Saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and producer Darius Jones has been an integral member of Brooklyn, New York's jazz community since 2005. He has composed, performed, and recorded in a variety of settings that include vanguard and contemporary jazz groups, electro-acoustic and chamber ensembles, multi-media events, dance troupes, and vocal groups. He co-founded free jazz/avant-rock quartet Little Women, whose three-album discography includes 2007's Teeth, 2010's Throat, and 2013's Lung. In 2009, Jones signed with Aum Fidelity and released his widely acclaimed trio debut, Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing), the first in a series of conceptually linked albums devoted to Afro-Futurist music and images. In 2011, he issued Cosmic Lieder and Darkseid Recital in duo with pianist Matthew Shipp, and a trio offering in Big Gurl (Smell My Dream). Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) appeared in 2012. His vocal quartet, the Elizabeth-Caroline Unit (founded four years earlier), released their debut, The Oversoul Manual, in 2014. The intricate vocal work, utilizing a created language, premiered to a packed house at Carnegie Hall and received a standing ovation. Jones followed with 2015's Le Bébé De Brigitte (Lost in Translation), a quartet offering that featured the voice of French vanguard composer Emilie Lesbros. He spent six years touring and working in the bands of Marc Ribot, Nasheet Waits, and Eric Revis. In 2021 Jones released his Northern Spy debut, a solo saxophone outing titled Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation). In 2023, We Jazz issued fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred).

Jones was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1975. He began playing saxophone in the sixth grade. Two years later he started playing in church and did so until he began attending Virginia Commonwealth University. While still in school, Jones joined the rock collective Tanakh and made his recording debut on 2002's Villa Claustrophobia. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies in 2003, he cut Dieu Deuil and a self-tilted double-length with Tanakh in 2004 before moving to Brooklyn in 2005. His neighbor introduced him to future roommate, painter, and visual artist Randal Wilcox. The pair began the conversation that led to the rise of Jones' The Man’ish Boy, an epic, ongoing musical series spread over nine albums.

Jones continued his education at New York University and made his mark on the music scene early on. He contributed to Tanakh's Saunders Hollows in 2006 and joined Mike Pride's from Bacteria to Boys, appearing on Hang. He also co-founded the avant-rock/free jazz ensemble Little Women with drummer Jason Nazary, guitarist Ben Greenberg, and tenor saxophonist Travis LaPlante. Teeth, their debut album, was released in 2007.

In 2008, Jones earned a master's degree in Jazz Performance/Composition and taught New Music Improvisation there for a year as an adjunct professor. He was also awarded the Van Lier Fellowship by Roulette, and used it to launch his chamber ensemble, Elizabeth-Caroline Unit, a project dedicated to new works for voice. He also produced Android Ascension for Korean jazz vocalist Sunny Kim, and Sugar for Americana artist Mary Bragg that year.

While playing and recording with the Mara Rosenbloom Quartet and the Marc Edwards/Weasel Walter Group, he signed to AUM Fidelity in 2009 and issued his debut offering Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) with drummer Rakalam Bob Moses and pianist Cooper-Moore. The initial entry in his projected series, the album's compositions were based on the theme of growing up in the South. He was nominated for a Jazz Journalists Association Award for Up and Coming Artist, and selected as one of Jazz Times' Debut Artists of the Year. The following year, Little Women -- also signed to AUM Fidelity -- replaced Greenberg with guitarist Andrew Smiley and issued Throat. Jones appeared on the Pride group's Betweenwhile, joined drummer William Hooker's ensemble for Earth's Orbit, and cut Blood of the Earth with Walter and Edwards.

In 2011, the Darius Jones Trio (now with Nazary on drums and Adam Lane on bass) released Big Gurl (Smell My Dream), the second entry in the Man'ish Boy concept. The following year, Jones released two widely acclaimed duo outings with pianist Matthew Shipp: Cosmic Lieder and Darkseid Recital. In 2012 saxophonist founded the quartet Grass Roots with drummer Chad Taylor, bassist Sean Conly and baritone saxophonist Alex Harding and issued their eponymously titled debut (and third installment in the Man'ish Boy epic) Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) leading a quartet with Trevor Dunn, Ches Smith, and Matt Mitchell. That year Jones also contributed to recordings by the William Parker Orchestra, Steve Swell, Federico Ughi, and Sabir Mateen.

In 2013, Little Women released Lung, their final outing, and Jones played in Lane's quartet on Absolute Horizon. He recorded Songs from the Ground with the Mara Rosenbloom Quartet and Wheels with the Oliver Lake Big Band. Jones also joined drummer Gerald Cleaver's Black Host -- alongside Cooper-Moore and Brandon Seabrook -- to record and release Life in the Sugar Candle Mines. The following year he played on 2 by experimental metal-cum-free jazz band Period!, and joined the Eric Revis Quartet on In Memory of Things Yet Seen. In 2014, Jones' chamber vocal ensemble Elizabeth-Caroline Unit made their long-awaited recording debut, The Oversoul Manual. The work's world premier took place at Carnegie Hall in front of a capacity crowd and received a standing ovation and rave reviews across the globe.

In 2015, the Darius Jones Quartet featuring Emilie Lesbros recorded Le Bébé De Brigitte (Lost in Translation) -- a tribute to experimental French singer Brigitte Fontaine -- as the fifth installment in his Man’ish Boy cycle. He also reprised his recording and touring role with Swell on Kanreki, and performed live with vocalist Katja Cruz's band to record her I Am the Wind album. He rejoined Waits for that year's Between Nothingness and Infinity.

In 2017, Jones began teaching saxophone and improvisation at Columbia University. He re-teamed with Revis to play on Slipknots Through a Looking Glass, and joined guitarist Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog for What I Did on My Long Vacation and 2021's Hope (which also featured Syd Straw on vocals). He also worked with Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy on the freely improvised The Myth of Time: An Elastic Experience. That November, Jones released Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation). His first solo saxophone outing, it was drawn from a deeply emotional live performance during the fall of 2019. Comprising four covers of tunes that were composed by "world building" Black artists Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, and Georgia Anne Muldrow, it also included a reading of the Wayne King-Victor Young standard "Beautiful Love" from the 1930s.

In 2023, Jones released fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred). A four-movement work, it was performed by the composer on saxophone, drummer Gerald Cleaver, and a string quartet composed of violinists Jesse and Josh Zubot, cellist Peggy Lee, and double bassist James Meger. Commissioned by Vancouver's Western Front artist-run center for multidisciplinary experimentation, Jones drew inspiration from the organization's aesthetic legacy of collaboration and cooperation. He composed it during residencies there from 2019 to 2022 and recorded it at the organization's Grand Luxe Hall; it was released in 2022. fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred) marked the first collaborative release between Brooklyn-based Northern Spy and Helsinki-based We Jazz Records. ~ Thom Jurek