Rena Jones
{{Short description|American musician, producer and audio engineer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Rena Jones
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| alias = Jena Rose
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1977}}
| birth_place = United States
| genre = Electro-acoustic, downtempo, ambient
| occupation =
| instrument = Cello, violin, keyboards, synthesizer
| years_active = 2002–present
| label = Cartesian Binary, Pok Pok
| associated_acts =
| website = {{URL|renamusic.com}}
}}
Rena Jones{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/renajones|title=Twitter: @renajones|publisher=twitter.com|accessdate=January 25, 2014}} (born 1977) is an American musician, producer, composer 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.{{Cite web |title=Rena Jones |url=https://credits.muso.ai/profile/0dc50b3a-64b7-490f-98b1-abab32044403 |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Muso.AI |language=en}} Her latest solo album titled Allegories was released in November 2021 {{Cite web |title=Allegories |url=https://www.cartesianbinary.com/allegories |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Cartesian Binary Rec |language=en}} and her latest collaborative album Caesura was released in October 2024.{{Cite web |title=Caesura, by Rena Jones & KiloWatts |url=https://renajones.bandcamp.com/album/caesura |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Rena Jones |language=en}}
Life and career
Jones 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.
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." She has released six solo albums. Each album has a concept: Transmigration is about reincarnation, Driftwood is about the cycle of life, Indra's Web is about the interconnectedness of reality, and Echoes is about duality, drawing inspiration from Rumi's poetry.{{cite web|url=http://www.triskelemanagement.com/promotion/renajones/interview.html|title=Rena Jones: Discussing her new release with Jenna Roberts|publisher=triskelmanagement.com|accessdate=April 2, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403022856/http://www.triskelemanagement.com/promotion/renajones/interview.html|archivedate=April 3, 2014|url-status=live}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://echoesblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/echo-location-rena-jones-ambient-chamber-music/|title=Echo Location: Rena Jones' Ambient Chamber Music|publisher=the echoes blog|date=September 16, 2009|accessdate=January 25, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110051637/http://echoesblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/echo-location-rena-jones-ambient-chamber-music/|archivedate=November 10, 2012|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.renamusic.com/about |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Music of Rena Jones |language=en}} Jones has performed at several electronic music festivals around the world including Shambhala, Burning Man and the Glade.
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.echoes.org/de.essential06.html|title=25 Essential Echoes CDs for 2006|publisher=echoes.org|accessdate=January 27, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430155924/http://www.echoes.org/de.essential06.html|archivedate=April 30, 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.echoes.org/de.essential09.html|title=25 Essential Echoes CDs for 2009|publisher=echoes.org|accessdate=January 27, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430152521/http://www.echoes.org/de.essential09.html|archivedate=April 30, 2013|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://sunisshiningdubnchill.blogspot.com/2013/04/rena-jones-echoes-review.html|title=Rena Jones – Echoes Review|date=April 3, 2013 |publisher=sunisshiningdubnchill.blogspot.com|accessdate=April 2, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403022544/http://sunisshiningdubnchill.blogspot.com/2013/04/rena-jones-echoes-review.html|archivedate=April 3, 2014|url-status=live}} The album was listed among the top 25 albums of the month by Echoes radio in May and June 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.echoes.org/Top25-2013-05.html|title=Echoes Top 25 for May 2013|publisher=echoes.org|accessdate=April 2, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829013038/http://www.echoes.org/Top25-2013-05.html|archivedate=August 29, 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.echoes.org/Top25-2013-06.html|title=Echoes Top 25 for June 2013|publisher=echoes.org|accessdate=April 2, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101210352/http://www.echoes.org/Top25-2013-06.html|archivedate=November 1, 2013|url-status=live}}
Select Discography
=Solo works=
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !class="unsortable"|Album |
| 2004
|Breaking the Divide |
| 2005
|Transmigration |
| 2006
|Driftwood |
| 2009 |
| 2013 |
| 2021 |
=Collaborations=
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Album !Artists |
| 2021
|[https://renajones.bandcamp.com/album/xylem Xylem] |Emancipator, Rena Jones & Flowerpulse |
| 2021
|[https://renajones.bandcamp.com/album/force-multiplier Force Multiplier] |Rena Jones & KiloWatts |
| 2024
|[https://renajones.bandcamp.com/album/caesura Caesura] |Rena Jones & KiloWatts |
=Compilations=
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !class="unsortable"|Song !class="unsortable"|Album !class="unsortable"|Artist |
| 2005
|Autumn (as Rena) |Left Coast Liquid Vol. 1 |rowspan="4"|Various artists |
| 2006
|Aurora Borealis |Beneath the Surface |
| rowspan="4"|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 |rowspan="4"|Various artists |
| 2009
|Photosynthesis (Nalepa Remix) |Imaginary Friends |
| 2010
|A Thousand Times Over |Document |
| 2011
|Ymadyn (as Rena) |Cloud 11 |
=Guest appearances=
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !class="unsortable"|Contribution !class="unsortable"|Song !class="unsortable"|Album !class="unsortable"|Artist |
| 2005
|Cello |Better Day |Artifact |STS9 |
| 2005
|Cello |A Garland of Stars |Sines and Singularities |Bluetech |
| 2007
|Cello, violin |Straight Heat |edIT |
| 2010
|Producer, mixing, cello, |{{n/a}} |On the Horizon |Lynx |
| 2010
|Mixing |Rising Tide (Ft. Lynx) |Blind Threshold |
| 2012
|Cello, viola |Is She Gonna |Christopher Norman & |
| 2012
|Cello, violin, bass, |Mesmer |Mercury Retrograde |Roel Funcken |
| 2013
|Cello |Galapagos |Dusk Till Dawn |
| 2013
|Cello |Light Up Your Lantern, and Liberte |Light Up Your Lantern |Lynx |
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.renamusic.com Rena Jones, Official Website]
- {{facebook|RenaJonesMusic|Rena Jones}}
- [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Rena+Jones Rena Jones] on Discogs
- [http://pokpokrecords.com/ Pok Pok Records]
- [http://echoesblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/echo-location-rena-jones-ambient-chamber-music/ Echo Location: Rena Jones' Ambient Chamber Music]
- [http://www.ambientvisions.com/renajones.htm Ambient Visions: Talks with Rena Jones, 2007]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rena}}
Category:American electronic musicians
Category:American audio engineers
Category:Musicians from Portland, Oregon
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Women audio engineers
Category:American women in electronic music