Jono El Grande
Encyclopedia
Jono El Grande is the stage name of Jon Andreas Håtun (July 29, 1973 - ).
Jono El Grande is an autodidactic Norwegian composer, band leader, guitarist and conductor. He cites as his major sources of influence Captain Beefheart
, '60s Frank Zappa
, King Crimson
, Igor Stravinsky
and Art Rock
. Jono El Grande claims that his extreme mixture of genres and timbres is a result of his musical vision: moving away from the traditional concept of 'music as a result of social processes'.
Although Jono El Grande is enjoying modest growth on the European avant-garde
scene, he is most well known in his own country for his eccentric and amusing performance art
/dada
-inspired live shows. In 2000 he formed The Jono El Grande Orchestra
, renamed Jono El Grande & The Luxury Band in 2005.
Jono El Grande has released four albums, “Utopian Dances
” (Krusedull Prod. - 1999), “Fevergreens” (Rune Grammofon - 2003), “Neo Dada” (Rune Grammofon - 2009) and "Phantom Stimulance" (Rune Grammofon - 2010) in addition to contribute with compositions on other projects (both Rune Grammofon
s anniversary albums “Money Will Ruin Everything 1 & 2” and on “Wire Tapper #21”, the avant-garde music magazine The Wire
’s 21st edition of their CD series). Jono El Grande served as festival composer for Happy Days 2007, presented by Ny Musikk, the Norwegian section of ISCM – International Society For Contemporary Music. He also became a member of Norwegian Society Of Composers fall 2010.
Jono El Grande & The Luxury Band
From 1991 - 92 Jono El Grande worked as a radio host at the local station Radio Express. Two hours every Sunday for about a year, he played pure Frank Zappa- and art rock-related music. He also guest-hosted the progressive rock
radio spot Uhørt in its very infancy. As of 2008, the show still airs on Norway's FM 99,3. After graduating from high school in 1992, Jono El Grande attended art school in Bergen. In 1994 - 95, Jono El Grande worked as assistant decorator at Norsk Film, building props for the movie Pakten (movie) (Waiting For Sunset) with Robert Mitchum
. Eventually, in 1995, he quit the job to become a full-time composer.
Jono El Grande is an autodidactic Norwegian composer, band leader, guitarist and conductor. He cites as his major sources of influence Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, '60s Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
and Art Rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
. Jono El Grande claims that his extreme mixture of genres and timbres is a result of his musical vision: moving away from the traditional concept of 'music as a result of social processes'.
Although Jono El Grande is enjoying modest growth on the European avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
scene, he is most well known in his own country for his eccentric and amusing performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
/dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
-inspired live shows. In 2000 he formed The Jono El Grande Orchestra
The Jono El Grande Orchestra
The Jono El Grande Orchestra was formed in 2000 by composer Jono El Grande. TJEGO exclusively performs Jono El Grande's music and consists of selected musicians who have played with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Sinfonietta and Poing....
, renamed Jono El Grande & The Luxury Band in 2005.
Jono El Grande has released four albums, “Utopian Dances
Utopian Dances
Utopian Dances is the first album by the Norwegian art rock composer Jono El Grande.Side A:# Türbø Meuz...
” (Krusedull Prod. - 1999), “Fevergreens” (Rune Grammofon - 2003), “Neo Dada” (Rune Grammofon - 2009) and "Phantom Stimulance" (Rune Grammofon - 2010) in addition to contribute with compositions on other projects (both Rune Grammofon
Rune Grammofon
Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The...
s anniversary albums “Money Will Ruin Everything 1 & 2” and on “Wire Tapper #21”, the avant-garde music magazine The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
’s 21st edition of their CD series). Jono El Grande served as festival composer for Happy Days 2007, presented by Ny Musikk, the Norwegian section of ISCM – International Society For Contemporary Music. He also became a member of Norwegian Society Of Composers fall 2010.
Jono El Grande & The Luxury Band
Early life
Jon Andreas Håtun was born at Bærum Hospital, Norway. At the age of ten, far in anvance of touching his first instrument, he began inventing various band concepts without the intent for performance. In 1988 he bought his first guitar, and in 1989 he formed his first actual band along with three school buddies - a teen-age punk rock combo called Mannes Fatales. They would perform stunt poetry in combination with pre-arranged electric noises. Jono El Grande served as the lead vocalist and lyricist. Mannes Fatales performed three concerts before disbanding in 1990. In the years 1990 - 1992, Jono El Grande assembled a series concept bands intended for one-night performances and recordings and/or rehearsings only: The Terror Duo, Black Satan, The Pez Dispensers, Acetaded Beat, As Drosera in addition to a handful of school bands formed to mark end-of-term celebrations and similar occasions.From 1991 - 92 Jono El Grande worked as a radio host at the local station Radio Express. Two hours every Sunday for about a year, he played pure Frank Zappa- and art rock-related music. He also guest-hosted the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
radio spot Uhørt in its very infancy. As of 2008, the show still airs on Norway's FM 99,3. After graduating from high school in 1992, Jono El Grande attended art school in Bergen. In 1994 - 95, Jono El Grande worked as assistant decorator at Norsk Film, building props for the movie Pakten (movie) (Waiting For Sunset) with Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
. Eventually, in 1995, he quit the job to become a full-time composer.
Solo albums
- Utopian DancesUtopian DancesUtopian Dances is the first album by the Norwegian art rock composer Jono El Grande.Side A:# Türbø Meuz...
(Krusedull prod. - 1999) - Fevergreens (Rune GrammofonRune GrammofonRune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The...
- 2003) - Neo Dada (Rune GrammofonRune GrammofonRune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The...
- 2009) - Phantom Stimulance (Rune GrammofonRune GrammofonRune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The...
- 2010) - The Choko King (Rune Arkiv - 2011)
Contributions
- Money Will Ruin Everything (Rune GrammofonRune GrammofonRune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The...
- 2003)(Jono El Grande contributes with the composition "Tango On The Crest Of Reality".) - Money Will Ruin Everything 2 (Rune GrammofonRune GrammofonRune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The...
- 2008)(Jono El Grande contributes with the composition "Evas Horse Dance".) - The Wire Tapper#21 (The Wire Magazine - 2009)(Jono El Grande contributes with the composition "Neo Dada".)
Bands
- Menü Tizz Aura (1995–96)
- The Gringo Quartet (1996)
- Grande Corpse (1996–97)
- Vidunderlige Vidda (The Wonderful Mountain Plateau) (1996–98)
- The Jono El Grande OrchestraThe Jono El Grande OrchestraThe Jono El Grande Orchestra was formed in 2000 by composer Jono El Grande. TJEGO exclusively performs Jono El Grande's music and consists of selected musicians who have played with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Sinfonietta and Poing....
(2000–05) - Jono El Grande & The Luxury Band (2005 -)
Musical highlights
- Oslo City Suite I-IV
- Tango on the Crest of Reality
- Centrifugue in D minor
- The Death of Contemporary Music
- Finnish Dance of Cysts
- Le Roi de Chocolate