Banquet and wedding music specialists The London Banqueting Ensembles Professional musicians for all occasions

Guitarist

Jon has been playing professionally for over 20 years and has enjoyed a diverse and distinguished musical career which has made him a very versatile performer and musician. His first professional job was at the age of 15 playing lead guitar with a function band which toured throughout England and Scotland. Soon after this, he enjoyed a very busy career as a session musician and recorded with a number of very renowned musicians and bands. He toured throughout Europe with a number of ensembles, and one of the highlights was performing at the Royal Palace in Monaco as special guests of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. It was during this period of musical journeys that Jon developed a deep love of Spanish guitar and, inspired by the music of Albeniz and Granados, travelled to Spain to begin a love affair with the Spanish guitar and ultimately with the music of South America.
 

Guitarist demo clips   MP3 WMA   Canarios Granada by Augustin Lara Granada by Isaac Albeniz Spanish eyes Spanish Dance no 4 Danza prima Jongo El Condor Pasa Summertime It aint necessarily so Norwegian woods Love letters straight from your heart Charade A certain smile America It had to be you

What was so exciting about the new technique (in respect to anything he had done before) was, that suddenly the guitar had become an orchestra and a vehicle with which he could play music he never thought possible. Classical, Popular and Jazz could all be dabbled with and he set out absorbing whatever he could and whatever caught his attention. South American music with its rhythms, Spanish music with its romance and even that mysterious gypsy art of Flamenco gave his playing a new lease of life. Brazil and its Sambas and Bossa Novas were another source of musical fun. So much was possible and it broadened his musical horizons and his musicality.

From 1995 to 1997 Jon was resident guitarist at the Café Royal’s Green Room which hosted many artistes such as Patti Boulaye, Alan Price, George Melly, Cybil Shepherd, Rita Coolidge- to name but a few. He was also busy as a touring musician with artistes with varied backgrounds such as, David Soul, Gwen Dickey (lead singer of the band Rose Royce), Francisco Yglesias from Los Paraguayos and El Adivinio, a Spanish Gypsy band of Rumberos. 

As busy in the recording studio as he is performing, he also enjoys teaching, composing, arranging and musical production. He recently worked with the composer Stuart Sharpe on a song that was performed exclusively on stage by Madonna and has also recorded with David Soul, Maria Kesselman (Phantom of the Opera), as well as written music for film and T.V. – most recently “The Proposal” which was premiered at Cannes Film Festival. He has collaborated with composer Mary-Ann Ephgrave on a number of projects, including “A Book and Ten Pence” and the Mad About Art Projects which have raised a considerable amount of money for children suffering from AIDS in South Africa. 

He is currently setting up a studio in London where he will be involved in writing and producing music for the English and European charts as well as preparing pop bands for release. Current projects include a commission to compose guitar music for a Photographic exhibition of scenes from Spain, writing guitar arrangements to be published and looking out for new musical talent to produce. 

Click here to view a sample of Jon’s extensive repertoire