Jont Openheart (born Jonathan Mark Smith Whittington, 17 August 1973)
[Author Unknown]
From Trent Bridge to the Social 19/11/05
BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2008. is an English singer, songwriter and musician. First achieving prominence as a
slow left-arm spinner for
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...
,
[Palmer, Judith]
Arts: The Mad Cow Collective 14/06/96
The Independent. Retrieved 29 September 2008. he then shifted focus to poetry then to music. Mainstream attention followed after his song "Sweetheart" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 US comedy film ''
Wedding Crashers'' and two tracks from his 2008 album ''Supernatural'' were featured in season 5 of the US medical drama ''
Grey's Anatomy''.
In 2019, Jont released his ninth album, ''Gentle Warrior'', which expressed his deepening orientation towards spirituality and the healing power of music, and started playing "Gentle Warrior Ceremonies", a performance concept fusing song and meditation.
Early life
Dividing his youth between the United States and England, Jont first started writing poems aged fourteen.
[Verzeletti, Christian]
Jont Interview 18/12/02
. Mescalina. Retrieved 25 September 2008. While still a teenager, he toured the US conducting interviews with a series of prominent American poets including
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
and
Jonathan Williams. Returning to England at age eighteen, Whittington began playing for
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
as a
slow left-arm spinner and
Phil Tufnell's number two.
He made a single
first-class appearance for the county against
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
at
Fenner's in 1992, with Whittington not required to bat in the match, while with the ball he went wicketless. During this period, he attended
Manchester University to study English and American literature.
Music career
1998–2010
Frustrated with the limited reception his poetry was achieving, Whittington started performing as a musician in the groups Your Baby and Funnybone before going solo. After leaving University he moved to London, attaining a residency at the
12 Bar Club
The 12 Bar Club was a music venue in London that opened in 1994 on Denmark Street – known as Great Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" – just off Charing Cross Road and close to Soho.
Some of the most famous musicians and groups to play at the ...
which he called Unlit. Over the next five years he would play host to and perform with such artists as
Tom Baxter
Tom Baxter (born Thomas Baxter Gleave, 29 October 1973) is an English singer-songwriter based in London. He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, and grew up in Camborne Cornwall with his 4 siblings.
The second son of Jeff and Julie Gleave (who were r ...
,
Polly Paulusma
Polly Paulusma (born 10 November 1976) is an English singer-songwriter.
Career
Her first album, ''Scissors in my Pocket'', was largely recorded and produced by herself at her home. A second album, ''Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites'' (a virtual anagra ...
, Solomon (later to become
The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of influences ranging from alternative rock bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiritualized, the tremulous rock'n'roll of bands such as The ...
),
Boo Hewerdine
Mark "Boo" Hewerdine (born 14 February 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. His work includes lead singer and creative force behind The Bible, formed in the 1980s, and reformed in 1994, as well as solo recordings and work f ...
,
Archie Bronson Outfit
Archie Bronson Outfit are an English rock band. They met at Kingswood School, Bath.
After leaving their native Somerset, the band moved to London where they were discovered by Laurence Bell, boss of Domino Records. The band were playing in ...
,
Adem
Adem ( ota, آدم, ) corresponding to Adam (see also Adam in Islam), is a masculine given name common in Turkey and Bosnia.
Given name
* Adem Alkaşi (born 1984), Turkish footballer
*Adem Asil (born 1999), Turkish gymnast
*Adem Bereket (bor ...
and
Antonio Forcione
Antonio Forcione is an Italian jazz guitarist. His 2000 album ''Live!'' was recorded at The Vortex in London. He also recorded a duet album with bassist Charlie Haden – ''Heartplay''.
Biography
Forcione grew up on the Adriatic coast of the Mo ...
.
During this time Whittington recorded his first albums, ''Life Is Fine'' and ''28'' on his own label Unlit Records.
In 2003, Whittington moved to New York whereupon he began regularly performing with artists such as
Joan As Policewoman
Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, a ...
and
Artanker Convoy. During this period he was taken under the wing of
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
manager
Tony Dimitriades in Los Angeles and, after moving to Hollywood, began working with several producers including
Tom Rothrock,
Bill Laswell and Mushroom from
Massive Attack.
In 2005, he released the EP ''One Long Song'' which was awarded four stars from ''
Q''. The track, "You Can Be The Stars", was given high rotation on
Dermot O'Leary's
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
show and Whittington appeared on the show to perform live. His cover of
Goldfrapp's "Number 1" was subsequently released on the compilation album ''
The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show''. The song "Sweetheart" from the EP was used during the end credits of the Hollywood comedy ''
Wedding Crashers''. In mid 2006, Whittington toured the United States. Following this tour at the invitation of the BBC performed as part of the Electric Proms.
