Jont
Jont | |
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 Jont in 2020 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jonathan Mark Smith Whittington |
| Born | 17 August 1973 Marylebone, London, England |
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| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Unlit Records, Howling Turtle |
| Website | jontnet |
Jonathan Mark Smith Whittington (born 17 August 1973), known as Jont, is an English singer, songwriter and musician.[1]
Early life
[edit]Dividing his youth between the United States and England, Jont first started writing poems aged fourteen.[2] While still a teenager, he toured the US conducting interviews with a series of prominent American poets including Allen Ginsberg and Jonathan Williams.[3] Returning to England at age eighteen, Whittington began playing for Middlesex as a slow left-arm spinner and Phil Tufnell's number two.[1] He made a single first-class appearance for the county against Cambridge University at Fenner's in 1992.[4][5][6] During this period, he attended Manchester University to study English and American literature.
Music career
[edit]1998–2010
[edit]Frustrated with the limited reception his poetry was achieving, Whittington started performing as a musician in the groups Your Baby and Funnybone before going solo. After leaving University he moved to London, attaining a residency at the 12 Bar Club which he called Unlit.[7] Over the next five years he would play host to and perform with such artists as Tom Baxter, Polly Paulusma, Solomon (later to become The Duke Spirit), Boo Hewerdine, Archie Bronson Outfit, Adem and Antonio Forcione.
During this time Whittington recorded his first albums, Life Is Fine and 28 on his own label Unlit Records.[8]
In 2003, Whittington moved to New York whereupon he began regularly performing with artists such as Joan As Policewoman and Artanker Convoy. During this period he was taken under the wing of Fleetwood Mac manager Tony Dimitriades in Los Angeles and, after moving to Hollywood, began working with several producers including Tom Rothrock, Bill Laswell and Mushroom from Massive Attack.
In 2005, he released the EP One Long Song which was awarded four stars from Q. The track, "You Can Be The Stars", was given high rotation on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show and Whittington appeared on the show to perform live. His cover of Goldfrapp's "Number 1" was subsequently released on the compilation album The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show. The song "Sweetheart" from the EP was used during the end credits of the Hollywood comedy Wedding Crashers. In mid 2006, Whittington toured the United States. Following this tour at the invitation of the BBC performed as part of the Electric Proms.[9][10]
2008 saw the release of the album Supernatural, recorded in Paris and London. In September, the track "Another Door Closes" was featured in the season 5 premiere of the US medical drama Grey's Anatomy and received airplay from Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2.
In March 2009, the track "Don't Waste All Your Tears" was featured in Season Seven of CBS primetime show Without a Trace, and the song "Sweetheart" was featured in Season Five of Grey's Anatomy in April.[11]
Jont released his third studio album Set It Free in May 2010 followed by his fourth album Whole Again in November 2010 – the first to be released solely thoroughly through his own webstore.[12]
2013–present
[edit]In 2012, Jont relocated from London to Halifax, Nova Scotia, titling his fifth album Hello Halifax to mark the occasion.[13]
Taking a break to focus on fatherhood, Jont returned in 2017 with An Old Innocence, recording and performing the album live with a full band called The Infinite Possibility. The album was recorded by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire)[14]
In 2019, Jont released his seventh album Gentle Warrior, showcasing a quieter singing style that allowed him to sing "from a place inside that felt more connected to my true essence."[15][16]
Thank You for the Medicine was released in 2020 in collaboration with musicians from around the world. The album which blends electronic beats with choir and string arrangements was mixed by Grammy Award winning engineer Mark Lawson.[17] Jont calls this new sound "medicine pop."
In 2024, Jont released Old Traveller, an album of medicine songs inspired by his experiences with Vipassana meditation and Ayahuasca.
Jont is joined by his band The Fish on his newest album Walk Right Through which is scheduled for release in 2025. The album was mixed by Adam Fuest at Twin Peaks Studio in Wales, UK and will be released on Julian Taylor's Howling Turtle label.
Unlit
[edit]In the summer of 2006, Whittington posted a message on his Myspace profile essentially inviting people to offer their homes as venues for his tour of US – a concept simply tagged Unlit. Cameraman Dave Depares joined him to document the tour, and the resulting ten-part video blog series was posted on YouTube entitled The State We're In.
