Darius Jones w/ Allen Lowe 8/14/17 Bushnell Park

Final installment of the jazz in the park series started with saxophonist and jazz historian Lowe. I have missed his monthly gigs at Hamden's Best Video, so I am glad to have gotten a viewing. Melodic, with a good backing band, lulled the crowd into a false sense of security before the caterwaul known as Darius Jones took the stage. I have seen Darius several times at Firehouse 12, and his music is not for the faint of heart. "Uneasy listening" is how I categorized the sound. Jones squonked and squibbled his way through the set that sent much of the crowd running for the periphery. At one point, there was some stage banter about Marcus Garvey from which Jones touched on pieces of the Burning Spear classic. For most of the set, the crowd collectively scratched it's head wondering if they were listening to a radio station broadcast from the future. Kudos to Hartford Jazz to end the Monday night series with such a talented but difficult listen.