Jonathan Elias
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Elias is a U.S.
composer
and record producer
, known for his movie soundtracks, production for several pop and rock acts, and his award-winning advertising music including the PBS
logo instrumental from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989.
in 1956. He started playing piano at the age of six, and was composing his own music by twelve, inspired in part by Broadway musicals. He liked rock music, but also admired Béla Bartók
, Igor Stravinsky
, and Sergei Rachmaninoff
.
He attended the Eastman School of Music
with aspirations of becoming a classical composer and conductor, and then Bennington College
in Vermont
in 1976. While still in school, he cut his teeth doing the music for movie trailers, most notably Alien
, and later scored the trailers for Blade Runner
, Gandhi
, and Back to the Future
. He went on to work on numerous movie soundtracks, starting with Children of the Corn
and including Tuff Turf
, Parents
, Chaplin, and more.
, the Columbia Pictures
logo theme, and the famous Yahoo!
yodel.
He met John Barry
(of James Bond
soundtrack fame) in the early 1980s, and began working with him on several movie soundtracks, including Jagged Edge
and A View to a Kill
. It was during the A View to a Kill sessions in 1985 that Elias met and became friends with the members of pop group Duran Duran
(they performed the title song for the movie).
While working on the soundtrack to the film 9½ Weeks
the year after that, Elias co-wrote the single "I Do What I Do
" with Duran Duran's bassist John Taylor
, who performed the vocals — his first solo venture. The song went to #42 on the UK Singles Chart
, and to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100
in the US. Elias and Taylor also co-wrote and co-produced the melancholy piano instrumental "Jazz", released on the b-side of the single. Elias and Taylor went on to co-write an album's worth of additional unreleased material together that year, which would eventually be collected on Taylor's 1999 album Résumé
.
Elias produced an album for Grace Jones
and co-produced (with Daniel Abraham
) Duran Duran's 1988 album Big Thing
. He also returned to play Moog synthesizer
on Duran's 1995 album Thank You
.
In 1989, Elias recruited the entire Duran Duran lineup for his first solo album, called Requiem For The Americas. The most recognizable of Duran Duran's contributions to the album was vocalist Simon Le Bon
's solo track "Follow In My Footsteps", which also featured The Bangles
vocalist Susanna Hoffs
on backup vocals. John Taylor played bass on "The Chant Movement", with other Duran members adding their instrumental touches on various tracks. Other vocalists on the album included Grace Jones
, Toni Childs
, Michael Bolton
, Patti Scialfa
, and Jon Anderson
.
on their 1991 album Union. Many band members were not speaking to each other, and the disjointed working atmosphere and the involvement of outside musicians (which allowed the piece to be finished at all) led to an uneven album which was generally unpopular with critics and fans. Elias was often blamed for the album's failure.
In 1992, Elias moved to California, and shifted his focus from movies and rock music to advertising. His firm Elias Arts has won an Emmy Award
for the "Move" theme for Nike Inc., and has garnered dozens of Clio Awards and other advertising trophies for work for top-line corporations such as Ford, GM, Nissan, Audi, Infiniti, Mercedes, AT&T, NASDAQ, IBM, Apple, Sony, Levi's, and Adidas.
Elias released another solo project, The Prayer Cycle
, in 1999. This is a nine-part contemporary choral symphony in twelve languages (including Hebrew
, Latin
, Swahili
and Urdu
). Vocalists on this album include Alanis Morissette
, Linda Ronstadt
, James Taylor
, Ofra Haza
, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Salif Keita
, and Yungchen Lhamo
of Tibet.
In 2004, he released American River, a work combining piano
and string quartet
compositions with spoken word
performances by Emmylou Harris
, Kris Kristofferson
, Marty Stuart
, Rosanne Cash
and Johnny Cash
(in one of his last recorded works). American River was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album
in that year.
He also collaborated with Robert Downey, Jr. on his 2004 solo album The Futurist and on the soundtrack for Downey's film The Singing Detective
. , his most recent movie work has been on A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
(2006) and Pathfinder (2007), with the help of co-composers Jimmy Haun
, David Wittman, Nathaniel Morgan and Tim Davies.
His most recent album is Prayer Cycle 2: Path to Zero, released in 2011 on Across the Universe Records). Guest vocalists this time include Sting, Salif Keita
, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
, Jonathan Davis
of Korn
, Jon Anderson, Trudie Styler
, Angelique Kidjo
, Richard Bona
, Yungchen Lhamo
, Dadawa
, Robert Downey Jr., Sinéad O'Connor
, Serj Tankian
, Alex Ebert
and, via an archival recording, Jim Morrison
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, known for his movie soundtracks, production for several pop and rock acts, and his award-winning advertising music including the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
logo instrumental from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989.
