Whats a good Jonas Hellborg album to start with

[Coward Of Reali]

This guy seems to have done alot and I've never checked him out. I'm open to anything, straight jazz, heavy fusion, experimental, maybe an album where his fretless playing is more featured.

Sorry if this has been asked before but I searched and it didnt look like it.
Thanks

[RCCollins]

Elegant Punk is an early one that's a good start, though you might want a more recent one...

[Deluge Of Sound]

Art Metal is the one I started with.

[Baryonyx]

As a long time Jonas Hellborg fan and a collector of his records, I'll weigh in with a few suggestions.

Jonas is one of my favourite players, he has a unique voice and yet he fits in perfectly in so many genres, though he tends to have a fusion edge in everything he does.

If you're after some of his solo electric work, which showcases his fretless talents, try finding Elegant Punk (my copy cost me £25!). It's beautifully layered, lyrical stuff. It has a very strange production sound but it really is beautiful. One of the best solo bass albums ever made, if not the best imo!

For his electric fusion stuff with Shawn Lane, I'd recommend checking out "Personae", it's basically a live recording of some of the tunes he and Shawn had played over the years, but the playing on it is fast and aggressive. It's a very lively electric fusion album. IMO, the epic "Temporal Analogues of Paradise" record is his best electric fusion record but it requires many listens and each of the two tracks is about 30 minutes long! "Temporal Analogues..." is all improvised though and is incredibly good.

If you want to hear his acoustic playing, check out "Ars Moriendi" or "Zenhouse". Both have some very nice sounds on them. "Aram of the two rivers" is also done on his acoustic but it's basically Jonas bringing a fusion edge to Syrian folk music. If you want to know more about that, just ask.

If you want to hear his Indian stylings of late, "Kali's son" really lets him shine. Some of, especially "Kali Ghat" is just achingly beautiful. "Icon" is also worth checking out for this stuff, it's closing song, "Escape" might be the most beautiful thing he has ever recorded, and it's a heart breaking final blast of glory from the much missed Shawn lane.

His Art Metal Trio album is good, and sort of fits into the category of heavy, jarring fusion that he has visited before with records like "E". However, it does contain some ridiculously beautiful arrangements and moments. "The Three Princes of Serendip" has some utterly beautiful passages.






But there is a wealth more to Jonas's recorded output, much of which I have on record. If you have any furter questions or would like more insight into a particular record, just ask. I wish in a way I could go back to where you are now, just as I was discovering his music. That way I could hear afresh the thunder! Jonas is one of the few players I find that, with just his own instrument, can impress you on many levels. His chops are amazing, but there are many players with fine chops. Jonas has this knack of hitting you right in your core with beautiful melodies. Really, some of the lines he players are just so perfect they feel as though they are crushing your very soul and reshaping it. It's very powerful stuff, he is a hidden gem amoung all music listeners.

Though he has fewer fans than say, Victor Wooten or Jaco, those who take the time to dig out his stuff become fans for life and always speak highly of him, for he truely rewards the listener who is willing to dedicate time and thought to the music at hand.

[Hoover]

I was going to write:

Any of them would be good, so long as by "start with" you mean "throw into a raging bonfire."

IMHO, of course.

But reading Chris2112's lengthy recomendation (above) I realize that I'm only familar with Hellborg's early works, and so it would be unfair of me to castigate his entire recorded output based on my opinion of only his 20 year old works.

So nevermind, as you were...

[JimK]

Couple of Hellborg "sideman" things worth hearing, IMO-

Hellborg w/ Jeff Sipe & Paul Hanson. Not sure of the album's name...tunes include "Global Warm Thing" & "Freedom's Tune Up". iTunes has it for some sound bite sampling.

Two Doors-Michael Shrieve

[Mojo-Man]

Big Hellborg fan here.

I dig.

The Word
Elegant Punk
Zen House
Personae (His tone is amazing)
Kafi's Son.
In A Silent Way

The "live in paris" video, with Shawn Lane is killer.
Great 6-string ABG.

[Baryonyx]

My only gripe with the Paris dvd is that the camera is often looking at Shawn and Jonas seems a little quiet thoughout, sadly. They really should have made him louder there.

[naetog]

aram of the two rivers
good people in times of evil
time is the enemy

zenhouse is an amazing ambient acoustic album with shawn and jeff. it really is remarkable.

and two doors, which was mentioned before

[Baryonyx]

Good People in Times of Evil is a wonderful example of Jonas bringing his acoustic side to his Indo-fusion. It has some ridiculously good songs like "Aga of the ladies", though I would not recommend it as a starting record because some of it takes time to develop and it works well with repeated listens. For an immediate introduction to his Indian stuff I'd say that Kali's son and Icon are the best bets. IIRC, the Paris dvd is a show in support of Good people in times of Evil.

The same case with Time Is The Enemy, it's not quite as explosive as Personae, not as ambitious as Temporal Analogues of Paradise and not as historic and embryonic as Abstract Logic. But it is a really good listen, especially the re-released version.

[The Owl]

Good People in Times of Evil (Shawn Lane, Jonas and V Sevalgenesh, great Indo-Pakistani fusion)

The Word (Jonas, Tony Williams and a string quartet)

Aram of The Two Rivers

[bobunit]

Originally Posted by The Owl

The Word (Jonas, Tony Williams and a string quartet)

+1

[Wilbyman]

All good suggestions...

The Word
Two Doors
Temporal Analogues of Paradise

These are all excellent and simply must haves IMO.

W

[Baryonyx]

Two Doors is another good one (or at least side one of it is!). It's an album by Michael Shrieve, who is a longtime fusion drummer, started off with Carlos Santana. The first side of the record, which is by far the best, is Michael, Jonas and Shawn lane playing as an electric fusion trio. It was early on in the collaboration of Lane and Hellborg, and as such, you can hear the prototypes of musical ideas they would be using in future. For instance, several of the songs on the record would later be played live by the Hellborg/Lane/Sipe trio under different names. A great record, definitely worth owning! Side 2 isn't bad either but not as good as the Hellborg/lane stuff!