Jonathan Kane

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Jonathan Kane
Kane playing drums energetically at the Transfiguration Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2009
Kane playing drums at the Transfiguration Festival, Asheville, NC, in 2009
Background information
Born (1956-11-04) November 4, 1956 (age 67)
New York City, New York, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician/Composer
Instrument(s)drums, guitar, bass

Jonathan Kane (born November 4, 1956) is an American musician and composer. Coming out of New York's Downtown Music scene of the early 1980s, Kane is known for his work with minimalist composers La Monte Young[1] and Rhys Chatham,[2] and was a founding member of NYC band Swans.[3][4] He also leads his own minimalist blues band called Jonathan Kane's February.

Kane began his professional career while in high school in 1974. Along with his brother, harmonica player Anthony Kane, they formed the Kane Brothers Blues Band.[5] They worked at east coast USA clubs and opened concerts for James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Dr. John, Koko Taylor, and Muddy Waters, amongst others.[6]

Other groups and artists Kane has toured and recorded with includes Dave Soldier, The Kropotkins,[7] Gary Lucas,[1] Transmission, Elliott Sharp,[8] Soldier String Quartet, John Zorn, Jean-Francois Pauvros, Jac Berrocal, and Tony Hymas. He also composed music for choreographers Bebe Miller, Lisa Fox and Wally Cardona.

Kane has released two solo albums, February (2004)[9] and Jet Ear Party (2009), and also an EP, The Little Drummer Boy (2007).[10]

Timeline[edit]

  • 1974 - 1977 - Kane Bros. Blues Band
  • 1977 - 1979 - Attends Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA
  • 1980 - 1981 - NYC post punk band Circus Mort with future Swans front man Michael Gira
  • 1981 - 1983 - Forms Swans with Michael Gira, forms Transmission with Daniel Galliduani, tours USA with Swans/Sonic Youth 'Savage Blunder Tours', tours with Rhys Chatham on "Kitchen Tour USA 1"
  • 1984 - 1988 - Composes and arranges for choreographers Bebe Miller and Lisa Fox
  • 1988 - 2009 - World premier in 1988 of Rhys Chatham's symphony for 100 electric guitars 'An Angel Moves Too Fast To See' features Kane as the only drummer. Tours worldwide.
  • 1991 - 2000 - Member of La Monte Young's 'Forever Bad Blues Band' performing Young's 3+ hour piece 'Young's Dorian Blues in G'. Tours worldwide.
  • 1994–present - Forms The Kropotkins with Dave Soldier, Moe Tucker, Lorette Velvette and Charles Burnham.
  • 2005–present - Forms Jonathan Kane's February, tours USA and Europe, releases 5 records/cds on Table of the Elements label and Issue Project Room Editions. Band members have included Igor Cubrilovic (producer), Peg Simone, Jon Crider, David Bicknell, Adam Wills (Bear In Heaven), Eric Eble, Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers), David Daniell, and Paul Duncan.
  • 2010–present - Joins X Patsy's with artists Robert Longo, Jon Kessler and actress Barbara Sukowa. Tours Europe
  • 2012–present - Forms Soldier Kane with Dave Soldier

Personal life[edit]

Jonathan Kane is the son of American photographer Art Kane,[11] and has two brothers, Anthony and Nikolas. In 1993, he married poet and lyricist Holly Anderson, and the couple's daughter, Lucy, was born later the same year.[12][13] His wife died in 2017, from cancer linked to her work as a volunteer following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.[13][14]

Kane in 2013

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Jacks, Kelso (October 19, 1998). "Record News – Single Artists" (PDF). CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 56, no. 592. Great Neck, NY: College Media Inc. p. 10. ISSN 0890-0795. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Layne, Joslyn. "Jonathan Kane Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  3. ^ Carden, Andrew (February 12, 2020). "Jonathan Kane and Swans". Table of the Elements. Retrieved January 3, 2022. First published in February 2002 issue of Mojo magazine.
  4. ^ Browne, David (2008). Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 85. ISBN 9780306815157. OCLC 1330336664. Retrieved January 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Dollar, Steve (August 26, 2008). "P.S.1 'Warm Up' Cools Down With Jonathan Kane". The New York Sun. New York. p. 12.
  6. ^ Young, La Monte (1993). "Jonathan Kane". Just Stompin': Live at the Kitchen (PDF) (booklet). La Monte Young & The Forever Bad Blues Band. Gramavision. p. 24. ISBN 156826125X. R2 79487. Retrieved January 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Rapport, Evan (2014). "Hearing Punk As Blues" (PDF). Popular Music. 33 (1). Cambridge University Press: 39–67. doi:10.1017/S0261143013000524. ISSN 0261-1430. S2CID 162955109. ProQuest 1476202890. Retrieved January 1, 2022 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). "Sharp, Elliott". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7 (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 385. ISBN 9780195313734. Retrieved January 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ Mitchell, John E. (August 29, 2008). "Music Box". North Adams Transcript. North Adams, MA. p. 9.
  10. ^ "Jonathan Kane Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  11. ^ Poppy, John (1975). Art Kane, The Persuasive Image: How a Portraitist and Story Teller Illuminates Our Changing Culture. Masters of Contemporary Photography. Los Angeles: Alskog / Thomas Y. Crowell Company. p. 17. ISBN 0690007841. OCLC 1150967383. Retrieved January 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ Semioli, Tony (December 6, 2017) [April 13, 2015]. "Art Kane: Every Picture Tells a Story". HuffPost. New York. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Weniger, Deanna (January 12, 2018) [December 26, 2017]. "Sickened by toxic 9/11 dust, poet's dying wish was to come home to Minnesota". Twin Cities Pioneer Press. St. Paul, MN: MediaNews Group. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  14. ^ Oreskes, Benjamin (September 10, 2021). "I was 8 in New York during 9/11. How did it change me — and my generation?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 3, 2023.


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