Rena Jones[1] (born 1977) is an American musician, producer and audio engineer from Portland, Oregon. She composes and produces electro-acoustic, downtempo and ambient music with an emphasis on live string instruments. She has released six solo albums and collaborated on over 100 albums.[2] Her latest album titled Allegories was released in November 2021.[3]
Rena Jones | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Jena Rose |
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) United States |
| Genres | Electro-acoustic, downtempo, ambient |
| Instrument(s) | Cello, violin, keyboards, synthesizer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Cartesian Binary, Pok Pok |
| Website | renamusic |
Life and career
editJones grew up in Texas and started on classical violin in second grade. She showed interest in writing music and as a teenager pursued electronic music. She said the freedom and flexibility that electronic music offered was very appealing to her. From 2000 to 2002 she studied sound engineering at Ex'pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, California. She then worked as an audio engineer and a musician in the San Francisco area. At Digidesign she worked on the development of the Pro Tools audio software. In 2006 she moved to Portland, Oregon.[2]
Jones plays the cello, violin, keyboards, and programs the synthesizer and drums. Her musical style is based on incorporation and "manipulation of string sounds from real acoustic violins and cellos along with purely electronic beats."[2] She has released six solo albums. Each album has a concept: Transmigration is about reincarnation, Driftwood is about the cycle of life,[4] Indra's Web is about the interconnectedness of reality, and Echoes is about duality, drawing inspiration from Rumi's poetry.[5]
Along with running her own record labels Cartesian Binary Recordings and Pok Pok Records, Jones has composed for film and video games such as Dance Dance Revolution under the name Jena Rose.[4] She was part of the Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 4 alongside artists Juno Reactor, Prodigy and others. Best known for her unique ambient-electronic music, Rena has released original compositions on groundbreaking labels such as LOCI Records, Disco Geko, Iboga, Spun Records, Aleph Zero, 1320 Records, Addictech, Ultimae, and Schematic Records, while also running her label Cartesian Binary Recordings.[6] Jones has performed at several electronic music festivals around the world including Shambhala, Burning Man and the Glade.[2]
Three of Jones's albums, Driftwood, Indra's Web, and Allegories were listed among Echoes radio's top 25 albums of the year in 2006 and 2009, and 2021 respectively.[7][8] Her album, Echoes, features performances by musicians located remotely in London, Los Angeles and Portland, including Sophie Barker, Earl Harvin, Ilya Goldberg, Matt Robertson, Laura Scarborough and Joshua Penman.[5][9] The album was listed among the top 25 albums of the month by Echoes radio in May and June 2013.[10][11]
Discography
editSolo works
edit| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Breaking the Divide |
| 2005 | Transmigration |
| 2006 | Driftwood |
| 2009 | Indra's Web[12] |
| 2013 | Echoes[13] |
| 2021 | Allegories[14] |
Collaborations
edit| Year | Album | Artists |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Xylem | Emancipator, Rena Jones & Flowerpulse |
| 2021 | Force Multiplier | Rena Jones & KiloWatts |
| 2024 | Caesura | Rena Jones & KiloWatts |
Compilations
edit| Year | Song | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Autumn (as Rena) | Left Coast Liquid Vol. 1 | Various artists |
| 2006 | Aurora Borealis | Beneath the Surface | |
| 2007 | Driftwood | The Echoes Living Room Concerts Volume 13 | |
| Autumn Suggestion | Temple of Science | ||
| Blueshift | Floating Point 4 | Dovla (2) | |
| A Curious Unraveling | Midnight Soul Dive | Various artists | |
| 2009 | Photosynthesis (Nalepa Remix) | Imaginary Friends | |
| 2010 | A Thousand Times Over | Document | |
| 2011 | Ymadyn (as Rena) | Cloud 11 |
Guest appearances
edit| Year | Contribution | Song | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Cello | Better Day | Artifact | STS9 |
| 2005 | Cello | A Garland of Stars | Sines and Singularities | Bluetech |
| 2007 | Cello, violin | Straight Heat | Certified Air Raid Material | edIT |
| 2010 | Producer, mixing, cello, backup vocals |
— | On the Horizon | Lynx |
| 2010 | Mixing | Rising Tide (Ft. Lynx) | Blind Threshold | Beats Antique |
| 2012 | Cello, viola | Is She Gonna | All the Pretty People | Christopher Norman & The Reverb Junkie |
| 2012 | Cello, violin, bass, arrangement |
Mesmer | Mercury Retrograde | Roel Funcken |
| 2013 | Cello | Galapagos | Dusk Till Dawn | Emancipator |
| 2013 | Cello | Light Up Your Lantern, and Liberte | Light Up Your Lantern | Lynx |
References
edit- ^ "Twitter: @renajones". twitter.com. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Rena Jones". Muso.AI. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ "Allegories". Cartesian Binary Rec. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ a b "Echo Location: Rena Jones' Ambient Chamber Music". the echoes blog. September 16, 2009. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- ^ a b "Rena Jones: Discussing her new release with Jenna Roberts". triskelmanagement.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "About". Music of Rena Jones. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ "25 Essential Echoes CDs for 2006". echoes.org. Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ "25 Essential Echoes CDs for 2009". echoes.org. Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ "Rena Jones – Echoes Review". sunisshiningdubnchill.blogspot.com. April 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "Echoes Top 25 for May 2013". echoes.org. Archived from the original on August 29, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "Echoes Top 25 for June 2013". echoes.org. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "Indra's Web by Rena Jones". bandcamp.com. July 7, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "Echoes by Rena Jones". bandcamp.com. April 1, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "Allegories by Rena Jones". bandcamp.com. April 1, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.