Jon Laine

shows

2012-02-25T05:52:00.002-08:00

I just got a call from the homie Oddisee.
He's one of my favorite artists.
I played drums on his latest instrumental release Rock Creek Park.

I think he enjoyed it so much, he called me and asked me to be is drummer on his upcoming tour this fall. Im psyched, especially since I had to turn down the tour of a lifetime. (i won't get into it).

By the way, has anyone figured out what the meaning of my last J Dilla tribute means?

In addition, I just returned from a 5 day trip to Istanbul. The people there are so friendly, but mostly, the food is incredible!

Visited the grand bazaar and brought back some Turkish coffee! best way to start the day.

The past two months of traveling have been exceptional, but I am mostly looking forward to my next trip to South Africa the end of March.

I hear Sting will be there when we leave for Johannesburg. Maybe I'll run into him. We'll see...

thats all for now...
I will post some updates to my new facebook fan page soon. If you are already a fan of my current one, be aware that I will be deleting it and creating a new one.

later....

tour #2

2012-02-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

arrived in Istanbul, Turkey for the 2nd time in my life yesterday. It began to snow lightly, but seeing the sites of mosques, the natives drinking their tea, and the hospitality just made me feel comfortable.

I read in an article that Istanbul is the new Paris. Perhaps if i were here in the summertime, I'd agree, but I digress.

Its early here. Just after 630am. Breakfast isn't for another hour. Im pretty starved, but anxious to enjoy the food.

I'll update you on our show tonight and all the sightseeing pics will be up on my instagram page.
until then....cheers.

update

2012-01-24T23:38:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who have bought GIANT. some great reviews were posted on iTunes.

A lot has happened in the last few months.
I began working on EP's with Ardamus, LMNO, and producing tracks for Alison Carney and Stephanie Kristina.
Along the way, my external hard drive crashed leaving me with nothing.

(It may be salvagable)

While that is working its magic, I am preparing to travel once again.

Peep the tour dates below.

I've also been spending some time watching war movies. WWII is a fascinating story so Band of Brothers and The Pacific have kept me company. I believe the Korean war deserves a bit of attention next.

In the meantime, I am beginning the initial stages of yet another album. No details right now, but check back here at a later date.

Sorry I've been MIA,
jl

Wednesday 1/25 Mestizos (brazilian band)- Bossa, WDC

Friday 1/27 Kokayi- Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC

Saturday 1-28-31 Chapel Square Combo- Puerto Morales, Mexico

Wednesday 2/8 V. Rich- Blues Alley, WDC

Friday 2/17-20 Chapel Square Combo tour- Istanbul, Turkey

Thursday 3/1-10 Passing Strange (musical)- Howard University, WDC

Wednesday 3/28-4/8 Annandale Jazz Ambassadors tour- South Africa

GIANT is here

2011-11-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

the most anticipated album of my career is finally out. GIANT was released on November 4th adn made available on iTunes. You can purchase it here.

GIANT is an album dedicated to all the local artists who have inspired my music career.

Among the talent include Oddisee, Kev Brown, Alison Carney, E Major, Awthentik, and DJ Cuzzin B to name a few.

in addition, i added an incredible emcee from Long Beach, LMNO to the line up. he did not disappoint.

for those of you who have purchased the album, here is a link to download the digital booklet.

thanks for listening.

jl

MIV secrets

2011-09-01T22:59:00.001-07:00

Well, a few of you have hit me up trying to figure out the meaning of "MIV".

Many of you are close, but not quite there yet.

The winner will receive my new upcoming LP, GIANT when it's released this fall for free and another special prize.

For those of you still racking your brain, here are a few more MIV Secrets:

The album cover of MIV slightly resembles that of J Dilla's re-release of the "Ruff Draft" EP cover.

There were originally 48 tracks on MIV.

85% of the drums used on MIV are J Dilla's.

What does MIV stand for? (got it yet?)

