Guitar Chef

Q. Jonathan , tell me about your last studio-project .

A. i just recently finished working on a few at around the same time. one is my second solo release entitled "einstein too", another was for a female singer recently signed to lava/atlantic named amy fairchild, two others were done at the same time at dizzyland studios in new hampshire for "hank decken" and "sonic joyride", also i've been working on composing for a film called "kamikaze" being shot here in new york later this summer. there are so many things i'm involved with at the moment due to now being available through my web site. not only do i have my regular producers and contacts calling me, but i also have artists from around the world now able to get in touch me directly, unlike before. since i've got my own studio here in the city, if they can't afford to fly me across the world, they can just send me their tapes, leave it to me to put the drums down and send them right back. it saves them money and it's great for me because i never would have been available like that in the past. next up for me is some recording with legendary bassist tm stevens, with possible tour dates later this year.

Q. It's true the your collaboration on Rama's Toshi Iseda Project ?

A. yes that is correct. toshi and andy (west) contacted me last year about laying a few drum tracks down for the rama project. it was an interesting process as i explained previously. they sent me the scratch tracks on da88, i then dumped them to 2" at my studio, laid down the 3 tracks during a dinner break while working on another session, then dumped the tracks back to da88 and sent them off. i've yet to hear the finished mixes, but am looking forward to the end results.

Q. You are famous also for a great performances (on studio and on stage) with the master Joe Satriani . Your memories on this piece of life .

A. hooking up with joe was one of those situations of being in the right place at the right time. i had just finished a few years of work with steve howe and steve hackett in a band called gtr. things were up in the air about what the band was going to do next, leaving me with thoughts of moving on and possibly moving back to the states from london. a trip to the hoshino factory to sign with tama introduced me to joe who was there to do the same with ibanez. we talked about playing, one gig led to another, the next thing i knew we were on the road and i was moving back to the states. it was very exciting and enjoyable time for us back at the beginning. we were just an instrumental fusion trio looking to tear up every gig and blow away as many in the audience as possible. things changed later on though when the gig got more popular and joe tried singing to capture an even larger audience. although i still enjoyed a lot of what we did at the time, that was a turning point for me. joe thought it was time to 'calm down' the chops and concentrate on trying to get a single on the radio and that's not really where i wanted to go in that playing situation. i play on top 40 and top 100 recordings all the time in my session work, so with joe i really wanted to remain a 'players band'. of course, it's his band, his music and his career, so it was his call.

Q. Now you are friend of Satch or no ?

A. not really at the moment.

Q. Why don't more collaborations with him ?

A. well, i never expected to work with joe for as long as i did. one of the reasons i did stay that long was that around my touring and recording with him, i was also free to do many other gigs. aretha franklin, alice cooper, frank gambale and others. for me, that was important because i have a tendency to get bored with playing the same music all of the time, unless i'm absolutely in love with the gig. so playing with others allowed me to constantly go back to joe somewhat fresh. but by the time we had finished the 'time machine' record and tour, i was kind of tired with it and really looking to do more sessions. i was missing a lot of work while being out and away with joe. by the time 95 rolled around, i was already well into the network of the new york session scene, as well as just about to finish up my first "einstein" cd when joe called and asked me to do another tour. i listened to his new cd and my first response was no, due to not really liking his new direction as well as all that was going on for me in the city. he was very persistent, so we eventually agreed that if other opportunities arose that i wanted/needed to pursue, i would give him my notice and leave the tour at an opportune moment. i guess he never thought that moment would come around, but it did and i gave my notice to leave after about 10 months of being out. he was pretty upset and i hope one day that it will be water under the bridge, but i would've been such a fool to continually pass on the gigs that were being offered. the first recording i did upon leaving joe was for "fuel" on sony. i don't know how popular they are in italy, but they're one of the biggest alternative bands here and have been certified gold and platinum in various countries. that recording has led to so much more, so no regrets here.

Q. The experience with Rudy Roberts ?

A. i met rudy while playing together at the cannes music passion festival back in 95 i believe. we were the headline 'rock' outfit that week, along with john maclaughlin (who i got to play with) and jean michel jarre. anyway, after meeting and playing with rudy, he asked me if i would be interested in recording with him on his next cd. i liked him and his music, so of course i said yes. i flew to france during a short break on satriani's tour and did the tracks. he then came to new york later on and mixed the cd at my studio. he was a lot of fun to work, play and hang with.

Q. You are one Solo-Studio-Album : tell me about the music of this album and the artists inside .

A. as i mentioned earlier, my solo project is entitled 'einstein'. it's basically a showcase for my compositions, as well as a bit of my playing, although it's definitely not a drummers solo record per se. meaning, it's not just all instrumental songs with over the top playing. there is a bit of that, but it's mostly a vocal record in the heavy progressive rock vein. lots of odd time and counter-melodies. where i think the band shines is a combination of the clever melodies, rhythms and polyrhythms played very smoothly. i like to take odd time, make it feel straight and do the opposite with straight time. the first einstein cd is a trio made up of myself and two friends, stan jankowski (ld vox & gtr) and jani mangini (keys). the new einstein entitled "einstein too" has stan featured again as the lead vocalist, but this time around i enlisted the help of a few friends as guest artists for the solos. trey gunn, al pitrelli, jens johannsen, derek sherinian, dc cooper and a few others all lent their talents. it's actually being pressed at the moment and should be available by early august. information on those cd's and a lot more can be found on my web site www.jonathanmover.com/.