Jazz Articles

Jonas Hellborg: The Concert of Europe

by John Eyles
September 17, 2023

Swedish bass guitarist Jonas Hellborg has the knack of being in the right place at the right time when it comes to meeting reputed musicians; in 1981, after he played solo bass at the Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland, he was introduced to guitarist John McLaughlin and other fusion stars. He was soon asked to join a reformed Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1983. He stayed with McLaughlin until 1988, touring and recording with Mahavishnu Orchestra, and playing several duet tours with ...

Jonas Hellborg/Shawn Lane/Jeff Sipe: Time is the Enemy

by C. Michael Bailey
February 7, 2004

Time is the Enemy was assembled during a particularly productive period for the trio of Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane, and Jeff Sipe. It was recorded live at various unidentified locations around the world during 1996. Other recordings surrounding this original 1997 release, now remastered, include the live Temporal Analogs of Paradise , also recently remastered. As a set, these two recordings document the brilliant improvisatory empathy held by these three fusion experts. Sadly, the remastering and release of Time is ...

Hellborg/Lane/Sipe (Apt. Q258): Temporal Analogues of Paradise

by Todd S. Jenkins
September 25, 2003

Temporal Analogues of Paradise was originally issued in 1996, it stood the fusion world on its ear. The uncanny melodicism of the three performers--Jeff Sipe being the most surprising--set a new standard for electric improvisation. Jonas Hellborg has now remastered the disc and reissued it on his own label, brightening up the sound for an even more awe-inspiring experience.

Like many of Miles Davis' controversial albums in the 1970s, this disc was assembled from a large number of clips. The ...

Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane, Jeff Sipe: Temporal Analogues of Paradise

by C. Michael Bailey
July 25, 2003

One could conceivably reason that Jonas Hellborg's Temporal Analogues of Paradise was merely a retro exercise in mid-'70s flabby musical excess, as the live release, recorded in Europe in 1995, includes only two, 25-minute plus pieces. Having listened to hours of such music, I would characterize this disc a bit differently. These two long pieces come closest, in an electric way, of approximating Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert.

Each, in rather similar ways, allows improvisation to unfold patiently and carefully, never ...

Hellborg, Lane, Umamahesh, Selvaganesh, Umashankar: Icon

by C. Michael Bailey
May 7, 2003

Last year's Personae was a fusion powerhouse, laying creative waste to all in its way. Not content to rest on his muse, über -bassist Jonas Hellborg has set out after the polyphonic and polyrhythmic music of India. Hellborg and long term collaborator Shawn Lane apply their synthetic method, meshing East and West with Indian vocalist V. Umamahesh and two percussionists, V. Selvaganesh and V. Umashankar--who play the ghatam and the kanjeera, two types of hand drums used in the Southern ...

Hellborg/Lane/Selvaganesh/Umashankar/Umamahesh: Icon

by Jim Santella
April 2, 2003

Music: the universal language.

As civilizations developed around the world, music evolved alongside regional and cultural differences. The most basic of elements have always been there in common, but differences exist and continue to keep cultures apart. The human voice takes on various colors, even without language. Tuning may give one program preferences over another, depending on the listener’s ear. Then, there’s the instrumentation to deal with. The kanjeera, konokol and ghatam may be unfamiliar to many of ...

Hellborg/Lane/Selvaganesh/Umashankar/Umamahesh: Icon

by Dan McClenaghan
March 10, 2003

Swedish-born bassist Jonas Hellborg--whose category-defying CDs have incorporated aspects of metal, jazz, fusion, Middle Eastern sounds, classical and punk--offers up Icon, music tinged with Sub-Continent sounds. He is joined by guitarist Shawn Lane, Indian percussionists V. Selvaganish and V. Umashankar, and Indian vocalist V. Umamahesh.Hellborg has played with John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Public Image Ltd., and he cites as influences Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, and--interestingly--the original '60s power rock trio Cream. Interestingly, because Hellborg's bass ...

Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane and Jeff Sipe: Personae

by Jim Santella
April 12, 2002

Recorded during a live appearance in Mainz, Germany and composed by bassist Jonas Hellborg with Shawn Lane, the program asks the question, “Is modern music really a universal language, or does one musical persona differ too much from the next?"

How do hard rockers fit into a Jazz scene? How do Country & Western or R&B singers manage? Can sidemen feel somewhat comfortable in any situation? Hellborg, a veteran artist with over 20 album releases, wanted to explore ...

Hellborg / Lane / Sipe: Personae

by C. Michael Bailey
April 12, 2002

Caution! This is not the same Jazz Your Parents listened to.

In the mid-1970s, Jeff Beck ruled the world with Blow by Blow and Wired. These two hard fusion recitals went a long way to completing what Miles has started and Return to Forever and Weather Report perfected. Now, if one were to take that musical philosophical thread and cross it with the sensibilities of Jimi Hendrix Experience, early Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, and Cream, one would get ...

Hellborg/Lane/Selvaganesh: Good People In Times of Evil

by Todd S. Jenkins
February 1, 2001

Virtuoso bassist Jonas Hellborg first came to wide public attention in 1984 when he was selected by John McLaughlin to join the revamped Mahavishnu Orchestra. Since that time he has carved a name for himself as a premier fusion bass artist, deftly blending world musics with jazz and rock elements. Despite a critically acclaimed partnership with ex-Black Oak Arkansas guitarist Shawn Lane for the past several years, Hellborg has yet to receive all the public renown he’s due. This album ...