Bon (Bon Lozaga)

Bon - To The Bone - 1996 - Lolo Records

Bon Lozaga, guitarist and founding member of Gongzilla, joined PM's GONG on the Expresso II album when Stomu Yamashta (Island Records) heard one of his demo tapes and referred him to the group’s manager. Bon recorded four records and toured extensively throughout Europe and America with the band. In 1993 Bon regrouped with GONG bassist Hansford Rowe and formed BON, his first solo project, and recorded Full Circle/Coming Home and To the Bone for LoLo Records. Their association continues in the monster group Gongzilla (featuring guests such as Allan Holdsworth, David Torn, David Fiuczynski, and recently Chuck Garvey and Jim Loughlin of moe.). Gongzilla continues touring in the US, Canada, Japan and Europe. Bon has had the good fortune to work and record with some of the most talented and innovative musicians in the world. The list includes Eddie Jobson (UK, Zappa), Percy Jones (Brand X), Mark Craney (Jethro Tull, Jean-Luc Ponty), Gary Husband (John McLaughlin) and Happy Rhodes just to name a few. © http://www.lolorecords.com/bon_lozaga.html

Does the name Bon Lozaga ring a bell, or maybe a Gong? In the early to mid 1990s, fusion and progressive jazz/rock was hitting a dry spell and very few really good albums were being released. Bon Lozaga, guitar demigod and a founding member of the great Gongzilla band, originally joined Pierre Moerlen on Gong's Expresso II album after Stomu Yamashta heard some of Bon's demos and referred him to the group’s manager. In 1993, Bon Lozaga formed the trio (Bon), along with bassist Hansford Rowe (also of Moerlen's Gong) and drummer Vic Stevens. Bon's music has been classified as everything from "heavy-metal-jazz-improv-weirdness" to simply "tasty". Never let these definitions or classifications put you off listening to these albums. Listen to some Frank Zappa for some "heavy-metal-jazz-improv-weirdness". May sound crazy but Zappa was a brilliant and inspiring musician. "To The Bone" is an overlooked incisive prog. jazz/fusion instrumental album with sterling guitar, and HR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out Bon’s “Two Plus Two” album on this blog, and listen to Bon’s ( Bon Lozaga) “Full Circle / Coming Home” album and the monster group Gongzilla's "Five Even" albums with Bon Lozaga on guitar. For music of a similar nature, check out Pierre Moerlen's Gong [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 116 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Undertow 6:35
2 On The Spot 3:39
3 Kronos 11:04
4 Still A Dreamer 7:49
5 Of Sound Mind 6:12
6 French Movies 4:27
7 Now We Are Speaking 8:07
8 I Dance Alone 4:50

All tracks composed by Bon Lozaga except Track 6 by Bon Lozaga & Jim Loretangeli, and Track 3 (Intro) by Bon Lozaga & David Torn

MUSICIANS

Guitar - Bon Lozaga
David Torn - Guitar on intro to Track 3: Loops on Track 1
Geno White - Guitar on Track 5
Hansford Rowe - Bass
Vic Stevens - Drums
Caryn Lin - Violin on Tracks 1, 3, 4
Bob Kimmel - Tambourine on Track 5

SHORT BIO

American guitarist Bon Lozaga was born in Swetzingheim (Germany) in 1955, and spent his early years there. At the age of 7, he moved to America with his parents and has been living there since. As a teenager, he became involved in a succession of local bands and soon developed a talent for composition. In 1976, he recorded a tape of his material which he sent out to various record labels and bands. One of them was Gong, which he'd heard on the radio and liked. Unfortunately, the band had just broken up following the Gazeuse! sessions and Bon was left without hope of ever working with them. Eventually, though, Gong regrouped under the leadership of drummer Pierre Moerlen was very soon went looking for a suitable guitarist. Meanwhile, Lozaga had sent his tape to Stomu Yamash'ta, the famed Japanese percussionist, who in turn passed it on to Graham Lawson, Gong's manager. Lawson liked the tape, and Bon was recruited. He played a several tracks on Expresso 2 and later played live with the band, who at that point went under the name of Gong-Expresso. But with Pierre Moerlen working extensively with Mike Oldfield during that period, Lozaga was left without much to do and went back to play in the US. He was replaced by one Ross Record, but when the latter proved incompatible in a live context (he suffered from severe stagefright), Lozaga was summoned back to the band, now called Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Bon Lozaga stayed with PMG until the band's breakup in 1981, playing on three further albums - Live (1979), Time Is The Key (1979) and Leave It Open (1981) - and numerous tours. During Mike Oldfield's 1980 tour, which involved PMG bassist Hansford Rowe as well as the Moerlen brothers, Bon was involved in a shortlived band project with Eddie Jobson (keyboards and violin), formerly of UK, and Mark Craney (drums) of Jean-Luc Ponty's band. Unfortunately, this never materialised, as EG Records (Jobson's label) didn't like the material, and Jobson and Craney were both invited to join Jethro Tull, which they eventually did. The end of PMG coincided with Lozaga's decision to retire from the musical scene. Although he kept writing - some of the material composed during that period later resurfaced on his debut solo release, the aptly titled Full Circle - Coming Home (1993) - his main occupation was as owner of restaurants. But in 1993, he finally decided to get back into music full time, and formed his own label, LoLo Records, with former PMG accomplice Hansford Rowe. He then formed the band Bon with Rowe and drummer Vic Stevens. The resulting, aforementioned album was met with critical acclaim. In 1994, Lozaga and Rowe attempted to have Pierre Moerlen to reform PMG, but the drummer was too busy with his work in the musical "Evita". Yet the idea remained and resulted in the band Gongzilla, with Pierre's brother Benoît handling the tuned percussion and Allan Holdsworth guesting on lead guitar on several tracks of the band's debut, Suffer (1995). The following year, a second album, Thrive (1996) was recorded with new, full-time drummer Gary Husband, formerly of Holdsworth's band, and David Torn sharing lead guitar duties with Lozaga. Gongzilla's latest release is The East Village Sessions (2003), again with Husband on drums. In the meantime, Lozaga has played numerous gigs, both solo and with Bon, who released the follow-up to Full Circle, entitled To The Bone, in Autumn 1996. He has also recorded an album of atmospheric music under the name of Project Lo, with keyboard player Jim Loretangeli, and various guest musicians, including Pierre Moerlen and Percy Jones of Brand X. © http://calyx.perso.neuf.fr/mus/lozaga_bon.html