2011-08-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked. Now you shall receive.

Here are some of the DILLA secrets in the DILLA inspired beat tape, MIV.

1. in the opening track "He Say! Who Is It?", the sample was chopped the same way DILLA chopped "You Say? It's Hall and Oats!" from the "another batch" beat tape. Other DILLA re-chops are presented on the album.

2. DILLA loved to record his phone convos and voice mails which is why you hear several of them from Jon Laine's voice mail. One particular phone convo between DILLA and a "booty call" chick is scattered throughout an interlude.

3. There are 37 tracks on MIV. The age DILLA would be this year if he were still alive today.

Thats it this time, now go study!
I'll post more next week.

Anyone that can guess what the album name, MIV, means will receive a prize. (no cheating!)

2011-08-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

so I've been participating in JillzWorth's Scrambled Crates edition the past few months.

This month she decided to switch it up and only include the best 10 producers including honorable mentions.

I am happy to announce I was among the top 10.

You can listen to mine and the other incredible flips of the sample here.

Hope to make it again next month.

GIANT is still in the artwork progression. slowly but surely.

no tours set up as of yet, but new music will be coming your way, OH! and go get Gods'Illa's CPR BlendTape. its incredible (and I gotta track on it wink wink).

enjoy!

K.I.M.

2011-07-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a minute, but i gotta say, life keeps it going.

Ive gone through quite a bit in the last few months:

mostly within the month of June ive moved, got married, and had the most incredible show at the 930club by the name of the DC Luvs Dilla show with the Pharcyde. (video to come shortly.)

now that things are slowing down a bit, i can focus on releasing GIANT.
Last night i played a few songs at the UAU open mic and had Ardamus and Kaimbr (two featured on teh album) join me on stage. It was a great night as Gods'Illa celebrated the release of the most anticipated album in DC CPR Blend Tape, which I am on (hint hint). Album is hosted by Erykah Badu and the release performance is dj'd by 9th Wonder.

People have been asking me about GIANT. As soon as the artwork is finished, it'll be out sometime this fall.

thats it for now, time to review DILLA show footage.

more later.

thanks yall.

Go it!

2011-06-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

Whats good folks?!
here are some pictures from the show with Kokayi and Little Dragon June 2 at the State Theater.

I must say i have never met such a friendly and kinder group of musicians than Little Dragon.

I first heard of them through my man Omar from the UK in 2006.
They were flabbergasted cuz they're HUGE Omar fans.

Erik, drummer, was the nicest guy. I usually don't let people play my kit, but Erik is a guy whose drumming i LOVE! so i let him use anything he wanted. You can see him performing surgery on em in sound check while Yukimi sits and waits.

by the way, Yukimi?
MORE BEAUTIFUL in person!

I now have a reverbnation page that displays my upcoming shows. peep it here.
enjoy the pics!

2011-05-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'll be spinning some of my exclusive and unreleased material. As well as other artists.

Special Appearances to be announced.

9pm!

Soundcloud

2011-05-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

You guys can view some exclusive tracks on my soundcloud page. Go here and leave a time line comment. Your comments will appear on the track as it plays. (pretty cool eh?)

have fun folks.

by the way, what a weekend for Obama huh?

some music to bump

2011-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

now that I am home for a while and not traveling internationally, I have some time to promote some music to y'all.

As you already know, I have released and album with Wes Felton dedicated to Me'Shell N'Degeocello titled "For Me'Shell". The single from that album is here.

I also wanted to continue to remind you about my upcoming LP "GIANT" featuring DC's most prominent emcees and singers.

You can listen to the single from this album right here. It features my man, XO from Diamond District.

In addition, Gadget and digitalhustle films have released another shoot from the Behind the Beats series featuring yours truly. watch it here and feel free to comment as others already have.

stay tuned to the blog for summer dates with Kokayi, Wes Felton and Alison Carney.

