of whom give forth their finest in this group. Sublime melodies, purposefully juxtaposed meters, love, and beauty map the exquisitely detailed yet fluid movement of the music. Music that has been purposefully designed to embrace the listener.