The Circle - Music

ZEN ROCK & ROLL Is A Solo Project Of The Multi-Instrumentalist And Part-Time Musician Jonathan Saunders Who Supports His Music With A Daytime Job As A Software Engineer. Saunders Has A Lengthy Musical Background Although Much Of It Consists Of Playing In A Variety Of Top-40 And Cover Bands Including A LED ZEPPELIN Tribute Band That Spent Much Of The Late Nineties Touring The United States. Saunders Abandoned The Touring Life Following This Experience Preferring To Focus On Solo Efforts In His Own Home Studio In Tennessee. It Was From This Studio He Has Released Both ZEN ROCK & ROLL Albums. Saunders' Music Is Steeped Heavily In Keyboards And Mellotron With Complex Arrangements And Layers Of Percussion And Digital Sound Effects. His All-Instrumental Music Is Clearly Influenced By Early YES As Well As Having Some Of The Same Characteristics As Other Solo Artists Such As PHILIP GLASS And CLEARLIGHT Although Lacking The Consistency In Theme Of The Latter . His Compositions Range Widely From Shorter Vignettes To Rather Lengthy Epics. As With Many One-Man Bands The Arrangements Are Clearly Heavily Mixed With Overdubs And Digital Manipulation And Have An Overall 'electronic' Feel To Them. At Times His Second Release Even Shows Hints Of The Blended Electronic/symphonic Sounds Of The TANGENT. While Saunders Has To-Date Largely Shunned Live Performances He Has Not Ruled Out The Idea Of A Tour At Some Point In His Career. He Is Reportedly Working On A New Release And Samples Of His Recent Works Can Occasionally Be Found On His MySpace Site. read less