Jonas Hellborg (born 7 June 1958) is a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
bass guitarist. He has collaborated with
John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra
* Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter
* John McLaugh ...
,
Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi,
Bill Laswell,
Shawn Lane,
Jens Johansson,
Anders Johansson,
Ginger Baker,
Michael Shrieve,
V. Selvaganesh
V. Selvaganesh is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition and one of the leading kanjira (south Indian frame drum) players of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh."
Career
Selvaganesh gained world fame through ...
,
Jeff Sipe,
Mattias IA Eklundh
Mattias Bernt Johannes Eklundh (born 6 October 1969), also known as IA, is a Swedish guitarist and vocalist. He is known for his work with Freak Kitchen, Jonas Hellborg and Art Metal, and he has also produced several noted solo Freak Guitar alb ...
,
Public Image Ltd, and
Buckethead.
Recording career
Hellborg began his music career in 1976 in Sweden touring with local rock acts. He was spotted by percussionist
Reebop Kwaku Baah
Anthony "Rebop" Kwaku Baah (13 February 1944 – 12 January 1983) was a Ghanaian percussionist who worked with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can.
Biography
Baah was born on 13 February 1944, in Konongo, Gold Coast.
In 1969, Baah performe ...
in a small club in Stockholm 1979 and he moved to London for a year to work with Reebop on different projects. He played the Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland in 1981 and met
Michael Brecker who introduced him to John McLaughlin,
Billy Cobham and other fusion stars. He was asked to join McLaughlin's reformed
Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1983. He stayed with McLaughlin until 1988, touring and recording with Mahavishnu Orchestra. He also did several duet tours with McLaughlin during this time.
In 1986 and 1987 he toured with a project featuring
Ginger Baker on drums and
Bernie Worrell on keyboards, which appears on Hellborg's 1988 album "Bass". They continued to perform together in 1989.
In 1988 Hellborg moved to New York and started his own band which first included keyboardist
Aydin Esen and drummer
Kenwood Dennard, and later the Johansson Brothers, Jens on keyboards and Anders on drums. He started a recording studio together with producer/bassist
Bill Laswell called Greenpoint Studios. They recorded a multitude of records there until early 1993, including The Word together with
Tony Williams, ''
Octave of the Holy Innocents
''Octave of the Holy Innocents'' is an album by bassist Jonas Hellborg on which he is joined by guitarist Buckethead and drummer Michael Shrieve. It was recorded at Greenpoint Studio in Brooklyn, New York, and was released by the Swedish label Day ...
'' with
Mike Shrieve and
Buckethead, Material's Hallucination Engine, and E with the Johansson Brothers.
In 1993 he sold his part in the studio to Laswell and resettled in Paris, France. The following year he teamed up with guitarist
Shawn Lane, a cooperation that would last nine years. The first record was ''
Abstract Logic
''Abstract Logic'' is the first collaborative live album by bassist Jonas Hellborg and guitarist Shawn Lane, released in 1995 through Day Eight Music; a remastered and remixed edition, containing a revised track listing and two extra tracks, was ...
'' with Ginger Baker's son
Kofi
Kofi is an Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (such as the Ashanti and Fante) in Ghana that is given to a boy born on Friday. Traditionally in Ghana, a child would receive their Akan day name during their Outdooring, eight days aft ...
on drums; this was followed by
Michael Shrieve's ''Two Doors''. By the third record they were joined by drummer
Jeff Sipe and embarked on a long stretch that produced four records and a lot of touring between 1995 and 1997.
In 1998 Hellborg met percussionist
V. Selvaganesh
V. Selvaganesh is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition and one of the leading kanjira (south Indian frame drum) players of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh."
Career
Selvaganesh gained world fame through ...
at a
Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of:
* Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India
* Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor
* Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player
* ...
concert in Paris. The two formed a long lasting musical partnership that has been ongoing since then. To start with, Selvaganesh joined Hellborg in duets and in different "classical" settings Hellborg was working on at the time. Later a group was formed, first in trio with Lane, then a quintet including Selvaganesh's 2 brothers V. Umashankar and V. Umamahesh. Two CDs and a DVD were produced with this group. After Shawn Lane's death in 2003, Hellborg has continued to explore amalgamations of Indian and Western music, working with Indian masters as
Debashish Bhattacharya
Debashish Bhattacharya ( bn, দেবাশীষ ভট্টাচার্য, hi, देवाशीष भट्टाचार्य, Devāśiṣ Bhaṭṭācārya, born 12 January 1963) is an Indian classical musician, singer, composer ...
