Jonas HellborgKrystel: Ah, Jonas...... There are a lot of reasons that Jonas is my favorite musician. I love his style and his attitude. His tone, technique, speed and note choice are always dead on. He is creative, always interesting, and has phrasing so refined that even the necessary repetition involved in holding a groove somehow seems alive and changing. He changed my perception of bass when I played it, and makes me miss it now that I play guitar and suck at bass. Jonas isn't a bassist, I'd kick anyone who called him that. Jonas is a musician. And that is the main reason I dig Jonas, he is one of only two actual musicians that I know of that plays bass as a main instrument, something I find intriguing. Let me side track for a moment (it's relevant, I swear!) to clarify the difference between an instrumentalist and a musician. An instrumentalist (guitarist, bassist, drummer, etc.) changes music to best present his peticular instrument, he has an emphasis on making his instrument the center of his music, and will change music to fit the instrument he plays. A musician changes instruments to best present the music, there is an emphasis on being musically expressive and although they have a main instrument and may only record with that instrument, if a peticular part would sound better on a different instrument they will write for that instrument. It's a simple concept, often overlooked by people that think terms like guitarist and musician are interchangeable. Now, back to Jonas... The first thing you notice about Jonas is his phrasing. It's what makes him stand apart from every bassist you may ever hear, mostly because it shows that Jonas isn't a bassist. It's the main indicator that Jonas is a musician (I told you my side track was relevant...) Why his phrasing? Why not the other, more obvious indicators like his note choice? When you listen to Jonas holding the groove you'll hear why I think it's his phrasing. It goes without saying that playing bass can get repetative, at times outright boring. Jonas has somehow found a way to breathe life into what is usually background noise. When you listen, he has a way of bringing the steady groove into the front, becoming a part of the lead. This is most obvious in the recordings with Shawn Lane and Jeff Sipe, where all three play lead at the same time almost constantly. This, more than the complexity of his lines and the depth of his melodies, shows that he is a musician who for some reason chose bass as a main instrument. (The main reason I say this is guitarists and musicians who are writing for bass often have complex lines and intensive melodies, but they cannot emulate what it takes to make a static rhythm breathe.) I think my favorite part of listening to Jonas is his melodies. Playing bass expressively is something that my bass teacher taught me. It's something that I have only heard the two of them do on a musicians level. In fact, talk to most bassists about it and, well, you better be able to handle a few insults, they don't take kindly from deviating from standard rhythm, mostly because they have convinced themselves that they are the most important member of a band strictly because they play the groove. Some of the most beautiful modern music I have heard has come from Shawn and Jonas (take, for example, "Aga of the Ladies" from Good People in Times of Evil and the entire album of Zenhouse,) and although it is easy to find expressive and beautiful music on guitar, it's virtually impossible to find it on bass. Jonas and my bass teacher are pretty much the only two I have ever heard pull it off, and the last time I checked my teacher only did music for local commercials. Jonas also plays very intense and aggressive music (take my two favorite Jonas songs, "Who Do You Want to Be" from Good People in Times of Evil, and "Hell is Other People" from Personae.) "Who Do You Want to Be" is also a good example of Jonas' amazing speed. He played with McLaughlin a lot, and kept up with him. It's also no wonder that Jonas does a lot of recording with Shawn. Jimmy: Jonas is one of the funiest people I have ever known, wow what an experienced musician. I mean this is a man that was able to not only pull Ginger Baker out of retirement, he also later played with Ginger's son Kofi. The first time I ever saw Jonas was at a clinic when I was going to the Atlanta Institute of Music. I first started working with Jonas in the summer of 96. He like many musicians deffinately has his quirks. Jonas truely is a perfectionist. Like me Jonas loves Mexican food. He is also a fan of extremely hot food. The neat thing about Jonas is when you get to know him he has been to so many places across the world he is just filled with some of the most interesting bits of knowledge and stories. On his CD's you get to hear this sick fusion player, there has been a couple times where I have been with Shawn and Jonas, when Jonas will just break out into really complex classical music playing multiple parts, I can't say enough about what an awesome musician Jonas is. When you get to know him like I said he is absolutely hillarious and one of the nicest people out there. Jonas has an exceptional ear and has a gift of being able to bring out the best in anyone he plays with. I look forward to hearing Jonas play for years to come. Whenever he releases a CD you never know what will be on it, but one thing is for sure, its gonna blow your mind. Who is Jonas Hellborg?Jonas Hellborg Bio There is a bio for Jonas at Bardo.DiscographyOrdering information will follow in the Links section.Solo Albums Elegant Punk Axis Bass Adfa Jonas Hellborg Group The Silent Life The Word "e" Ars Moriende Aram of the Two Rivers With John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra Mahavishnu Adventures in Radioland With Shawn Lane and Jeff Sipe Temporal Analogues of Paradise Time is the Enemy Personae Zen House With Shawn Lane and V. Selvaganesh Good People in Times of Evil With Shawn Lane, V. Selvaganesh, V. Umamahesh and V. Umashankar ICON With Shawn Lane and Kofi Baker Abstract Logic With Michael Shrieve and Shawn Lane Two Doors With Michael Shrieve and Buckethead Octave of the Holy Innocents With Deadline Down By Law Dissident With Material Hallucination Engine With Michael J. Smith All Our Steps Faces With Pil Album With Trilok Gurtu Usfret With Ginger Baker Middle Passage Unseen Rain With Jens Johansson Fjäderlösa Tvåfotingar With Reebop Melodies in a Jungle Man's Head With Raf Ode to a Tractor With Shining Path No Other World Jonas LinksThe Jonas Label There is ordering info here. |
