Mr. Bonzai’s “FACES of MUSIC: 25 Years of Lunching with Legends”, long out of print, is now available in a new digital Apple Book edition. Many of the photos and interviews first appeared in Mix magazine in the 80s and 90s when Mr. Bonzai was Mix Editor-at-Large. The original coffee table hardback edition published in 2006 has been converted to a striking digital edition by BookBaby and is now available at the Apple Book Store. https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1554156322
“Mr. Bonzai takes you through the inner sanctum of the recording industry to meet artists, producers, and engineers who have shaped modern music.”
– Phil Ramone, producer (Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra)
This insightful and inspiring anthology features over 400 photographs and 160 interviews with popular music artists, songwriters, producers, and recording engineers including Jimmy Buffet, Ed Cherney, Leonard Cohen, DEVO, Geoff Emerick, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Kramer, k.d. lang, David Lynch, George Massenburg, George Martin, Robert Moog, Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Al Schmitt, Bruce Swedien, Don Was, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, and Frank Zappa.
“In brilliant words and images, Mr. Bonzai digs deeply into the fine art of making music.” – Ray Manzarek, The Doors.
On September 29, 1967, Mr. Bonzai attended his very first recording session at the invitation of John Lennon. The location was London’s EMI Studios, now Abbey Road, and the song was “I Am The Walrus”. In attendance were George, Paul, Ringo, producer George Martin, and engineer Ken Scott. This privileged session with the most influential rock band in history set the stage for a life exploring the world of music and recording. In 1980, Mr. Bonzai settled in Hollywood to begin this collection of photographs and words of wisdom and wit.
Pictured at the TEC Awards are (L-R) are Phil Ramone, Herbie Hancock, Alan Parsons, Mr. Bonzai. George Martin, and Father Guido Sarducci. Photo by Eric Slomanson.
Mr. Bonzai is an award-winning photographer, music journalist and author. He has written over 1,000 articles for magazines in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and has published numerous books, including “Studio Life” (1984), “Hal Blaine and The Wrecking Crew” (1992) “The Sound of Money” (2000) “Faces of Music” (2006) “Music Smarts” (2009) and “John Lennon’s Tooth” (2012). His articles and photos have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Billboard, Mix, EQ, Music Connection, Keyboard, Daily Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles magazine, Disney Channel Magazine, Sound & Recording, and Relix, among others.
View a sample and order, $9.99:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1554156322
Learn more: www.mrbonzai.com
Listen to interview excerpts with Phil Ramone, Leonard Cohen, Ray Manzarek, Brian Wilson, Suzanne Ciani, k.d. lang, Geoff Emerick, Graham Nash, and Robbie Robertson in this 2018 Mr. Bonzai’s Talking Music podcast pilot:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mr-bonzais-talking-music/id1397915388
https://soundcloud.com/mr-bonzai/mr-bonzais-talking-music-pilot-episode