Back From Russia

2011-04-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Back from the cold climates of the ex communist country of Russia. I visited Moscow, Kransnador, Tuapse, Rostov-On-Don and St. Petersburg.

It was a successful trip with 7 shows in 10 days.

I even got to jam with a phenomenally talented bassist from Germany, living in Russia named German (ironically).

I can honestly say that I am happy to be home from this trip. As much as I LOVE to travel, Russia put me out. Its amazing to see the vast amount of land in Russia, but its so under developed. Since the fall of communism, it taking so long for the government to establish some sort of democracy especially in Krasnador where the look and living is very primitive.

I met some incredible people though, (and very pretty women).

I'll post some pictures this week.

Until then, i want you all to peep the single to the album I did with Wes Felton "For Me'Shell".

there's a video for it on youtube as well. (link coming soon)

enjoy!

Hope She'll Be Happier by Jon Laine & Wes Felton

cheers!

new music and shows

2011-04-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

MIV was released on Tuesday March 29. its been getting some great feedback from the likes of producersiknow.com and recordbreakin.com in addition to djs and artists like Roddy Rod, dustyjoints blog and DJ Junior.

you can purchase the album at any of these retailers and websites.

MIV on iTunes

MIV on cdbaby

MIV on amazon.com

thanks to all that have purchased it already. please tell a friend.

For Me'Shell has been pushed back to the week of April 4.

stay tuned for an official release performance.

this coming week brings quite a few shows. here they are:

Wednesday April 6 Jon Laine with Wes Felton, Sy Smith and N'Dambi U st Music Hall, WDC 9pm

Thursday April 7 Jon Laine with Alison Carney, J*Davey and Blu LIV Nightclub, WDC 9pm

Friday April 8 Jon Laine with Alison Carney Cherry Blossom festival- Woodrow Wilson Plaza, WDC 2pm

Friday April 8 Jon Laine with Awthentik and the Fif Rock and Roll Hotel, WDC 9pm

Wednesday April 13- Saturday 23 Jon Laine with Annandale Jazz Ambassadors Russian tour

there are also some additional Kokayi performances coming up this Spring and Summer including the QN5 Megashow.

check back soon for more updates.

MIV

2011-03-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

MIV will be released online for download on 3/29 (CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon.com)

this is my 2nd homage to J Dilla, my all time favorite beat maker and producer.

the 1st one is Apple Jons which is also available on itunes and amazon.

the album consists of instrumentals produced entirely by me from vinyl to MPC. There are some "Dilla secrets" throughout the album. Only true "Dilla-heads" can figure out ALL of them.
so far, the one question i've received about the album is the title.
the only person that knows the meaning behind it is the Dime.

figure it out, i may give you a bonus!

MIV 3/29

Here Comes the Music

2011-03-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

OK, OK.

I know some of you are a bit confused as to whats happening with me music wise.

I have to retract a statement I tweeted a while back after the release of the Underwear Classix Vol. 7.

I told my followers that I would not release ANY OTHER ALBUM until 'GIANT' comes out...

I lied.

'GIANT' is completed, but my manager has convinced me to release it in the spring when its warmer.
I could not stop the music making, SO..

Here is a list of releases coming out in the next 2-3 weeks, before 'GIANT'.

3/29/2011 MIV- Jon Laine
another compilation of instrumentals and beats done in the style of J Dilla
(Vol. 8)

3/31/2011 For Me'Shell- Wes Felton & Jon Laine
this is a short collection of songs written by Wes Felton. The album consists of music by Me'Shell N'Degeocello chopped and remixed by Jon Laine.

4/7/2011 Alison Wunderland
singer extraordinaire Alison Carney releases her EP of electronic fills and sounds. Jon Laine lends a beat or two to the project.

