7.24.12 Double Bill: Jessica Jones + Hitomi Oba

Leader Jessica Jones plays tenor saxophone and piano and composes most of the band’s music and has worked with Joseph Jarman, Cecil Taylor, Steve Coleman, Don Cherry, and Peter Apfelbaum; as well as a variety of Haitian, Caribbean and African bands. These influences helped form her compositional direction which is grounded in the jazz tradition and, as is truly traditional in jazz, reaches for new directions and a unique sound. Aside from working and recording with the Jessica Jones Quartet, Jessica is active as a sideman. In addition to the Quartet recordings, Jessica’s discography includes:

Multikulti–Don Cherry–A&M Records
It Is Written–Peter Apfelbaum–ACT Records
Lifetime Visions–Joseph Jarman–Bopbuda Records
Marco Enedi-Glenn–Spearman Creative Orchestra Music and Arts

Festivals as a sideman include:
Vision Festival, NYC—Joseph Jarman Sextet, Lifetime Visions Orchestra and Joseph Jarman Quintet
Nancy (France) Jazz Festival Lifetime Visions and the Orchestra
Chicago Jazz Festival–Joseph Jarman, Leroy Jenkins, Myra Melford
Jessica has begun incorporating spoken word artists as well as the lush vocal stylings of daughter Candace Jones into her compositions,finding great inspiration in the textures of new collaborations.

Jessica Jones website

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Saxophonist Hitomi Oba was raised in Berkeley, California. Drawing from the rich cultural and musical diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area, her musical education comes from many sources. Musical organizations that were a part of her nurturing include the Young Musicians Program, the Oaktown Jazz Workshop, the American Composers Forum Composers in the Schools Program, and the award-winning Berkeley High School Jazz program.

Through high school, Hitomi continued studies on saxophone, classical and jazz piano, and composition, while dabbling in flute and voice. She participated in several all-star ensembles on saxophone, including the national Grammy High School Jazz Ensemble, the SF All-stars High School Ensemble, Sam Rivers Residency Big Band, and most recently, the SF Young Composers Collective.

She has performed at various venues across the country and internationally, including at Yoshi’s Jazz Club, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Sapporo Jazz Festival, and the Umbria Jazz Festival. Among her awards of recognition are those in composition from the NFAA Talent Search, saxophone awards from numerous jazz festivals, and a Downbeat Student Music Award for Composition.

Hitomi completed her MA in June at the University of California at Los Angeles in Music Composition after receiving her BA in Ethnomusicology/Jazz Studies from UCLA two years prior.

Her second album, “Negai”, released in May 2008 under Japanese label M&I, received the “Swing Journal 42nd Annual Jazz Disc Awards, New Star Award”, following the critically acclaimed first album, “First Flight”. She performs her compositions regularly with her own group as well as with others in the U.S., Japan, and abroad.

Hitomi Oba website