,
Niladri Kumar
Pandit Niladri Kumar is an Indian sitar player and music composer.
Early life
He was born to sitar player Kartick Kumar, a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He started learning sitar under his father at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public per ...
,
Vikku Vinayakram
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (born 11 August 1942), also known as Vikku Vinayakram, is an Indian percussionist. He is also known as the God of ''ghatam''. He plays Carnatic music with the ''ghatam'', an earthen pot, and is credited with popula ...
,
Tanmoy Bose
Tanmoy Bose ( bn, তন্ময় বোস; born 23 August 1963), whose name is often preceded by the title Pandit (Master), is an India percussionist and tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer. He has collaborated with Pa ...
and
U. Shrinivas. He has also started a new metal-fusion project with guitarist
Mattias IA Eklundh
Mattias Bernt Johannes Eklundh (born 6 October 1969), also known as IA, is a Swedish guitarist and vocalist. He is known for his work with Freak Kitchen, Jonas Hellborg and Art Metal, and he has also produced several noted solo Freak Guitar alb ...
called Art Metal.
Hellborg founded his own record label Day Eight Music (D.E.M.) in 1979 releasing his first solo bass record ''The Bassic Thing'' – an early showcase of his pioneering chordal, and for the time very advanced, slapping approaches. It was the first LP ever to feature solely bass guitar. With the move to the US, a new entity was formed, called Bardo Music, that took over the responsibilities of Hellborg's output, now counting around 40 releases.
Musical equipment

Hellborg has been involved in instrument design from early in his career. His work includes a signature model for
Aria, the first ever biamped bass amplifier (in cooperation with Italian company FBT), a double neck bass, fretted and fretless, for British company
Wal
WAL or Wal may refer to:
Places
* Wał, Lublin Voivodeship, village in eastern Poland
* Wał, Masovian Voivodeship, village in east-central Poland
* Wales, constituent nation of the United Kingdom
* Wallonia, Walloon Region of Belgium
* Wallops F ...
in 1983, and, in 1984, an acoustic bass in collaboration with master luthier
Abraham Wechter
Abraham Wechter is an American luthier who has been making custom guitars since the 1970s. He is known for building 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars and acoustic bass guitars. He was a student of luthier Richard Schneider, and for ten years he wor ...
.
After working with a half dozen other companies with signature models and inventions he, together with the German manufacturer
Warwick, created a new bass and a high end line of bass amplification.
Hellborg published two books in the early 80s with Music Sales of London, one on
slap bass called ''Thumb Bassics'', and a chord book called ''Chord Bassics''.
Acting
As a teenager Hellborg appeared as an actor in the TV series ''
Hem till byn
''Hem till byn'' (English: ''Home to the village''), written by Bengt Bratt (born 1937), is Sweden's longest-running TV series and one of its most popular. It is a realistic drama about people in a rural Swedish village and their daily life and ...
'' (''Home to the Village''), a widely popular dramatic series inspired by everyday life in Sweden, in which Jonas's mother, actress Tove Waltenburg, played one of the main characters. He appeared in the first three seasons, in 1971, 1973 and 1976, as well as in one episode in season four (in 1990), where his character has become a famous bass player. According to
IMDb, playing Anders Persson in ''Hem till Byn'' is his only acting credit.
Discography
;As band leader
*''The Bassic Thing'' (solo bass) (1979), Day Eight Music
*''Dreamland'' (1983), Day Eight Music
*''Elegant Punk'' (solo bass) (1984), Day Eight Music
*''Axis'' (1986), Day Eight Music
*''Bass'' (1988), Day Eight Music
*''Adfa'' (1989), Day Eight Music
*''The Silent Life'' (acoustic solo bass) (1991), Day Eight Music
*''Jonas Hellborg Group'' (1990), Day Eight Music
*''Jonas Hellborg Group E'' (1991), Day Eight Music
*''The Word'' (1991), Axiom
*''
Ars Moriende
Ars Moriende is an album by bass guitarist Jonas Hellborg, released in 1994 through Day Eight Music. Performed together with percussionist and overtone singer Glen Velez, the recording is a journey into a state of meditation on the subject of life ...
'' (1994), Day Eight Music (with
Glen Velez)
*''
Abstract Logic
''Abstract Logic'' is the first collaborative live album by bassist Jonas Hellborg and guitarist Shawn Lane, released in 1995 through Day Eight Music; a remastered and remixed edition, containing a revised track listing and two extra tracks, was ...
'' (1995), Bardo
*''
Octave of the Holy Innocents
''Octave of the Holy Innocents'' is an album by bassist Jonas Hellborg on which he is joined by guitarist Buckethead and drummer Michael Shrieve. It was recorded at Greenpoint Studio in Brooklyn, New York, and was released by the Swedish label Day ...
