Kyle Jones - 2025 - Dualities

(46:28; Neuma Records)






















Track list:
1. This Earthly Round (Redux) 8:44
2. Las Dolly Sisters 8:27
3. Lessons of the Sky 8:26
4. Tableau IX 4:20
5. Mambo Ninón 11:40
6. Walt Whitman in 1989 4:49

Line-up:
Kyle Jones - saxophone
with:
Timoty Jones - piano
Julian Hernandez - clarinet


US musician Kyle Jones is currently the director of the Music Business program at Illinois University, with an education that encompasses a DMA in Saxophone Performance and Pedagogy as well as degrees from a small handful of different universities in the US. This January he released his first solo album "Dualities" through US label Neuma Records.

Rather unsurprisingly, it is the saxophone that is the key instrument here, and of the 6 compositions covered five of these are duets with other instruments and one is a standalone saxophone composition.

Dreamladen, elegant and flowing landscapes is a recurring element in all of these compositions. Jones and the musician he cooperates with appear to have a shared focus of exploring these landscapes in an appealing and accessible manner. While the opening 'This Earthly Round (Redux)' struck me as material not too far removed from some of the gentler sounding creations by Jan Garbarek, with a little bit of a jazz orientation, the following works covered all comes across as being more aligned with the classical music tradition.

Most of these compositions does feature some expressive details too, everything isn't all accessible and flowing, but the expressive details are enforced with a bit of restrain, and usually come into play after the landscape explored have been settled. In terms of mood and atmosphere we go from the daydreaming flows to the melancholic, longing and mournful, and with a bit of an uplifting and playful spirit appearing on a couple of occasions to boot.

If you enjoy the saxophone as an instrument, and appreciate listening to this instrument paired off with other instruments in a duo setting, then this production should be quite the interesting experience i gather. In particular if you tend to favor creations of this kind that focus on accessible, flowing and elegant movements, and appreciate brief surges of expressive features in this specific context.

Olav M. Björnsen, January 2025

Links:
https://neumarecords.org/

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