Lara Jones

After being commissioned by the Jerwood Arts Jazz Encounters Fellowship programme, Lara wanted to create an accessible, immersive, cinematic audio visual experience by building a 5m geodesic dome, inside which would play sounds and visuals composed and created by herself, and also surrounded by soft furnishing and essential oils to create a calming experience, where people could pause, breathe and reflect. The installation was initially presented at both the Manchester Jazz Festival and Leeds Jazz Festivals and also in the respective city’s train stations. 

“After presenting the dome twice I found that the relaxation aspect of the dome was what people loved the most and particularly by those who are neurodivergent and kids. Some of the people closest to me are neurodivergent and my son also one night suggested that I write an album that would help him get to sleep. All this inspired me to develop the dome into a space that was designed specifically for those with neurodivergence and also to enhance and augment the relaxation element of the dome.”

Known for creating upbeat, dance driven tunes, this album is a reminder that saxophone and improvisation is often at the core of Lara’s work. Composed as a 45 min piece, split over two sides of a limited cassette, side A ebbs and flows like a synthesized tidal pull, winding and meandering through your subconscious. While side B offers glimpses of delicate, yet pleasingly disparate rhythms sitting gleefully atop snapshots of restful field recordings, like Burial post-anger management, all before giving way to a transcendent final epilogue, leaving us cleansed both sonically and spiritually.