Jono El Grande is not of Latin or Hispanic origin. Actually, Norwegian Jon Andreas Håtun would have difficulty picking a more absurd name under which to release his music. Given the nature of his songs, though, he couldn’t have picked a more appropriate moniker. Whether in a studio or live-slapstic-show setting, Håtun subverts convention through musical and physical humor. However, the levity that allows El Grande to connect so easily with some may alienate others.
A self-taught composer and guitarist, Håtun seems to have assimilated both the left-field rock leanings of Frank Zappa and the compositional styles of some 20th century giants (Stravinsky being a professed influence). While “prog” musicians have always embraced and incorporated the ideas of innovative composers, much less does one hear tropical sounds, throat singing, and laryngeal percussion written in complex, shifting meter. Despite the genre-hopping nature of Neo Dada, Jono El Grande always seems in control of his small orchestra, leading them through each dense passage with aplomb. He never lingers on a single idea for too long, and the album works equally well through track-by-track or album-as-a-whole listening.
It’s clear that Håtun cares little for the supposed formal restrictions of genre, and his music is all the more enjoyable for it. “Ballet Morbido in Twelve Tiny Movements,” the most sonically diverse track here, sounds oddly normal, despite both a string quartet passage that leads into maniacal vocals reminiscent of Magma and baroque harpsichord figures transitioning into shuffling cabana music. With such wild and continuous variation, the eight minutes pass very quickly. In “Three Variations on a Mainstream Neurosis,” Håtun even turns the instantly recognizable 12-bar blues form on its head by unleashing guitar licks in 5/4 time, segueing into a free-form woodwind collage and then promptly into spy-movie chase music complemented by throat-singing.
While this is complex, intricately composed music with fantastic instrumental interplay, it’s also very listenable. Zappa fanatics will no doubt deride the album for appropriating the iconoclast’s style, but in no way does it seem that Håtun is simply stealing ideas. He wears his influences proudly and pays them worthy homage on Neo Dada. Jono El Grande strikes a near-perfect balance between the traditional and the avant-garde, and his playful approach lends the album a great amount of accessibility without compromising his adventurous spirit.
1. Neo Dada
2. Ballet Morbido in a Dozen Tiny Movements
3. Oslo City Suite
4. Your Mother Eats like a Platypus
5. Big Ben Dover
6. Three Variations on a Mainstream Neurosis
7. Choc King
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