Jon Pousette-Dart - Biography
Jon Pousette-Dart captained the Pousette-Dart Band through four albums for Capitol Records between 1976 and 1980, a run that acquainted a generation with his formidable gifts as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and all-around musical adventurer. During this time, the Pousette-Dart Band became one of the busiest touring groups in the U.S. working with such acts as the Byrds, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, James Taylor, Peter Frampton, Yes, the J.Geils Band, Eddie Money, Journey and Billy Joel.
“When things got scary—as the seventies petered out and the eighties skulked in,” Pousette-Dart muses, “while folks were trying to figure out how they ever got stuck in the position of having to choose between Donna Summer and Johnny Rotten, the original Pousette-Dart Band did what any halfway moral, responsible band would do—we took a break.” Pousette-Dart, himself, however, kept on trucking.
May 10, 2005 marks the date of the release of Heart and Soul the long anticipated CD from Jon. The self-produced Heart and Soul is a masterful mix of current stylistic textures, mixed with the roots, rock and folk influences, that has become Pousette-Dart’s trademark. The songs on this disc show an artist in full command of his talent.
“I wanted to produce something that documents the place where heart and soul meet.” comments Pousette-Dart. “It was really great to get to work with some fabulous players including the guys from the original Pousette-Dart Band (John Troy, Eric Parker and John Curtis on “Under The Spell Of You”), Toni Lynn Washington (on “Heart And Soul” and “Shake Me”) and stellar drummer Billy Ward. Top mixing and mastering engineer Jim Chapdelaine (known for his work with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Phoebe Snow, Clarence Clemons…) helped to make Heart And Soul a timely, compelling, and unique musical statement.
Born in Suffern, New York, Pousette-Dart began playing the guitar when he was seven. At 13, he joined a band called “Tony & The Tigers” that included two of comedian Soupy Sales’ sons. During the breaking-in period, he performed with the group on such high-profile network shows as Hullabaloo and To Tell The Truth. They also played in concerts with the elder Sales.
In 1973, he formed the Pousette-Dart Band with John Troy, his college mate from the University of Pacific, and a new recruit, John Curtis. Initially, the band played college gigs. But in 1975, legendary promotion man Al Coury signed the group to Capitol. By this time, Pousette-Dart was being managed by music mogul Don Law. The first album, Pousette-Dart Band, was released in 1976, followed by Amnesia (1977), Pousette-Dart Band 3 (1979) and Never Enough (1980). Although the band worked the pop music arena, three of its Capitol albums were cut in Nashville under award-winning producer Norbert Putnam.
After the band closed up shop in 1981, Pousette-Dart moved back to New York, where he established himself during the following decade as a top writer, slide guitarist and singer for recording sessions and advertising jingles. The Pousette-Dart Band reunited in 1991 for a series of dates. At this time Jon moved to Nashville and teamed with some of the industry’s top songwriters including Gary Burr, Darrell Scott, Al Anderson, Kostas, Fred Knobloch, Jaime Kyle, Tom Kimmel and Jennifer Kimball. In 1997 he recorded the solo album Ready To Fly. He subsequently retitled the collection Put Down Your Gun to support the Anti-Handgun Coalition. Jon’s 2000 release Sample This, an enhanced CD, has put his music back on many radio station play lists.
Pousette-Dart extended is musical reach through 1999 by producing 5 episodes of “Gunfighters of the West” for the History Channel. He garnered forces with blues diva Toni Lynn Washington, who went on to record his songs on her latest release produced by Duke Robillard. He has just completed a new CD for Moroccan singing sensation Saida Fikkri, and will tour with her in Morocco in the near future. He also appears on Jesse Winchester’s upcoming DVD, singing with Valerie Carter, with an all-star band featuring, John Sebastion, Jim Horn and Victor Krauss.
In addition to performing, Jon continues working hard on the Estate of Richard Pousette-Dart which promotes the works of his late father, the eminent abstract expressionist. Jon works with his family developing shows for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of Art, The Indianapolis Museum of Fine Art, the Museums of Fine Arts in Houston and Boca Raton, Florida, as well as ACA Munich, Germany, the Schirne Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany. Upcoming shows are in the works at Knoedler Gallery in 2005, and at Los Angeles County Museum of Fine Art in 2006, and the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art in 2006. New publications of the paintings, notebooks and his photography are also in progress.
Jon continues touring throughout the United States and Europe solo, and with the original band. He’s also appearing at Film Festivals throughout the country in support of his wife Dawn Young's film, "Waterpolo-Beneath the Surface", about the USA Olympic Waterpolo Team, for which he did the music.
Visit the Jon Pousette-Dart web site.
In
1973, he formed the Pousette-Dart Band with John Troy, his college mate
from the University of Pacific, and a new recruit, John Curtis. Initially,
the band played college gigs. But in 1975, legendary promotion man Al
Coury signed the group to Capitol. By this time, Pousette-Dart was being
managed by music mogul Don Law. The first album, Pousette-Dart Band,
was released in 1976, followed by Amnesia (1977), Pousette-Dart
Band 3 (1979) and Never Enough (1980). Although the band
worked the pop music arena, three of its Capitol album were cut in Nashville
under award-winning producer Norbert Putnam
