Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

Thursday, December 4, 2008

John Paul Jones collaboration to honor choreographer Merce Cunningham

When Merce Cunningham, choreographer extraordinaire, turns 90 on April 16, John Paul Jones will be there. That's because Jones will be helping perform a musical piece he was commissioned to write for the occasion.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music's Spring Gala is to feature the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on April 16, along with "the world premiere of a dazzling evening-length work" that saw Jones joining forces with New York-based underground rock group Sonic Youth, along with mixed-media sound composer Takehisa Kosugi.

The performance is scheduled to repeat on April 17, 18 and 19. Tickets to these events, priced between $25 and $75, are to go on sale to the general public on Jan. 21 and one week early for Brooklyn Academy of Music donors. Click here for more ticketing information.

Multiple reports have surfaced that Jones and Sonic Youth have now been in rehearsals. Pitchfork Media, Australia's Undercover, the United Kingdom's Guardian and Uncut have all reported on this collaboration.

This seems to be the first time Jones has worked with Sonic Youth, but Jones and Kosugi teamed up previously for another Merce Cunningham Dance Company event. On June 14-19, 2005, when the dance troupe performed at the Barbican Theatre in London, Jones and other musicians improvised music for each show. Jones recalled in a blog post afterward:

"The Merce Cunningham event was brilliant, 75 minutes of free improvisation was pretty exciting, and it was good fun working with the other musicians (Steven Montague & John King first show, Takehisa Kosugi & Kaffe Mathews the second). It was a really interesting experience and artistically more food for thought."

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John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?