Jon Brion

Jon Brion

Born: December 11, 1963
in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA
Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer.

Brion has produced music for artists and bands including Of Montreal, Aimee Mann, Love Jones, Eels, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Robyn Hitchcock, Rhett Miller, The Crystal Method, Kanye West, Sky Ferreira and Mac Miller. According to Stereogum, Brion's work on Mann's first solo albums "lay the groundwork for a sound that became synonymous with a strain of notable alternative acts at the turn of the century".

Brion's film scores include Hard Eight (1996), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees (both 2004), Synecdoche, New York (2008), ParaNorman (2012), Lady Bird (2017), and Christopher Robin (2018). He released his debut solo album, Meaningless, in 2001.

Brion was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey on December 11, 1963. He comes from a musical family; his mother, LaRue, was an administrative assistant and singer, and his father, Keith Brion, was a band director at Yale. His brother and sister became a composer/arranger and a violinist, respectively. Brion grew up in Connecticut, where he dropped out of Hamden High School at the age of 17, opting instead to play music professionally. From 1980–85 Jon was part of the band The Excerpts, along with Stephen Harris, Dean Falcone, Jim Balga, Bobby Butcher & Spike Priggen.

In the early 1980s, Brion and musician/producer Bill Murphy began a writing collaboration in New Haven, Connecticut. They eventually enlisted bassist Don "Riff" Fertman and together formed the Bats (not to be confused with the New Zealand group or South African group of the same name). The Bats released a single, "Popgun", and one album, How Pop Can You Get?, on Gustav Records in 1982. The recordings had much critical acclaim, but little commercial success, and the trio eventually disbanded.

In 1987, Brion moved to Boston, where he played solo gigs, formed the short-lived band World's Fair and became a member of the last touring version of Aimee Mann's new wave band 'Til Tuesday. He contributed guitar work to Jellyfish's 1993 album Spilt Milk, and in 1994, joined Dan McCarroll, Buddy Judge and ex-Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner in the short-lived pop band the Grays. He also played guitar on the Wallflowers' hit song "One Headlight", using a screwdriver that was sitting atop a nearby amp as a slide. Brion played numerous instruments on Sam Phillips' 1996 release Omnipop. Brion is featured as keyboardist and drummer on Marianne Faithfull's 2003 album, Kissin Time, and co-wrote a song, "City of Quartz", for her next work, 2005's Before the Poison.

After being recognized as an accomplished session player, Brion branched out into production on then-girlfriend Mann's 1993 solo debut, Whatever, and its follow-up, I'm With Stupid. He has also produced albums by Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, Eleni Mandell, Rhett Miller, Robyn Hitchcock, Brad Mehldau and Evan Dando, and co-produced Kanye West's Late Registration in 2005. ...

Source: Article "Jon Brion" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0."

Movies for Jon Brion...

The Past Is a Grotesque Animal
Title: The Past Is a Grotesque Animal
Character: Self
Released: June 15, 2014
Type: Movie
A personal, accessible look at an artist - Kevin Barnes, frontman of the endlessly versatile indie pop band of Montreal - whose pursuit to make transcendent music at all costs drives him to value art over human relationships. As he struggles with all of those around him, family and bandmates alike, he's forced to reconsider the future of the band, begging the question - is this really worth it?
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Heaven Adores You
Title: Heaven Adores You
Character: Himself
Released: May 14, 2014
Type: Movie
Heaven Adores You is an intimate, meditative inquiry into the life and music of Elliott Smith. By threading the music of Elliott Smith through the dense, yet often isolating landscapes of the three major cities he lived in -- Portland, New York City, Los Angeles -- Heaven Adores You presents a visual journey and an earnest review of the singer's prolific songwriting and the impact it continues to have on fans, friends, and fellow musicians.
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Title: Off Camera with Sam Jones
Character: Self
Released: February 6, 2014
Type: TV
Photographer and director Sam Jones sits down with the myriad professionals of television and movies, and other celebrities (great skateboarders, for example), to discuss their development before fame, their passions beyond their careers, and gives them a space to open up about their insight into their business and their own abilities. Filmed in black and white, with a few deep cushion chairs and sparse set, the show relies on Sam's ability to relate to the guests and their will to speak freely with him.
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Funny People
Title: Funny People
Character: Jon Brion
Released: July 30, 2009
Type: Movie
Famous and wealthy funnyman George Simmons doesn't give much thought to how he treats people until a doctor delivers stunning health news, forcing George to reevaluate his priorities with a little help from aspiring stand-up comic Ira.
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Largo
Title: Largo
Character: Himself
Released: February 1, 2008
Type: Movie
A documentary about the iconoclastic Los Angeles club, which opened in its original incarnation on Fairfax Ave. in 1989.
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Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine
Title: Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine
Character: Himself
Released: October 4, 2005
Type: Movie
DVD SIDE * Entire album in Enhanced LPCM Stereo * Brand-new videos for "Not About Love" and "Parting Gift" (live), never before released * Live performances of 5 songs filmed at the club Largo in Los Angeles, including "Fast As You Can" and "Paper Bag" * Behind-the-scenes footage
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Live at the Olympic (The Last DJ)
Title: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Live at the Olympic (The Last DJ)
Character: Orchestra Conductor
Released: September 16, 2003
Type: Movie
Recorded on October 16th, 2002 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, this film features the band's 2002 album The Last DJ performed in its entirety. Also featured are several of the band's other songs, and "You Wreck Me" from Tom Petty's solo album "Wildflowers".
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Title: Real Time with Bill Maher
Character: Self
Released: February 21, 2003
Type: TV
Each week Bill Maher surrounds himself with a panel of guests which include politicians, actors, comedians, musicians and the like to discuss what's going on in the world.
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The Jon Brion Show
Title: The Jon Brion Show
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 1999
Type: Movie
The concept of the show is that Brion will play accompaniment to his guest, sometimes inviting other performers on stage to assist. Like the regular Friday night shows that Brion performed at the club Largo in Los Angeles at the time, the performance is largely improvised. Those Largo performances, displaying the depth of Brion’s pop knowledge and musicianship, were huge successes. And in this instance, with Smith, the result is one amazing musical moment after another.
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Boogie Nights
Title: Boogie Nights
Character: Awards Ceremony Band Member
Released: October 7, 1997
Type: Movie
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.