JONO EL GRANDE
Genres: Jazz Related Rock, Jazz Related Improv, Composition, Exotica • Norway

Jono El Grande is not of Latin or Hispanic origin. Actually, Norwegian Jon Andreas Håtun would have difficulty picking a more absurd name under which to release his music. Given the nature of his songs, though, he couldn’t have picked a more appropriate moniker. Whether in a studio or live-slapstic-show setting, Håtun subverts convention through musical and physical humor. However, the levity that allows El Grande to connect so easily with some may alienate others. A self-taught composer and guitarist, Håtun seems to have assimilated both the left-field rock leanings of Frank Zappa and the compositional styles of some 20th century giants (Stravinsky being a professed influence). While “prog” musicians have always embraced and incorporated the ideas of innovative composers, much less does one hear tropical sounds, throat singing, and laryngeal percussion written in complex, shifting meter. Despite the genre-hopping nature of Neo Dada, Jono El Grande always seems in control read more...