Background
Elias was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1956. He started playing piano at the age of six, and was composing his own music by twelve, inspired in part by Broadway musicals. He liked rock music, but also admired Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, and Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
.
He attended the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
with aspirations of becoming a classical composer and conductor, and then Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
in 1976. While still in school, he cut his teeth doing the music for movie trailers, most notably Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
, and later scored the trailers for Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
, Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
, and Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
. He went on to work on numerous movie soundtracks, starting with Children of the Corn
Children of the Corn
"Children of the Corn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.- Plot summary :...
and including Tuff Turf
Tuff Turf
Tuff Turf is a 1985 American drama film starring James Spader and Kim Richards. The film was released in the United States on January 11, 1985.-Plot:...
, Parents
Parents (film)
Parents is a 1989 horror-comedy film written by Christopher Hawthorne and directed by Bob Balaban. The film is about a suburban 50's boy living who suspects his parents of cannibalism. The film starred Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, and Bryan Madorsky...
, Chaplin, and more.
1980s
He and his brother Scott Elias founded the music and advertising firm Elias Associates in 1980; it later became Elias Arts. The company had several notable successes, including the crunching "Moon Landing" theme used in the top-of-the-hour branding of MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
logo theme, and the famous Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
yodel.
He met John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
(of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
soundtrack fame) in the early 1980s, and began working with him on several movie soundtracks, including Jagged Edge
Jagged Edge (film)
Jagged Edge is a film starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, and Peter Coyote. Robert Loggia received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film. It is a courtroom thriller, written by Joe Eszterhas, and directed by Richard Marquand...
and A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
. It was during the A View to a Kill sessions in 1985 that Elias met and became friends with the members of pop group Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
(they performed the title song for the movie).
While working on the soundtrack to the film 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
the year after that, Elias co-wrote the single "I Do What I Do
I Do What I Do (Theme for 9½ Weeks)
I Do What I Do... was a 1986 single performed by Duran Duran bassist John Taylor, giving his first solo singing performance during a hiatus in Duran Duran's career....
" with Duran Duran's bassist John Taylor
Nigel John Taylor
John Taylor is an English musician who is best known as the bass guitarist and co-founder of pop rock band Duran Duran....
, who performed the vocals — his first solo venture. The song went to #42 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the US. Elias and Taylor also co-wrote and co-produced the melancholy piano instrumental "Jazz", released on the b-side of the single. Elias and Taylor went on to co-write an album's worth of additional unreleased material together that year, which would eventually be collected on Taylor's 1999 album Résumé
Resume (album)
:Résumé is a collection of experimental tracks by John Taylor of Duran Duran and Jonathan Elias. The tracks were recorded in 1985 and 1986, and collected and released through John Taylor's website, TrustTheProcess.com as a CD-R in 1999.-Track listing:# "Dance For Freedom" – 5:21# "New Work #1" –...
.
Elias produced an album for Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
and co-produced (with Daniel Abraham
Daniel Abraham (record producer)
Daniel Abraham is a French record producer, sound engineer and record mixer.He has most closely been associated with the band Duran Duran, with whom he worked on the Notorious and Big Thing albums....
) Duran Duran's 1988 album Big Thing
Big Thing
Big Thing is the fifth album by Duran Duran, released worldwide in 1988. It reached #15 in the UK and #24 in the US.A CD reissue was released in 1994. The album is was reissued as a three disc boxset on .- Background :...
. He also returned to play Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
on Duran's 1995 album Thank You
Thank You (Duran Duran album)
Thank You is a covers album by Duran Duran released in April 1995, their follow-up to 1993's Duran Duran . It did well on the charts , but was received very negatively by critics...
.
In 1989, Elias recruited the entire Duran Duran lineup for his first solo album, called Requiem For The Americas. The most recognizable of Duran Duran's contributions to the album was vocalist Simon Le Bon
Simon Le Bon
Simon John Charles Le Bon is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.-Early life:...
's solo track "Follow In My Footsteps", which also featured The Bangles
The Bangles
The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...
vocalist Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
on backup vocals. John Taylor played bass on "The Chant Movement", with other Duran members adding their instrumental touches on various tracks. Other vocalists on the album included Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
, Toni Childs
Toni Childs
Toni Childs is an American singer-songwriter from Orange, California. She has released four studio albums and is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" , "I've Got To Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 1991, and the Emmy-winning "Because You're Beautiful" Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957)...