From April to May 2008, Whittington and Depares filmed a second ten-part series of their video blog, this time entitled The House We're In and taking Unlit to Myspace user's houses in the UK.
Shortly after this UK telecoms company Orange commissioned a third series of the show, called The Road We're On, as part of their "I Am Everyone" campaign.[18] Episodes were premiered on Myspace a week before being posted on YouTube. Eight episodes were posted, plus a twenty-minute retrospective documentary, which was posted on Dailymotion.
The Unlit series has been viewed by over two million people.[19]
In October 2008, in conjunction with the BBC Radio 2's Dermot O'Leary show and the BBC's Electric Proms, the Unlit series culminated in an Electric Proms/Unlit event in North London.[20]
"Unlit has developed from an underground movement to a viral phenomenon worldwide" – The Guardian[21]
Gentle Warrior Ceremonies
[edit]A natural evolution from the UNLIT concept, in 2019 Jont started performing Sacred Song Ceremonies in keeping with his newfound direction of tapping into the power of music to heal. Described as "gatherings of song and ceremony where the music serves as a unifying energy for connection, celebration and healing",[22] they are held in conscious spaces such as yoga studios and often feature collaborators who offer meditation, mantras or other forms of healing sound. Ceremony tours have taken place across Eastern Canada and Europe.
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]- Walk Right Through (Howling Turtle) (2025)
- Old Traveller (Unlit Records) (2024)
- Thank You for the Medicine (Unlit Records) (2020)
- Gentle Warrior (Unlit Records) (2019)
- An Old Innocence (Unlit Records) (2017)
- Hello Halifax (Unlit Records) (2012)
- Whole Again (Unlit Records) (2010)
- Set It Free (Unlit Records) (2010)
- Supernatural (Unlit Records) (2008)
- One Long Song (Everybody's Records) (2005)
- Everything You Need To Know About Life in 74 minutes (Private) (2002 Italy, 200 copies made for Italian tour)
- 28 (Unlit Records) (2002 Italy, 2008 Rest of World)
- Life Is Fine (1998)
Live albums
[edit]- A Spaceship on the Ocean Floor (Unlit Records) (2019)
Single releases
[edit]| Single/EP | Release date | Label | Format(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Next Ramana Maharshi" | 26 February 2025 | Howling Turtle | Download
Streaming |
First single from the album Walk Right Through |
| "The Way Home (Post Ceremony Version)" | 5 April 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Eighth single from the album Old Traveller |
| "Old Traveller (Post Ceremony Version)" | 29 March 2024 | Unlit Records | Download Streaming | Seventh single from the album Old Traveller |
| "Healing Holy Golden Feeling" | 22 Mach 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Sixth single from the album Old Traveller |
| "Before You (Post Ceremony Version)" | 15 March 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Fifth single from the album Old Traveller |
| "Supernatural (Post Ceremony Version)" | 8 March 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Fourth single from the album Old Traveller |
| "This Happened, I'm Sorry (Post Ceremony Version)" | 23 February 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Third single from the album Old Traveller |
| "Step Into the Fear (Post Ceremony Version)" | 9 February 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Second single from the album Old Traveller |
| "The Only Answer" | 5 January 2024 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
First single from the album Old Traveller |
| "The Land I Forgot" | 5 November 2021 | SoulRise Records | Streaming
Download |
Collaboration with G.Roy; b side includes "The Land I Forgot - DLD Going back to the Land Remix" by G.Roy, Jont and DLD |
| "This Happened, I'm Sorry" | 7 April 2021 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Includes acoustic b side of "This Happened, I'm Sorry" |
| "You Are the Dance" (radio edit) | 16 October 2020 | Unlit Records | Streaming | Fourth single released as a radio edit from the album Thank You for the Medicine |
| "The End is an Illusion" (radio edit) | 26 June 2020 | Unlit Records | Streaming | Third single released as a radio edit from the album Thank You for the Medicine |
| "Thank You for My Happiness" | 12 May 2020 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Second single from the album Thank You for the Medicine |
| "I Think It Could Be Possible" | 31 March
2020 |
Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
