JON THORNE

Biography/Selected Discography

 

Renowned as a passionate and energetic performer, Jon Thorne’s career has spanned a broad range of the musical spectrum and has taken him on tour in 56 countries.

 

As double bassist in the acclaimed ground breaking electronica band Lamb, he helped to pioneer the use of live double bass playing in electronic music and has recorded on all seven of their albums, toured over fifty countries in five continents and played at most of the worlds leading festivals including Coachella, Roskilde, Wechter, Glastonbury and NYC Central Park Summerstage.

 

He has also recorded, performed with and appeared on albums alongside artists as diverse as Robert Plant, Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, Kiioto, Polly Paulusma, Laura Mvula, Charlotte Church, Bernard Butler, Jon Hopkins, Iron And Wine, Scott Matthews, Liam Bailey, Kathryn Williams, Robert Miles, Trilok Gurtu, Robert Fripp, Donovon, James Yorkston, King Creosote, Sam Lee, Glen Hansard, Amos Lee, Jesca Hoop, Martha Tilston, Leo Abrahams, Vashti Bunyan, Green Gartside, ESKA and KT Tunstall.

 

He recorded on the Grammy nominated Jon Hopkins album Singularity. 

 

As well as playing double bass, he also sings and plays guitar in Yorkston/Thorne/Khan.

 

He has performed with Iain Ballamy, Tom Ford, Alice Milburn, Pete King, Guy Barker, Alan Barnes, Dave O’Higgins and Gilad Atzmon and has played at the many of the worlds leading Jazz Festivals, including Montreaux, North Sea, London and Brecon. He has appeared at The Jazz Café, 606 Club and Pizza Express Soho London.

 

He leads the ensemble Oedipus Mingus, an octet performing original arrangements of the music of Charles Mingus.

 

He has released three solo albums, including 'Watching the Well’, which he composed as a showcase for his mentor, legendary British bassist Danny Thompson. 

 

He has performed with the ‘Way To Blue’ Nick Drake Tribute project at Birmingham Symphony Hall. in 2023 he played with the ‘Both Sides Now’ Joni Mitchell Tribute project with the BBC Orchestra of Wales at The Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff, the Bert Jansch 80th birthday gig and The Elysian Ensemble playing the live soundtrack to the film “Kes”, both at the Royal Festival Hall.

 

Now a resident of the Isle Of Wight, Jon regularly performs on the local scene with a variety of ensembles including Mixed Messages featuring Olivia Cure, The Hanging Baskets, Esprit Boheme and JC Grimshaw and The Panama Picnic Orchestra.

 

He appears with two island based community choirs led by Hannah Breer. The MCC choir toured Paris in 2026, including a performance at the Saint-Sulpice Cathedral.

 

His musical theatre work includes West Side Story, Hadestown, Chicago, The Addams Family Musical, Matilda, Bugsy Malone, Oliver, The Little Mermaid and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

 

He is associate lecturer and Head Of Bass Studies at Platform One, the degree college on the island.

 

His playing featuring extensively on the 2024 “No Way Up” Hollywood movie soundtrack.

 

Selected film/television soundtrack work

 

No Way Up - 2024

NBC/Universal American Sci-Fi TV Series “Hunters." 2016

The Legend Of Barney Thompson - 2015 

The Look Of Love - 2013

 

Selected Discography

 

Kinesis - Danny Keane 2026

Old, Broken Isle EP - Ben Allmon 2026

Long Wave Home - Jesca Hoop 2026 

A Drinkers Dream - Sam Semple 2026

A Strangers Share - Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage 2026

Atlas - Deborah Rose 2025

Lurra ikutu barik - Ruper Ororika 2025

Wildfires - Polly Paulusma 2024

As Dust We Rise - Kiioto 2024

In The Dark We Grow - Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage 2024

Into The Luminous - Makushin 2023

Pull Me Under - Mother Sky 2023

Sending My Love - Matthew Halsall 2023 Special Edition

JC Grimshaw's Panama Picnic Orchestra 2023

Order Of Romance - Jesca Hoop 2022

While The Kingdom Crumbles - Mark Nevin 2022

Surrounded - Justin Sullivan 2021

The Third Law Of Motion - The Strangest Of Times 2020

Navarasa - Yorkston/Thorne/Khan 2020

The Secret Of Letting Go - Lamb 2019

Singularity - Jon Hopkins 2018

Homestead - Jon Thorne 2017

Greetings From Hamilton, Canada - King Creosote 2017

Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home - Malojian 2017

Headlong - John Smith 2017

Neuk Wight Delhi All Stars - Yorkston/Thorne/Khan 2017

Resonator - Kathryn Williams/Anthony Kerr 2016

Home Part 2 - Scott Matthews 2016

Before The Sun - Hannah Sanders/Ben Savage 2016

Everything Sacred - Yorkston/Thorne/Khan 2016

Scott Matthews  - Live at St Georges Brighton 2015

Hypoxia - Kathryn Williams 2015

Definitely Now - Liam Bailey 2015

Salvor - False Lights - 2015

Charms Against Sorrow - 2015

Backspace_Unwind - Lamb 2014

The Cellardyke Recording & Wassailing Society - James Yorkston 2014

Crown Electric - Kathryn Williams 2013

Great Lakes - John Smith - 2013

I Was A Cat From A Book - James Yorkston 2012

Eavesdropping - John Smith CD 2011

Five - Lamb CD 2011

Lamb - Live at The Paradiso - DVD 2011

Thirteen - Robert Miles CD 2011

Snowglobe - Jesca Hoop CD 2011

Oh My Days - The Memory Band CD 2011

Map or Direction - John Smith CD 2010

Love Amongst Ruin - Love Amongst Ruin CD 2010

One Good Thing - Lou Rhodes - CD 2010

Watching The Well - Jon Thorne CD 2010

Ninja Tuna – Mr Scruff 2008

Migrating Bird - The songs of Lal Waterson (with James Yorkston ) 2007

Of Milkmaids and Architects - Martha Tilston CD 2006

Manchester Road - Jon Thorne's Oedipus Complex CD 2006

Miles/Gurtu - Robert Miles/Trilok Gurtu LP 2004

Best Kept Secrets - Lamb 2004 CD and DVD

Between Darkness and Wonder - Lamb CD 2003

Fear of Fours - Lamb CD 1998

Lamb - Lamb CD 1996