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Patti Scialfa
Patti Scialfa
Vivienne Patricia "Patti" Scialfa is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.- Early life :...
, and Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
.
1990s—2000s
Elias then worked with the band YesYes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
on their 1991 album Union. Many band members were not speaking to each other, and the disjointed working atmosphere and the involvement of outside musicians (which allowed the piece to be finished at all) led to an uneven album which was generally unpopular with critics and fans. Elias was often blamed for the album's failure.
In 1992, Elias moved to California, and shifted his focus from movies and rock music to advertising. His firm Elias Arts has won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for the "Move" theme for Nike Inc., and has garnered dozens of Clio Awards and other advertising trophies for work for top-line corporations such as Ford, GM, Nissan, Audi, Infiniti, Mercedes, AT&T, NASDAQ, IBM, Apple, Sony, Levi's, and Adidas.
Elias released another solo project, The Prayer Cycle
The Prayer Cycle
The Prayer Cycle is a choral/orchestral album by American film and television composer Jonathan Elias, and was released by Sony Classical Records in the United States on March 23, 1999.The project, recorded and mixed by co-producer R...
, in 1999. This is a nine-part contemporary choral symphony in twelve languages (including Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
). Vocalists on this album include Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer of Yemeni origin, an actress and international recording artist....
, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Salif Keita
Salif Keita
Salif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
, and Yungchen Lhamo
Yungchen Lhamo
Yungchen Lhamo is a Tibetan singer-songwriter and currently living in exile in New York City. She has won an Australian Record Industry Association award for best Folk/World/Traditional album, and was then signed by Peter Gabriel's Realworld Record label.She has performed with Billy Corgan and...
of Tibet.
In 2004, he released American River, a work combining piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
compositions with spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
performances by Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
, Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
(in one of his last recorded works). American River was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album
Grammy Award for Best New Age Album
The Grammy Award for Best New Age Album is presented to recording artists for quality albums in the New Age music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
in that year.
He also collaborated with Robert Downey, Jr. on his 2004 solo album The Futurist and on the soundtrack for Downey's film The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective (film)
The Singing Detective is a 2003 film based on the BBC serial The Singing Detective, a work by Dennis Potter. It stars Robert Downey, Jr...
. , his most recent movie work has been on A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a 2006 American drama film based on a 2001 memoir of the same name by author and musician Dito Montiel, which describes his youth in Astoria, New York during the 1980s....
(2006) and Pathfinder (2007), with the help of co-composers Jimmy Haun
Jimmy Haun
Jimmy Carey Haun is a U.S. left-handed guitarist, known for his work with the bands Yes, Air Supply, and Circa.-Career:Haun's first band was Lodgic with childhood friend Michael Sherwood and, later, Michael's younger brother Billy Sherwood. Haun went on to play on Yes's Union album before work in...
, David Wittman, Nathaniel Morgan and Tim Davies.
His most recent album is Prayer Cycle 2: Path to Zero, released in 2011 on Across the Universe Records). Guest vocalists this time include Sting, Salif Keita
Salif Keita
Salif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Pakistani musician, and primarily a singer of Qawwali, a devotional music of the Sufis. He is the nephew of the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In addition to Qawwali, he also performs ghazals and other light music...
, Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Houseman Davis is the lead vocalist and frontman for the nu metal band Korn. Davis was ranked 16th on Hit Parader 's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".-Early life:...
of Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
, Jon Anderson, Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...
, Angelique Kidjo
Angélique Kidjo
Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, commonly known as Angélique Kidjo is a Grammy Award–winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time Magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva". The BBC has...
, Richard Bona
Richard Bona
Richard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo...
, Yungchen Lhamo
Yungchen Lhamo
Yungchen Lhamo is a Tibetan singer-songwriter and currently living in exile in New York City. She has won an Australian Record Industry Association award for best Folk/World/Traditional album, and was then signed by Peter Gabriel's Realworld Record label.She has performed with Billy Corgan and...
, Dadawa
Dadawa
Dadawa is the artist name of Zhu Zheqin , a singer/songwriter/indie producer, who is well-known for her vocalization. She was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Dadawa is sometimes referred as the "Chinese Enya" by fans...
, Robert Downey Jr., Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
, Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
, Alex Ebert
Alex Ebert
Alex Ebert is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the American bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.-Early life:...
and, via an archival recording, Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
.
Solo albums
- Requiem for the Americas: Songs from the Lost World (1990)
- The Prayer CycleThe Prayer CycleThe Prayer Cycle is a choral/orchestral album by American film and television composer Jonathan Elias, and was released by Sony Classical Records in the United States on March 23, 1999.The project, recorded and mixed by co-producer R...
