“Jon what are you doing?!”
Mar 10, 2012 Jon's Articles
“Jon what are you doing with that poor Rubbertellie!!” Visitors to my website have been curious about the opening photo of myself with the Rubbertellie. This was taken during a performance of Rubbertellie Murals at Gallery 119. In this piece I perform a musical piece as well as produce a painting, in this case a 20 foot-long mural. Technicians feed the blank “canvas” between the strings and fingerboard of the Rubbertellie moving it along as I literally grab globs of acrylic paint as I play the instrument. The sounds produced by the strings, and paper, are really fun to work with. There is some footage of Rubbertellie Murals on the documentary film Heavy Rubber: 30 Years in the Life of an Instrument: the Rubbertellie.
Jon’s new book in search of publisher
Mar 9, 2012 Jon's Articles
Jon is looking for a publisher for his new book. Fresh Ideas for Musicians by Jon Damian chronicles the author’s Creative Workshop at the Berklee College of Music and is for creative musicians in all endeavors. Workshop members interact with inspirations drawn from across the universe (from alphabets to zodiacs.) In Fresh Ideas, the reader is a virtual creative workshop member. The exploratory sessions are designed to help the reader get out of their own way and see and hear with fresh eyes and ears.
Jon Damian has been conducting his Creative Workshop for more than 25 years at Berklee and internationally and is acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost thinkers about guitar theory and pedagogy. He has authored several books including The Guitarists Guide to Composing and Improvising (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard: 2000) and The Chord Factory (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard: 2007)
The subject of creativity needs some fresh air and Fresh Ideas for Musicians will open both windows and minds.
Rubbertellie in Action!
Mar 10, 2011 Featured, Jon's Articles
Having heard Jon’s Rubbertellie on Dedications: Faces and Places, his CD with Bill Frisell, folks are always curious about what the Rubbertellie actually is! What does it look like? Well there is a YouTube link that shows Rubbetellie in action with Jon playing Brother Sharpe, a cut from the Dedications CD. The concert performance was at Bishop’s University in Quebec, Canada.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXoKY1B6qFM
The Creative Workshop in Italy
Mar 8, 2011 Featured, Jon's Articles
Some of my fun experiences during the Umbrian Jazz Festival can be found in an article I recently wrote for BT, an alumni magazine published by Berklee College of Music.
“A Perugian Recipe” takes a look at the people, the food and the landscape of Italy and how these elements inspired the Creative Workshop Ensembles and Master Classes I conducted as part of Berklee’s Umbria Jazz clinics.
If you are not able to get a hard copy of the magazine, here is the link for the article. Check out the pasta in the graphic!
http://www.berklee.edu/bt/222/coda.html