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, August 13, 2009

Jimmy Page foreshadows his next musical project in new interview

Tomorrow's theatrical premiere of "It Might Get Loud" in New York and Los Angeles allows people to hear the early workings of some new music Jimmy Page says is destined for a future project of his.

As Lemon Squeezings reported in April 2008, the movie contains instrumental numbers called "Embryo No. 1" and "Embryo No. 2." These are the first new compositions from Page released in any form since October 1999.

Now, Page tells Billboard magazine he intends to morph these, and other new tracks, into fully developed studio compositions.

In exactly what setting the "Embryo" pieces will emerge, Page didn't specify. But he did tell Billboard he had "played them with other musicians relatively recently, in the last year or so."

By this he might mean John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham, even possibly with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy. It has been widely reported that those four considered assembling a band for some time last year, even to the point of rehearsing new music and eventually going out on tour to support an album release.

By the end of last year, that prospective band project was no longer being considered. Now, Jones has just debuted his new band, Them Crooked Vultures, reportedly after six months of rehearsals and studio recording. Page, meanwhile, seemed to have given no indication to his manager, Peter Mensch what projects he would be working on in 2009. Mensch said in an interview with MusicRadar this January, "F--- if I know" the direction in which Page's career would head.

Page now tells Billboard what's been going on and what he has in mind. "This year I've had quite a lot of things going on," he says, "sort of things relative to preparing for projects. There's a lot of groundwork that's been going into that so that I can be getting on with things next year. I really intend to be doing some playing and ... be seen, if you like. If you've got ambitious projects, they take time to put together if you're going to do them properly."

Page's last publicly disclosed comments on the subject came in June, as reported by the LA Weekly blog West Coast Sound. In that interview, Page said:

"I've got some new music. There's sort of little tastes and shades of it in the documentary. Bits. It's just a question of actually doing it now. Actually getting a project that I've had in mind for a while. I've just got to go and do it. Don't want to tell anyone about it. But, yes, I've got a big project I'm working on."

As for tomorrow's public premiere of his "Embryo" pieces in the film "It Might Get Loud," Page says he is excited. He's even hinting toward a future DVD release of the film packed with surplus footage of songs its starring guitarists played each other.

"It's inevitable there'll be a DVD on the horizon," he offers. "There'll be some extra stuff from the summit, that's obvious. I know there's another number I did. There was a lot that was played at the summit, that Edge did, I'm sure, and Jack. I'm sure there'll be a DVD, and I can tell you with a certain confidence there'll be extras because that's the way things work these days."

Theatrical release dates for "It Might Get Loud" in various U.S. cities stretch into October, and a U.K. premiere has been promised for this autumn. Sony Pictures Classic last year purchased widespread international distribution rights for the film, which has been screened at numerous festivals worldwide.

Update:

After watching "It Might Get Loud" in a theater twice today (Friday, Aug. 14), I couldn't pick out "Embryo No. 1" either time in the film. It's listed in the credits as having appeared very early on, but I listened for it twice and either missed it twice or it was not really there. Have any sharp-eyed readers spotted "Embryo No. 1" in the film?

Also, I was somewhat disappointed to learn that this so-called "new" composition, "Embryo No. 2," is a mere remake of the instrumental that was called "Domino" and included during a Net Aid set in October 1999 with Guy Pratt on bass and the late Michael Lee on drums.

If there was no "Embryo No. 1," and if "Embryo No. 2" is only an unfinished version of an instrumental track written 10 years ago, then perhaps Page isn't all that far into what he describes will be a "big project"!

Further update:

After my third screening of "It Might Get Loud," I realize "Embryo No. 1" is what's playing over the opening credits. Furthermore, it's what you hear in the background between seconds 25 and 53 on the trailer. Listen!

5 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to to seeing the film and hearing the new compositions. Fingers crossed for something new from Jimmy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, a friend of mine went to see IMGL earlier and was worried that she could not find "Embryo 1". Now it seems not to be only her problem...

    And while she was definitely loving the movie, she was not really excited by Page's "new music". But she also added, "it was too short to judge anywway."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Page Speak!!!
    Get's old, doesn't it?

    :O)

    Chef

    ReplyDelete
  4. Embryo #1 is the slide guitar piece playing over the opening credits, they even have closeups of Page's hands doing the playing if you pay attention. It's pretty raucous!

    I like Embryo #2 (Domino) too. Pretty snaky riff. I hope we get to hear them both in finished form before too long!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You'll be pleased to know Jimmy Page's "Embryo No. 1" does appear in "It Might Get Loud" after all. Although I couldn't detect it before, it's what is playing over the opening credits. Not only that, but you can hear it in the trailer for the film between seconds 25 and 53. Read this post again to check out the trailer again. Jimmy's playing in drop D tuning.

    ReplyDelete

Users agree to refrain from posting obscenities and defamatory statements.

About the author

Other Led Zeppelin information from Lemon Squeezings

Lemon Squeezings archive

Like what you see?


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?