(March 23, 1999 Sony Classical) - American River (August 24, 2004 Decca RecordsDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
) - Prayer Cycle: Path to Zero (2011, Across the Universe Records)
As record producer (selected discography)
- Big ThingBig ThingBig Thing is the fifth album by Duran Duran, released worldwide in 1988. It reached #15 in the UK and #24 in the US.A CD reissue was released in 1994. The album is was reissued as a three disc boxset on .- Background :...
(1988) , Duran DuranDuran DuranDuran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States... - Gutterboy (1990), Gutterboy
- Bullet Proof Heart (1990), Grace Jones
- Union (1991), YesYes (band)Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
- The Futurist (2004), Robert Downey, Jr.
Film and television scores
- Children of the Corn (1984)
- Tuff TurfTuff TurfTuff Turf is a 1985 American drama film starring James Spader and Kim Richards. The film was released in the United States on January 11, 1985.-Plot:...
(1985) - Jagged EdgeJagged Edge (film)Jagged Edge is a film starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, and Peter Coyote. Robert Loggia received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film. It is a courtroom thriller, written by Joe Eszterhas, and directed by Richard Marquand...
(1985), synth programming only - VampVamp (film)-Plot:Two college students, Keith and AJ, want to hire a stripper for their college initiation party, so they go to a dark, seedy part of town to look for a good candidate. They visit a nightclub in a barren, desolate, no-mans land section where the police rarely patrol...
(1986) - 9½ Weeks9½ Weeks9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
(1986), title song only - Almost You (1987)
- Two Moon JunctionTwo Moon JunctionTwo Moon Junction is a 1988 American English language erotic thriller and romance film written and directed by Zalman King, starring Sherilyn Fenn and Richard Tyson...
(1988) - ShakedownShakedown (1988 film)Shakedown, also known as Blue Jean Cop, is a 1988 crime drama/action movie starring Peter Weller and Sam Elliott. The movie is about an idealistic lawyer teaming with a veteran cop to find out the truth in a possible police corruption scandal.-Plot:...
(1988) - ParentsParents (film)Parents is a 1989 horror-comedy film written by Christopher Hawthorne and directed by Bob Balaban. The film is about a suburban 50's boy living who suspects his parents of cannibalism. The film starred Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, and Bryan Madorsky...
(1988) - Far From Home (1989)
- Rude AwakeningRude Awakening (1989 film)Rude Awakening is a 1989 comedy film directed by David Greenwalt and Aaron Russo.-Plot:In 1969 New York City, two hippies, Fred Wook and Jesus Monteya, flee the US to avoid arrest by the FBI and hide out in the jungles of Central America...
(1989) - Forced March (1989)
- Chaplin (1992), title song only
- Morning Glory (1993)
- Leprechaun 2Leprechaun 2Leprechaun 2 is a 1994 horror film sequel to Leprechaun which centers on a sadistically evil leprechaun hunting for a bride. It's assumed that the film takes place a few years after the events of the first film...
(1994) - JailbaitJailbaitJailbait is American English slang for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity, but physically mature enough to be mistaken for an adult and be considered sexually desirable...
(1994) - Recon (1996)
- The Century: America's TimeThe Century: America's TimeThe Century: America's Time is a 15-part series of documentaries produced by the American Broadcasting Company on the 20th century and the rise of the United States as a superpower...
(1999) (mini) TV mini-series - The Invisible ManThe Invisible Man (2000 TV series)The Invisible Man is a Sci-Fi American television series starring Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor, Eddie Jones, Shannon Kenny and Michael McCafferty...
(2000) TV series - A Guide to Recognizing Your SaintsA Guide to Recognizing Your SaintsA Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a 2006 American drama film based on a 2001 memoir of the same name by author and musician Dito Montiel, which describes his youth in Astoria, New York during the 1980s....
(2006) - Second GenerationSecond Generation (advertisement)"Second Generation" is a 2006 television advertisement introducing Nike's Air Jordan XXI brand of basketball shoes. The ad is also listed as "2nd Generation"; its tagline is "Let your game speak".-Production:...
(2006) TV advertisement - Pathfinder (2007)
- FightingFighting (film)Fighting is a 2009 action drama film directed by Dito Montiel, with a screenplay by Robert Munic and Montiel, and starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard and Luis Guzmán. It was released on April 24, 2009 in the United States by Rogue Pictures.-Plot:...
(2009)