REVIEWS OF NOD:

JazzTimes (November 2004)

Thee is a small, specialized subgenre of jazz that occurs when out-cats decide to come in from the cold and play it (relatively) straight for a tune or two. (Think Eric Dolphy exhausting “You Don’t Know What Love Is” on Last Date, or Alber Ayler croaking “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.”) The fun comes from the tension created by turmoil under voluntary temporary restraint.

Nod has some of that tension (and fun). Jessica Jones and her husband, Tony Jones, are perhaps the only avant-garde, tenor-sax playing man-and-wife tandem in jazz. Their 15-year track record revolves around experimental composition, freer forms and collective improvisation. But the Joneses planned Nod as “a tribute to the jazz guys (and gals) in the lineage.” The result is an approachable, intriguing album, full of surprise and positive energy.

The quartet includes drummer Derrek Phillips and the adventurous, articulate bassist Ken Filiano. On originals like “Manhattan” and covers like Jackie McLean’s “Little Melonae” (in a stark, aslant arrangement by Tony), this ensemble is a lean machine, with both Jessica and Tony shooting sharp, impulsive, coherent ideas.

Nod’s program is varied by the addition of guests on five of the eight tracks: Connie Crothers on piano, Joseph Jarman on reeds and vocals, Mark Taylor on French horn and the Jones’ children on vocals. Jessica’s “Waynopolis” is an in-depth 11-minute “nod” to Wayne Shorter, with solos by Taylor, one of the tenors (presumably Jessica), and Filiano – all liberated, all relevant to the Shorter-esque subject matter. Crothers’ “Bird’s Word” is another loose, springy exercise, interrupted and stimulated by the composer’s jarring, clanging piano.

The Jones’ worst decision was to have Joseph Jarman sing on “Happiness Is.” Their best decision was to record at Systems Two in Brooklyn, where so many good-sounding albums come from. – Thomas Conrad

Wire Magazine (September 2004)

Alto and tenor saxophonist and composer Range, having worked with Bo Diddley, Cab Calloway, Cecil Taylor and Steve Coleman, and recorded with Don Cherry on Multikulti. Originally from the Bay Area, she now lives in Brooklyn, and her new album is a family affair. The basic quartet includes husband Tony also on tenor sax, Ken Filiano on bass and Derrek Phillips on drums. Vocals on some tracks are by daughter Candace. It’s notable how elsewhere the music takes on the identity of their guests. “Love and Persevere” and “Happiness”, featuring Joseph Jarman on alto sax and bass clarinet, have an Art Ensemble of Chicago flavour. “Bird’s Word”, featuring legendary Lennie Tristano disciple Connie Crothers on piano, is Charlie Parker as transmuted by Tristano. Both Joneses play tenor sax that sounds like the missing link between Warne Marsh and Anthony Braxton. The funky, quirky “Platform Shoes” concludes an appealingly diverse album.

Signal to Noise (Winter 2005)

The freewheeling Bekeley scene fo the 1980s had no better symbol than Peter Apfelbaum’s Hieroglyphics Ensemble. Jessica Jones and her husband Tony were both in that band, and they bring something of the Hieros’ throw-it-in-the-pot spirit to Nod. This record is a family affair with both Joneses on tenor, Jessica doubling piano and daughter Candace along for a fey “These Foolish Things.” To this and the core rhythm section of Ken Filiano and Charlie Hunter drummer Derrek Phillps, the Joneses add Joseph Jarman, who bring sone of his sunny, Buddhist-inspired songs and a burbling bass clarinet, French hornist Mark Taylor, and fellow ex-Berkeley oddball Connie Crothers on piano. The material is mostly excellent and always idiosyncratic. Crothers’ Tristano influence adds an intriguing angle to the boppish and irresistible “Bird’s Word,” and Phillips puts his quasi-second-liney hip swing into a two-tenor arrangement of Jacki McLean’s “Little Melonae.” Phillips has a little too much on his hands to make much of the rap on the CDs final cut and the French poem recited over “Love and Persevere” went right over my tete, but that’s okay. Nod has plenty else to hold your attention. – John Chacona