Jonas Hellborg
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Jonas Hellborg (born June 7, 1958) is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane and Buckethead.
Begun his music career in 1980 as studio musician in 1976, moved to New York in 1981 after being 'discovered' at the Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland, founded his own record label Day Eight Music in 1982 - nowadays Bardo Records. His early record Elegant Punk showcased his virtuoso talent. One side featured solo bass, the other fretless bass and bass. On the fretted, he played chords and soloed over melodies on the fretless. Later albums such as Axis were more rock based, showing his early influences such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and J.S. Bach. His twin necked fretless and fretted Wal bass allowed him to explore new ground. He played in the Mahavishnu Orchestra and later with John McLaughlin acoustically. He recorded some CDs on acoustic bass guitar which had both Spanish and Indian influences. In 1990 he recorded the experimental all-bass record Jonas Hellborg Group consisting of Jonas on his Wal doubleneck, Anders Nord on 4,5 and 10 string bass guitars and Jamie Salazar on Ddrums (Digital Drums?).
In 1995, and what were to become musically the most productive years of his life, he teamed up with the guitarist Shawn Lane, the so-called 'Memphis Monster', and formed an improvisational jazz fusion band. In the first few years they included the drummer Jeff Sipe and later teamed up with Indian musicians V. Selvaganesh and Umamahesh and formed a unique blend of East-West fusion band, perhaps largely influenced by John McLaughlin's Shakti. They recorded several live completely improvised albums (Temporal Analogues of Paradise) and a few studio albums (Good People in Time of Evil, Icon). A live DVD, Paris, was also released with this ensemble. With the demise of Shawn Lane, the group came to an end.
Jonas later collaborated with the mysterious Buckethead and released the album Octave Of Holy Innocents. In 2005, he formed the Jonas Hellborg Trio with Swedish guitarist Mattias Eklundh and drummer Niclas Campagnol and played their first gig in Mumbai, India and followed with a tour of India.
Although never able to break through to the commercial audience, Jonas Hellborg remains one of fusion's finest players and is respected worldwide in musical circles.
Discography
As Band Leader
- Elegant Punk (1984) Day Eight Music
- The word, Axiom
- The Silent Life (acoustic) Day Eight Music
- Jonas Hellborg Group (1990, 'doublebass') Day Eight Music
- Adfa, Day Eight Music
- Bass, Day Eight Music
- Axis, Day Eight Music
With the
- Adventures in Radioland, Relativity
- Mahavishnu, Warner Bros.
With Deadline
- Dissident, Day Eight Music
- Down by Law, Cell
With Michael J. Smith
- Faces, Day Eight Music
- All our steps, Day Eight Music
With
- Album, Virgin
With Trilok Gurtu
- Usfret, CMP
With
- Unseen Rain, Day Eight Music
- Middle Passage, Axiom
With Jens Johansson
- Fjäderlösa tvåfotingar, Day Eight Music
With Reebop
Melodies in a Jungle Man's Head, Day Eight Music
- Album, Virgin
With Trilok Gurtu
- Usfret, CMP
With
- Unseen Rain, Day Eight Music
- Middle Passage, Axiom
With Jens Johansson
- Fjäderlösa tvåfotingar, Day Eight Music
With Reebop
Melodies in a Jungle Man's Head, Day Eight Music
External links
- An excellent Jonas Helborg site:
- Bardo Records (Jonas' label) website:
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