Joy on Fire
Featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered in 2019 and 2020, and scheduled for a Tiny Desk Concert (date TBD as per Covid cancellation), JOY ON FIRE, cited as the “best live band in New Jersey” (youdontknowjersey.com), is a sax/bass/drum/vocal rock-jazz quartet that formed in Baltimore and is now based in Trenton, NJ. The group tours the Eastern Seaboard, from Burlington, VT to New Orleans, LA, and has released six albums as Joy on Fire, as well as another two as Three Red Crowns—an expanded version of JoF that includes a string quartet. The group plans to extend its touring circuit westward this summer, after the release of its next album, slated for May ’22, States of America, its most dynamic, dangerous, and versatile recording to date. The video for “Uh Huh,” the song set to be the opening track on States, has been accepted at 14 film festivals worldwide, including the London Rocks Film Festival, LA Rocks Film Festival, and the Super Shorts New York Film Festival.
Praise for Joy on Fire:
“Unknown Cities is another eye-popping ride on the wild side.” —Gareth Thompson, All About Jazz
“[Joy on Fire] just blew me away—they are just so fantastic.” —Bob Boilen, NPR, All Songs Considered
“There’s a magic potency encoded in everything JOF undertakes here.” —Gareth Thompson, Concrete Islands
“Like much of the band’s catalog, ‘Thunderdome’ crackles with energy.” —Nick Luciano, 25YL
“Their unique blend of punk and jazz is fully realized on Hymn, owing equally to Sun Ship as it does to Remain in Light. Print it—Joy on Fire is the best live band working in New Jersey.” — Brian Erickson, youdontknowjersey.com
“The idiosyncratic mastery of Jersey jazz-punk Joy on Fire equates to something like a member of the Dead Kennedys being dropped into a smoky club, jumping on stage with the house band and making it work.” —Bobby Olivier, NJ.com
“Joy on Fire draws from the eye-popping thrills of punk and the work ethic of prog to bolster their jazz aura … a thrill of high voltage jazz ‘n’ roll.” —Gareth Thompson, All About Jazz
“The sounds of Joy on Fire are energetic and progressive, featuring dark, edgy bass lines reminiscent of rock licks on a spectrum from the Pixies to Black Sabbath combined with the punctuated horn melodies whose addition call to mind Herbie Hancock jams.” —Sophia Lucente, The Carolinian
“Renowned for their combustible live performances, this band is way more than a troupe of melodic noiseniks. Indeed the compositional breadth and ambition on Hymn can fair take one’s breath at times.” —Gareth Thompson, All About Jazz
Discography
Unknown Cities
Another Adventure in Red
hymn
TRC: If There Was A New Way
Three Red Crowns
Fire with Fire
The Complete Book of Bonsai