[BBC Electric Proms – Next Stage Tour](_blank)
/ref>[Huw Stephen]
BBC Electric Proms Blog
BBC.co.uk
2008 saw the release of the album ''Supernatural'', recorded in Paris and London. In September, the track "Another Door Closes" was featured in the season 5 premiere of the US medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'' and received airplay from Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...
on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
.
In March 2009, the track "Don't Waste All Your Tears" was featured in Season Seven of CBS primetime show ''Without a Trace
''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...
'', and the song "Sweetheart" was featured in Season Five of ''Grey's Anatomy'' in April.
Jont released his third studio album ''Set It Free'' in May 2010 followed by his fourth album ''Whole Again'' in November 2010 – the first to be released solely thoroughly through his own webstore.
2013–present
In 2012, Jont relocated from London to Halifax, Nova Scotia, titling his fifth album ''Hello Halifax'' to mark the occasion.
Taking a break to focus on fatherhood, Jont returned in 2017 with ''An Old Innocence'', recording and performing the album live with a full band called The Infinite Possibility. The album was recorded by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...
)
In 2019, Jont released his seventh album ''Gentle Warrior'', showcasing a quieter singing style that allowed him to sing "from a place inside that felt more connected to my true essence."
Jont will release a follow-up album entitled ''Thank You for the Medicine'' in 2020.
Unlit
In the summer of 2006, Whittington posted a message on his Myspace profile essentially inviting people to offer their homes as venues for his tour of US – a concept simply tagged ''Unlit''. Cameraman Dave Depares joined him to document the tour, and the resulting ten-part video blog series was posted on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
entitled ''The State We're In''.
From April to May 2008, Whittington and Depares filmed a second ten-part series of their video blog, this time entitled ''The House We're In'' and taking Unlit to Myspace user's houses in the UK.
Shortly after this UK telecoms company Orange commissioned a third series of the show, called ''The Road We're On'', as part of their "I Am Everyone" campaign. Episodes were premiered on Myspace a week before being posted on YouTube. Eight episodes were posted, plus a twenty-minute retrospective documentary, which was posted on Dailymotion.
The Unlit series has been viewed by over two million people.
In October 2008, in conjunction with the BBC Radio 2's Dermot O'Leary show and the BBC's Electric Proms, the Unlit series culminated in an Electric Proms/Unlit event in North London.[Author Unknown]
BBC Radio 2 – Dermot O'Leary
BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
"Unlit has developed from an underground movement to a viral phenomenon worldwide" – The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
Gentle Warrior Ceremonies
A natural evolution from the UNLIT concept, in 2019 Jont started performing Sacred Song Ceremonies in keeping with his newfound direction of tapping into the power of music to heal. Described as "gatherings of song and ceremony where the music serves as a unifying energy for connection, celebration and healing", they are held in conscious spaces such as yoga studios and often feature collaborators who offer meditation, mantras or other forms of healing sound. Ceremony tours have taken place across Eastern Canada and Europe.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Gentle Warrior'' (Unlit Records) (2019)
* ''An Old Innocence'' (Unlit Records) (2017)
* ''Hello Halifax'' (Unlit Records) (2012)
* ''Whole Again'' (Unlit Records) (2010)
* ''Set It Free'' (Unlit Records) (2010)
* ''Supernatural'' (Unlit Records) (2008)
* ''One Long Song'' (Everybody's Records) (2005)
* ''Everything You Need To Know About Life in 74 minutes'' (Private) (2002 Italy, 200 copies made for Italian tour)
* ''28'' (Unlit Records) (2002 Italy, 2008 Rest of World)
* ''Life Is Fine'' (1998)
Live albums
* ''A Spaceship on the Ocean Floor'' (Unlit Records) (2019)
Single releases
References
External links
*
Official Site
Official Profile
on MySpace
Unlit Page
featuring all three series of the video blog – ''The State We're In'', ''The House We're In'' and ''The Road We're On''
Orange Unlit Tour
central website
at ESPNcricinfo
ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...
Jonathan Whittington
at CricketArchive
{{Authority control
1973 births
Living people
People educated at Eton College
Musicians from Marylebone
English cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
English male singer-songwriters
English singer-songwriters
English rock guitarists
British alternative rock musicians
Alternative rock guitarists
English male guitarists
21st-century English singers
21st-century British guitarists
21st-century British male singers