Kokayi Paris tour

2011-02-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

DJ Quartermaine, Ezra, DP, Zo!, Kokayi, and I havinga quick bite to eat before rehearsing in DC for the tour.

the band arriving in Paris

looking for a record store in Chatelet

band arriving at the venue

upcoming shows and music

2011-02-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

Just returned from my European tour of Paris, Amsterdam and The Hague. I'm pretty jet lagged, but its giving me time to work on some new projects.

first, if you haven't, go to my bandcamp page and purchase The Underwear Classix Vol. 7.
its another collection of beats i've compiled and produced straight out of my MPC.

In honor of my favorite producer/dj, i am releasing yet another J Dilla tribute album titled MIV. (Dilla nerds figure it out). I hope to have it in your ears by the end of this week.

GIANT has been slated for an early spring release. My manager thought it would be best for it to be heard in a much warmer climate. i agree.

as far as shows are concerned, March and April are pretty busy.
This week i continue my stint with Kokayi as we play the Gibson Guitar Room a few feet from the Verizon Center. This will be in preparation for our SXSW performance in a few weeks.

On March 3rd, i am subbing for the infamous Daru Jones on a show with the incomparable Black Milk. The show is in St. Louis for the Mid West Red Bull event.

in between these events, Ill be playing a musical with the Howard University Players called "All Night Strut".
I try to keep my feet warm in all styles of music so my life has been pretty busy since the opening of 2011.

to cap off the Winter, Ill be going on tour with VA Music Adventures to Russia!

here are a few pictures from the European tour.
enjoy and buy some good music!

JLaine on itunes and Amazon.com
Jon Laine's Wikipedia page
Jon Laine's Twitter
Jon Laine's facebook fan page

traveling man

2011-02-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

since 2006, ive been utilizing my passport. traveling all over Europe, South America, Mid East and Asia.

I haven't really been able to talk about my travels too much cuz i haven't had a blog like this. (by the way, shout out to Out The Box Management for the hook up)

Im not gonna get my Questlove on and post a 15 chapter blog on this tour.

Most of the stuff you can read on my twitter anyway. (twitter.com/jonlaine)

ok back to the task at hand:
Played Sons d'Hiver festival for the 2nd time with Kokayi last weekend. twas a blast. although, i had a bit of a problem hearing my monitor the way it was in sound check. I had to play EXTRA hard and it tired me out by the 3rd song. oh well....

met some fans back stage after wards from Austin and Minneapolis.

didn't hit the after party with Doom unfortunately (womp woooooomp)
next day, the band left for DC, i left for Holland.
problems began when my credit card didnt work and had to spend %$#@*?! a lotta money thru the exchange to get a round trip train ticket.

The Hague is where my good friend Fauve lives. she took me around the city like Dilla would take his folks around the D. sans the hood.
one thing i noticed more than anything here, PRETTY GIRLS!!! not that there aren't any in the states, but almost EVERY girl i saw was beautiful! (not as pretty as the dime though!)

Hit Amsterdam yesterday...AWESOMENESS! had to see the Red Light District for myself, i regretted seeing the woman sitting her 400lb booty on a stool next to a bed at the window (yeeeeesh!).

There was even a dude staring at a young girl contemplating going in. (lordy lordy!)
Hot a few record shops and bought some dope vinyl at a flea market for pennies!

as i gave the guy my money, a swan swam right by the market in the river. felt like i was in heaven just then!

i walked all through the Hague bumpin Dilla and my Dilla tribute album (soon to be released) in my ear buds...til the right bud stopped working.
spent 20 euros at the Apple store for replacements.

chilling now in Vapiano's restaurant where a beautiful bartender took my GM prematurely!

I leave tomorrow to head BACK to Paris and reunite with the Dime! HUZZAAAAAAAH!!!

Got some things brewing up in the next month or two.
y'all stay tuned here for updates.
later...

ill post some pictures when i get my phone and laptop together like a porno!

ps- COP THAT Al Green Project album (Kaimbr & Kev Brown)
-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

jl