| Jazz |
This composer presents an ambitious debut with a sweeping 30-minute opening track, “Invocation: Suite of the Eternal and Omnipresent Spirit,” immediately establishing a mystical, intellectual, and emotionally rich atmosphere. With this bold artistic statement, he marks his arrival as a New York bandleader, assembling a multigenerational quartet featuring guitarist Max Light and two seasoned veterans: bassist Joe Martin and drummer Nasheet Waits.
The work is monumental in scope, part jazz symphony, part spiritual opera, depending on how one chooses to engage with it. Let yourself be carried by this gifted musician’s vision, and vivid, cinematic imagery will naturally emerge. It’s a journey through unknown yet meticulously crafted sonic landscapes, where composition and arrangement are executed with a rare sense of mastery.
Despite his youth, Jones has already amassed an impressive résumé. He is a winner of the Vandoren and Yamaha Emerging Artist competitions, as well as the William H. Borden Award from the Manhattan School of Music, recognizing his exceptional achievements. He was also selected for the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at the Kennedy Center and the JAS Aspen Workshop.
More than anything, Blood Lines signals Jones’s arrival among the upper echelon of American composers. His writing is at once complex and remarkably transparent, an immersive, emotional experience likely to resonate most deeply with those who bring a broad musical education to the table. The saxophone’s narrative line requires the listener to have an ear attuned not only to jazz history, but to other musical traditions as well, in order to fully trace the spiritual and stylistic through-lines Jones lays before us.
During his time at the Manhattan School of Music, Jones received multiple DownBeat Student Music Awards, including recognition for jazz solo performance and ensemble direction. In 2024, he co-led the first-ever all-Native big band with vocalist and creator Julia Keefe—a groundbreaking project he helped initiate in 2022. That same year, he performed at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival alongside Esperanza Spalding, who later invited him to appear as a special guest for a two-night engagement at New York’s iconic Blue Note Jazz Club.
Jones’s artistic path has been shaped by a remarkable roster of mentors, including David Kikoski, Bennie Maupin, Charles McPherson, Bobby Watson, Eric Wyatt, and George Coleman. He also studied with jazz luminaries such as Vincent Herring, Buster Williams, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, and Miguel Zenón.
It comes as little surprise, then, that Jones’s collaborations include some of the most vital voices in contemporary jazz. His multicultural heritage is central to his musical identity. “Latino and Native perspectives have always been part of my life,” he explains. “I saw it in the art around my house, in the food I grew up with, and in my family through my mother.” His roots trace back to the Manso people, who lived across what is now New Mexico and Juarez, Mexico. At the same time, his deep affinity for African American traditions, expressed both through a reverence for legends like Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Wardell Gray, and Lester Young, and through years of playing in a predominantly Black Catholic church, has also shaped his voice.
When such cultural inheritances are embraced with this level of depth and intention, they often result in truly exceptional art. Rico Jones is without question a musician to watch, Blood Lines is a compelling and deeply personal body of work that will reward attentive listening, and no doubt be a joy to share with fellow lovers of the arts.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, July 7th 2025
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Tracklist:
1. I. Invocation: Suite of the Eternal and Omnipresent Spirit
2. II. Lone Wolf: Suite of the Eternal and Omnipresent Spirit
3. III. BloodLines: Suite of the Eternal and Omnipresent Spirit
4. IV. Queen Isabelle: Suite of the Eternal and Omnipresent Spirit
5. V. DwennimmeN: Suite of the Eternal and Omnipresent Spirit
6. Judgement and Absolution
7. Across Time
8. The Moment
9. The Voice of God Shines Brightly on My Heart
Musicians :
Rico Jones – Tenor Saxophone
Max Light – Guitar
Joe Martin – Bass
Nasheet Waits – Drums
Rico Jones – Blood Lines
Released by Giant Step Arts | Catalog #: GSA 17
Recorded live during the day at Ornithology Jazz Club, Brooklyn, NY, June 1–2, 2024
Released July 25, 2025
All compositions by Rico Jones
Produced by Jimmy Katz and Rico Jones
Recorded by Jimmy Katz and James Kogan
Mixed and Mastered by Jimmy Katz and Dave Darlington
Photography and Design Jimmy and Dena Katz
Executive Production & Label: Giant Step Arts (501(c)(3) Non-Profit)
This recording was made possible by the generous support of Giant Step Arts donors.