Jonas Hellborg (born 7 June 1958) is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin,

Ustad Sultan Khan Ustad Sultan Khan (15 April 1940 – 27 November 2011) was an Indian ''sarangi'' player and classical vocalist belonging to ''Sikar Gharana''. He was one of the founding members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussa ...

, Fazal Qureshi,

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

Shawn Lane Shawn Lane (March 21, 1963 – September 26, 2003) was an American musician who released two studio albums and collaborated with a variety of musicians including Ringo Starr, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Reg ...

Jens Johansson Jens Ola Johansson (born 2 November 1963 in Stockholm) is a Swedish keyboardist and pianist. Jens got famous in the early 80's when he and his brother Anders (drums) joined Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force". Jens is the son of the Swedish Jazz ...

, Anders Johansson,

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

Michael Shrieve Michael Shrieve (born July 6, 1949) is an American drummer, percussionist, and composer. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band Santana, playing on the band's first seven albums from 1969 to 1974. At age 20, Shrieve was the second youn ...

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 Jeff Sipe (born January 31, 1959), also known as Apt. Q258, is an American drummer. He works mainly in rock and jazz fusion. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit with Bruce Hampton. He was a member of Leftover Salmon and the Zambi ...

, Mattias IA Eklundh,

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band formed by lead vocalist John Lydon (previously, as Johnny Rotten, lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene (a founding member of the Clash), bassi ...

, and

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative and virtuosic electric guitar playing. Buckethead's extensive solo discography currentl ...

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 in 1944 in Konongo, Gold Coast. In the Akan culture of Ghana, Kwak ...

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 Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

, who introduced him to John McLaughlin,

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...

and other fusion stars. He was asked to join McLaughlin's reformed

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...

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

on drums and

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American Keyboard instrument, keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. In later years, he also worked with ...

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

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'' with Mike Shrieve and

, ''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

, a cooperation that would last nine years. The first record was ''

Abstract Logic In mathematical logic, an abstract logic is a formal system consisting of a class of sentences and a satisfaction relation with specific properties related to occurrence, expansion, isomorphism, renaming and quantification. Based on Lindström ...

'' with Ginger Baker's son

Kofi Kofi is an Akan people, Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (such as the Bono people, Bono, Akyem, Akwamu, Ashanti people, Ashanti and Fante people, Fante) in Ghana that is given to a boy born on Friday. Traditionally in Ghana, a child ...

on drums; this was followed by

's ''Two Doors''. By the third record they were joined by drummer

and embarked on a long stretch that produced four records and a lot of touring between 1995 and 1997. In 1998 Hellborg met percussionist

at a Zakir Hussain concert in Paris. The two formed a 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 two 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, Niladri Kumar,

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, whose name is often preceded by the title Pandit (Master), is an Indian percussionist and tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer. He has collaborated with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar and Amjad Ali Khan, a ...

and U. Shrinivas. He has also started a new

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

-fusion project with guitarist Mattias IA Eklundh 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 In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

, 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 Codes * Sierra Leone, country in West Africa, license plate code * Wales, constituent nation of ...

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 Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

, 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 Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. They are primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony ...

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 ro ...

'' (''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 IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

, 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'' (1994), Day Eight Music (with

Glen Velez Glen Velez (born 1949) is a four-time Grammy winning American percussionist, vocalist, and composer, specializing in frame drums from around the world. He is largely responsible for the increasing popularity of frame drums in the United States an ...

) *''

'' (1995), Bardo *'' Octave of the Holy Innocents'' (1993), Day Eight Music (re-released 2003, Bardo) *'' Temporal Analogues of Paradise'' (1996), Bardo *'' Time Is the Enemy'' (1997), Bardo *'' Aram of the Two Rivers'' (1999), Bardo *'' Zenhouse'' (1999), Bardo *'' Good People in Times of Evil'' (2000), Bardo *'' Personae'' (2002), Bardo *'' Icon: A Transcontinental Gathering'' (2003), Bardo *''Paris'' (2004) (DVD), Bardo *''Kali's Son'' (2006), Bardo *'' Art Metal'' (2007), Bardo *'' The Jazz Raj'' (2014), Bardo ;With The Mahavishnu Orchestra *''

Mahavishnu Mahavishnu () is an aspect of Vishnu, the principal deity in Vaishnavism. In his capacity as Mahavishnu, the deity is known as the Supreme Purusha, the absolute protector and sustainer of the universe, the one who is beyond human comprehensio ...

'' (1984), Warner Bros. *''

Adventures in Radioland ''Adventures in Radioland'' is a 1987 album by the John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin-headed group Mahavishnu Orchestra, Mahavishnu, released by the Relativity Records, Relativity record label, label which represents McLauglin's interest ...

'' (1986), Relativity ;With Deadline *''Dissident'' (1991), Day Eight Music *''Down by Law'', Cell ;With Michael Joseph Smith *''Faces'', Day Eight Music *''All our steps'', Day Eight Music ;With

*''Two Doors'' (1995), CMP, with

*''THE LEAVING TIME'', NOVUS/BMG ;With

*''

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'', Virgin ;With

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinu ...

*''Usfret'', CMP ;With Sultan Khan and

Fazal Qureshi Ustad Fazal Qureshi ( born 13 February 1961) is an Indian tabla player. Born to the tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha, under the guidance of his father and guru, with the inspiration drawn from his brother, Ustad Zakir Hussain, he has also becom ...

*''Friends Across Boundaries'', Ninaad Music ;With

*''Unseen Rain'', Day Eight Music *''Middle Passage'', Axiom ;With Kollektiv *feat. Jonas Hellborg, ITM ;With

*''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 site

Bardo Records website

Jonas Hellborg Cover Story in Bass Musician Magazine

Jonas Hellborg Cover Story in Bass Player Magazine

The 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