'' (1993), Day Eight Music (re-released 2003, Bardo)
*''
Temporal Analogues of Paradise
''Temporal Analogues of Paradise'' is an album by bassist Jonas Hellborg, with guitarist Shawn Lane and drummer Jeff Sipe, released in 1996 through Day Eight Music; a remastered edition was reissued through Bardo Records in 2004.
It was recorded ...
'' (1996), Bardo
*''
Time Is the Enemy
''Time Is the Enemy'' is a live album by bassist Jonas Hellborg, released on 14 October 1997 through Bardo Records; a remastered edition was reissued on 30 March 2004. It features guitarist Shawn Lane and drummer Jeff Sipe (credited as Apt. Q-25 ...
'' (1997), Bardo
*''
Aram of the Two Rivers
Aram of the Two Rivers is an album by bass guitarist Jonas Hellborg that was released in 1999 by Bardo Records.
It was recorded live in Syria in 1996 at two venues: the Al Azam Palace in Damascus and one of the oldest caravanserais in Aleppo. ...
'' (1999), Bardo
*''
Zenhouse
''Zenhouse'' is the fourth collaborative live album by bassist Jonas Hellborg and guitarist Shawn Lane, released on 9 November 1999 through Bardo Records. For this line-up, they are joined for the third time by drummer Jeff Sipe. In contrast to th ...
'' (1999), Bardo
*''
Good People in Times of Evil'' (2000), Bardo
*''
Personae
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatri ...
'' (2002), Bardo
*''
Icon: A Transcontinental Gathering'' (2003), Bardo
*''Paris'' (2004) (DVD), Bardo
*''Kali's Son'' (2006), Bardo
*''
Art Metal
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
'' (2007), Bardo
*''
The Jazz Raj'' (2014), Bardo
;With
The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 a ...
*''
Mahavishnu'' (1984), Warner Bros.
*''
Adventures in Radioland'' (1986), Relativity
;With Deadline
*''Dissident'' (1991), Day Eight Music
*''Down by Law'', Cell
;With
Michael Joseph Smith
Michael Joseph Smith (born August 13, 1938) was an American composer and pianist born in Tiline, Kentucky. At the age of 6 years, he gave his first concert of original solo piano music in Nashville, Tennessee. After serving in the United States ...
*''Faces'', Day Eight Music
*''All our steps'', Day Eight Music
;With
Michael Shrieve
*''Two Doors'' (1995), CMP, with
Shawn Lane
*''THE LEAVING TIME'', NOVUS/BMG
;With
Public Image Ltd
*''
Album'', Virgin
;With
Trilok Gurtu
*''Usfret'', CMP
;With
Sultan Khan Sultan Khan may refer to:
*Sultan Khan (chess player) (1903–1966), Indian chess player
*Sultan Khan (musician) (1940–2011), Indian sarangi player
*Sultan Mohammed Khan (1919–2010), Pakistani civil servant and British India Army officer
*Sult ...
and
Fazal Qureshi
*''Friends Across Boundaries'', Ninaad Music
;With
Ginger Baker
*''Unseen Rain'', Day Eight Music
*''Middle Passage'', Axiom
;With
Kollektiv
*feat. Jonas Hellborg, ITM
;With
Jens Johansson
*''Fjäderlösa tvåfotingar'', Day Eight Music
;With
Anders Johansson
*''Shutka'', Day Eight Music
*''Red Shift'', Heptagon
;With RAF (feat. Peter Brötzmann, Bill Laswell, Jamal Evans)
*''Ode to a Tractor'' (1992), Day Eight Music
;With
Reebop
*''Melodies in a Jungle Man's Head'', Day Eight Music
;With Shining Path
*''No Other World'' (1992)
;With Busch-Werk
*''Busch-Werk & the Masters of Groove'' (DVD) (2009), Zauberhaus-Records (feat. Nippy Noya, and Famoudou Konaté)
*''Trance'' (2011), Zauberhaus-Records (feat. Nippy Noya, Famoudou Konaté, and Baba Sissoko)
References
External links
Hellborg's personal siteBardo Records websiteJonas Hellborg Cover Story in Bass Musician MagazineJonas Hellborg Cover Story in Bass Player MagazineThe 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellborg, Jonas
1958 births
Living people
Swedish jazz musicians
Mahavishnu Orchestra members
Jazz fusion bass guitarists
Swedish bass guitarists
Art Metal (band) members
Deadline (band) members