First single from the album Thank You for the Medicine |
| "All My Life" | 24 May 2010 | Unlit Records | Download
Streaming |
Accompanied by b-side "The Other Side" |
| "Enjoy The Good Times" | 28 December 2009 | Unlit Records | Download | First track from new album Set It Free – accompanied by b-side "Good Luck In New York" on iTunes and extra b-side "Kasbah de Freija" on artist's webstore |
| "Sweetheart (Radio Mix)" | 5 December 2008 | Unlit Records | Download | New version of the track featured on the album Supernatural |
| "Let's Roll" | 13 October 2008 | Unlit Records | Download | Previously unreleased track taken from the Orange Unlit Tour series |
| "Candlelit (Radio Edit)" | 21 April 2008 | Unlit Records | Download | Accompanied by Indiestore-exclusive b-sides "City of The Sun" & "Mosque" |
| "You Can Be The Stars" | 13 March 2006 | Everybody's Records | CD, Download | Accompanied by b-sides "House Of Dreaming" and "We Are The Grapefruit" |
| "When The Time Comes" | 2000 | Cat Morning CDs | CD | Accompanied by b-sides "Taking My Time", "The Blackout Song" and "When The Time Comes (Live)" |
| "In Your Eyes" | 2000 | PeopleSound | CD | Accompanied by b-sides "Splendour" and "The Book That Never Touches The Ground" |
| "Spring 2000" | 2000 | PeopleSound | CD | Three tracks – "When The Time Comes", "The Book That Never Touches The Ground" and "Count To Ten (Live)" |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "From Trent Bridge to the Social". BBC. 19 November 2005. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ Verzeletti, Christian. Jont Interview 18/12/02 Archived 17 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Mescalina. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^ Howell, J. Because It's Real: Q & A with Jont 30/05/08. Femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by Jonathan Whittington". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ Palmer, Judith (14 June 1996). "The mad cow collective". The Independent. Retrieved 13 March 2024 – via Newsbank.
- ^ "Cambridge University v Middlesex, 1992". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ Howell, J. Because It's Real: Q & A with Jont 30/05/08. Femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^ Author Unknown. The New Indie Acoustic Scene Date Unknown. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
- ^ BBC Electric Proms – Next Stage Tour
- ^ Huw Stephens BBC Electric Proms Blog BBC.co.uk
- ^ Grey's Anatomy Season Five YouTube
- ^ Jont Blog Jontnet.com
- ^ Hudson, Alex. "Jont Bids 'Hello Halifax' on New Album". Exclaim. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Melanson, Jenna (25 April 2016). "Interview – Jont & The Infinite Possibility". Canadian Beats. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ "Gentle Warrior – The Album Experience". jontnet.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Cook, Alex (6 June 2019). "JONT OFFERS EXISTENTIAL WISDOM ON 'GENTLE WARRIOR'". The East. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Sterdan, Darryl (7 July 2020). "Jont Says Thank You For The Medicine With Jubilant, Joyful Album". Tinnitist. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ I am Everyone Archived 16 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Orange
- ^ JontMusic YouTube
- ^ Author Unknown. BBC Radio 2 – Dermot O'Leary. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^ Angela Balakrishnan Angela Balakrishnan on Unlit Events The Guardian
- ^ "Gentle Warrior Sacred Song Ceremonies". jontnet.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
External links
[edit]- Jonathan Whittington at IMDb
- Official Site
- Official Profile on MySpace
- Unlit Page featuring all three series of the video blog – The State We're In, The House We're In and The Road We're On
- Orange Unlit Tour central website
- Jonathan Whittington at ESPNcricinfo
- Jonathan Whittington at CricketArchive
| Authority control databases: Artists |
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- 1973 births
- Living people
- People educated at Eton College
- Musicians from the City of Westminster
- People from Marylebone
- English cricketers
- Middlesex cricketers
- English male singer-songwriters
- English singer-songwriters
- English rock guitarists
- British alternative rock musicians
- British alternative rock guitarists
- English male guitarists
- 21st-century English singers
- 21st-century British guitarists
- 21st-century British male singers
- Singers from the City of Westminster