Jonah Parzen-Johnson

A Few We Remember, the debut album from Finnish composer Lau Nau, aka Laura Naukkarinen, and American baritone saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson cycles between moments of knotty ambience, whispered melody, and innocent tinkering, as the duo improvises over 8 narrative scores composed by Parzen-Johnson. Narrative scores? Don’t worry, Jonah can explain:

“For me, telling a story is about more than sharing a set of facts. A well told story is the protective coating around our most intimate and universal feelings. Things too delicate to name. When I want to understand how someone makes me feel, I tell myself our story. There are familiar stories of family and friends, but the story of a quick moment with a stranger can sometimes be the most illuminating. A brief interaction whose fractional reflection helps us understand ourselves in a new way.” 

“A lot of my musical practice is about trying to find that same storytelling sensation in the experience of performing. That’s how I got going on these narrative scores. Each one is a story you can read, but it’s more than that, it’s a trigger for a sensation. If all goes well, that’s what makes it into our improvisation. It might be tempting to ask to read the scores, but try to resist. This music isn’t about the stories, it’s about how it feels to tell them.”

Jonah Parzen-Johnson & Lau Nau are each prolific and celebrated creators on their own, with 22 albums released between the two of them, but in this fresh conversation, something completely new comes to life. In Laura’s words: “I enjoy recording live takes without overdubs, and this album is exactly that – pure first takes, bubbling creative energy happening in the moment. Jonah’s written stories gave a powerful spark and direction for our improvisations, but the album reminds me of a chemical reaction: a result that is impossible without both of our inputs, and a surprise to each of us.”

On the debut single, First Time Viewer, it is almost impossible to tell where Jonah’s fragile baritone saxophone melody begins and where Lau’s live-sampled, processed, and re-synthesized accompaniment ends. As the improvisation develops, a cloud of ethereal fragments forms into a lattice of melody and texture strong enough to support the entire track.

In April 2022, Brooklyn based baritone saxophonist, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, found himself on a flight from New York to Istanbul to play a one-off duo concert with a veteran drummer & sound designer at the center of Istanbul’s vibrant music scene, Berke Can Özcan. They met for the first time 30 minutes before soundcheck. The concert that followed could have been the culmination of years of collaboration. Both urgent and timeless, their musical partnership is instantly solid, innocent and joyful.

It Was Always Time meticulously builds on itself, weaving layers of found-sound samples over acoustic percussion to frame poignant saxophone melodies that melt into rich synth interludes. Although the album is almost completely improvised, the depth of texture and devotion to melody make it feel through-composed. From track to track, each musician places their trust in the other, and as ambition evolves into empathy, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. This is not a protest album, or music that sets out to directly change the world. Rather, in the subtle way that only art is capable of, the music made by this international duo of strangers turned friends is a reminder: Be curious, find joy, build something better together. It’s time. It was always time.

Jonah Parzen-Johnson makes music for baritone saxophone that challenges listeners with experimental textures & forms while embracing them with warm approachable melodies. A Chicago native and longtime Brooklyn resident, Jonah has performed solo in more than a dozen countries across four continents. His performances are a deeply intimate experience, as he endeavors to share who he is, how he sees our world, and the temporary moments of community that we can all embrace together. 

Berke Can Özcan is a musician, producer, performing and recording artist, composer, and songwriter born in Istanbul, now residing in Abu Dhabi. He has toured the globe (Europe, East Africa, Japan and Satsunan Islands, North and South America, Canary Islands, UK) and his recording credits include collaborations with artists like Arve Henriksen, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, Kenny Wollesen, Erland Dahlen, and Jack Irons. His projects range from dance theatre performances like “The Things We Carry” to sound sculpture installations with “Found Sounds”. 

Since their first meeting, this Berke Can Özcan & Jonah Parzen-Johnson have been featured across Europe and in the United States. Following an EP raising money for earthquake relief in 2023, the two are proud to release their debut LP on We Jazz Records in November 2024.

Brooklyn-based artist Jonah Parzen-Johnson returns with the new album You’re Never Really Alone, out on We Jazz Records, March 8. If you look at the label on the LP containing eight intimate compositions for baritone sax & flute, you will find the words, “we made this together”. At first thought, this simple phrase may seem out of place on a solo record, but just like the compositions on this album, it was carefully crafted to cut to the core of what this music is all about.

In Jonah’s words: “It’s pretty hard to end up at a solo saxophone concert by accident. Odds are pretty good, if you are there, it is because you light up when you experience something new, something experimental. That shared desire connects us, and suddenly, for a night, we are a community. For me, being connected to those spontaneous communities is the best part of being an experimental artist. Everything I make is in service to the cultivation of that community, our community. Without it my music doesn’t exist and because of that I can joyfully say to each person, at every concert, that we made this together.”

You’re Never Really Alone arrives in stark contrast to Parzen-Johnson’s 2020 We Jazz Records solo debut, Imagine Giving Up. Where Imagine Giving Up was celebrated for Parzen-Johnson’s ability to assemble deeply evocative electro-acoustic sound worlds, “filling the landscape in one element at a time until a picture emerges that could almost be a full band,” (Wire Magazine, March 2020) You’re Never Really Alone shows us that Jonah can look you in the eye and say “my voice alone is enough”.

Across eight tracks, Parzen-Johnson, a Chicago native, explores the technical limits of his baritone saxophone and flute without ever making the listener feel like he has something to prove. You will find circular breathing, multiphonics, and explosive levels of sound, but more importantly, you will enjoy every moment of musical storytelling and compositional skill. This album is made for repeat listening.

The opening track, “When I Feel Like Myself” is a meditative invocation of self realization. Parzen-Johnson summons three and four note harmonies from his saxophone with deep control, as he gently explores how tension can become its own release. An unadorned melodic thread gently weaves each musical expression to the last, guiding us deeper into an album that simultaneously celebrates the power of one, and the yearning for exploration that unites us all.