Rico Jones: BloodLines

GIANT STEP ARTS (RELEASED JULY 25. 2025)

Saxophonist Rico Jones has created an intricate musical tapestry with the release of his debut recording BloodLines. Like master weavers, the music created by Jones, guitarist Max Light, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Nasheet Waits involves an endless series of choices and decisions that give the piece its personality and presence. Jones starts the tapestry with his plaintive solo introduction to “Bloodlines Suite of the Eternal & Omnipresent Spirit.” This 30-minute, five-part composition moves from the meditative opening through a series of angular passages and comforting melodies that resolve in an intense and expressive conclusion. Waits’ shifting rhythms act as the driving force through the suite while Martin’s strong bass lines lay the foundation for symbiotic complementary and contrasting lines from Jones and Light. Jones sound is the perfect blend of Lester Young and Wardell Gray’s coolness with the edginess of Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson (jazz legends that influenced Jones’ playing). Waits and Martin continue to create strong rhythmical patterns on the angular “Judgement and Absolution” and modal “Across Time” upon which Jones and Light weave note and after note of mesmerizing musical designs. With its simpler melody and an expressive solo from Light, “The Moment” adds a richer and deeper hue to the tapestry. Returning to the prayer-like mood of the opening section of “Bloodlines Suite of Eternal & Omnipresent Spirit,” “The Voice of God Shines Brightly on My Heart” reaffirms the passion Jones has for the music he composed for this session as well as the craft of Light, Martin and Waits. Jones can trace his ancestry back to the Manso people who inhabited New Mexico to Juarez, Mexico. Regarding the concept of weavers, the Manso culture felt it was important to transmit traditional weaving knowledge across generations, much like the music of BloodLines features a multi-generational group of craftspeople creating a tapestry rich in rhythms, melodies and above all else, passion.

BOTTOM LINE: Inspired by his Latino and Indigenous heritage, influenced by African-American jazz legends and energized by the playing of guitarist Max Light, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Nasheet Waits, tenor saxophonist Rico Jones makes a powerful and passionate statement on his debut recording.