2024 upcoming concert Tours
I am available for Cafe gigs, public concerts, house concerts, school concerts and retirement village shows.
..public CONCERTS
Akaroa Sunday June afternoon powerhouse
Whakatāne Sunday 21 July 21 evening concert
School Concert Christchurch May 23
TOURS - all include Retirement concerts
APRIL - Taranaki Whanganu a Tara:
Wellington, Palmerston North, Wanganui, New Plymouth
JULY (13 - 22) Tamaki Makarau (AUCKLAND), Waikato, Whakatane, Bay of Plenty
OCTOBER 22 - 28 Otago and Southland
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MUSIC - links and lyrics - - all original compositions.
- CANTO PARA ERWIN
- live with ART GHETTO at Mahara public Art Gallery.
- My original instrumental. Dedicated to band member Erwin La Cruz.
- SONG OF A PAKEHA
here is the YOUTUBE link...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7hXslg6VfE
Live with Jan on Djembe at the Penguin Club, OAMARU March 2016
composed Kaitaia Oct 2001
V1
2/4|Em Em+7 | Em7 Em6 | Cmaj7 | ‘/. riff |
I’m in my car heading north
| B11 | B11 | Em riff | B7 |
To the Hokianga
|Em Em+7 | Cmaj7 | Am7 | D7/F# |
I turn the dial to Iwi radio
|B7 | B7 | Em | B7 | I say, “Kia ora” to a hikoi for health.
CH
Cmaj7 Cmaj7 Am7 Am7 My great grandfather was born in this land
D9/F# D9/F# Em Em riff I am an islander, a pakeha now
Cmaj7 Cmaj7 Am7 Am7 We said goodbye to mother England so long ago G B7 Em B7Ka korero ahau I te reo Maori
Break Em C B7 B7 Em C D7 B7
V2
I love to sing with my maori bro’ there
From the Hokianga
There is a new wairua in the air
Tu tiramai nga iwi, rua nga ao
V3I love to dream of my next trip up north
To the Bay of Islands
Maybe we’ll play in the Tuna café
Moerewa me Kaitaia ano.
BLUE ROMANCE original guitar solo from AMIGOS CD
live video recorded April 2020
On youtube here
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RECORDINGS for sale
CD Voice of New Zealand. Is available.
It has an interesting positive song (DERVISH SONG) about the Dervish Islamic sect written with Dave Parsons...and WORLD DANCE (about world unity through music and dance) SONG OF A PAKEHA (see below and the Youtube video)
$20 Free postage. see more details below...
Order by emailing
[email protected]
_______________________________
Media Release from March 2017
JONATHON HARPER
ROADWORKS
NZ ORIGINAL GUITAR/SONG
CONCERT TOUR South Island leg
PICTON DUNEDIN CHRISTCHURCH
LE CAFÉ Dog With Two Tails Folk Club
Fri 3 March Wed 8 March Sun 12 March
“Immediate and telling performance”
- THE PRESS
“Guitarist casts spell on crowd”
- HAWKES BAY TRIBUNE
“Exceptionally moving”
- N.Z. HERALD
“The guitar pours out his soul”
GISBORNE HERALD “Carried his audience with him all the way”
THE DOMINION POST Jonathon Harper has set a few records for giving concerts as a New Zealand musician. After 33 years full time on the road here and overseas, he has for example set the all-time NZ school concert record of 2,500 concerts.
For this year’s public concert tour program he has selected what he considers his very best original songs and accessible instrumentals using a Spanish made flamenco guitar.
Harper is very scathing of our deference to overseas artists who are no better than our own, and who do not understand us. Whilst touring Europe he noticed that, “Each country played mostly their own music on radio and TV. That was a weird experience for a Kiwi raised on a diet of almost entirely US and English pop music,” he says.
This concert takes the audience from the Hokianga in Northland, to Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Punakaiki, Nelson and Christchurch.
Along the way, we meet some interesting Kiwi characters such as: Phil Bates and his Clydesdale horse-drawn wagon, playwright Mervyn Thompson who was wrongly tortured by some misguided feminists and young Wiremu Waho who took a lot of personal responsibility and preached non-violence in Highbury, Palmerston North.
The instrumentals are like beautiful postcards from some of our wild and inspiring places. Among the songs are one or two that deal with issues like violence and our bicultural roots.
A significant proportion of Harper’s songs have been composed in Maori and Spanish; however he has recently worked hard on creating poetic versions in English. In this concert, for a change, very little will be sung in another language. English lyrics have also been edited to provide greater clarity, focus and better communication.
A theme that unites most of the music is the search for a distinctive NZ identity and the strong rejection of the worst aspects of United States culture that we have uncritically accepted here. Harper considers this is particularly noticeable in music, drug culture, poor health (diet and exercise) choices, self-obsession, Pollyannism, narcissism, television “reality” and vacuous celebrity TV shows. Combined with an ignorance of science and critical thinking Harper says this all weakens our grip on reality and our confidence in our own voices.
In the first half of the concert, Harper presents two well-edited short poems to provide a clear introduction to two closely related songs.
The music is focused on a consistent original blend of Maori, Latin, Folk, Country and KiwiPop styles. Sometimes there is a little of the elegant polyphony, advanced techniques and chord structures Harper perfected during the years when he presented concerts of classical guitar suites and sonatas.
The distinctice Harper style has also been built on many collaborations with a large and varied number of musicians who live here.
MUSIC - links and lyrics
here is the YOUTUBE link...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7hXslg6VfE
Live with Jan on Djembe at the Penguin Club, OAMARU March 2016
composed Kaitaia Oct 2001
V1
2/4|Em Em+7 | Em7 Em6 | Cmaj7 | ‘/. riff |
I’m in my car heading north
| B11 | B11 | Em riff | B7 |
To the Hokianga
|Em Em+7 | Cmaj7 | Am7 | D7/F# |
I turn the dial to Iwi radio
|B7 | B7 | Em | B7 | I say, “Kia ora” to a hikoi for health.
CH
Cmaj7 Cmaj7 Am7 Am7 My great grandfather was born in this land
D9/F# D9/F# Em Em riff I am an islander, a pakeha now
Cmaj7 Cmaj7 Am7 Am7 We said goodbye to mother England so long ago G B7 Em B7Ka korero ahau I te reo Maori
Break Em C B7 B7 Em C D7 B7
V2
I love to sing with my maori bro’ there
From the Hokianga
There is a new wairua in the air
Tu tiramai nga iwi, rua nga ao
V3I love to dream of my next trip up north
To the Bay of Islands
Maybe we’ll play in the Tuna café
Moerewa me Kaitaia ano.
Pasion Latina
Myself with Erwin La Cruz were a long time resident Latin duo at AMIGOS Chilean restaurant in Wellington and the Kelburn Village Pub. Erwin La Cruz is from Venezuela and plays: mandolin, cuatro, guitar and percussion. He also sings in Spanish and English.
I also performed regularly in Palmerston North with Cristián (see above) who is from Chile. The three of us have also performed together.
Myself with Erwin La Cruz were a long time resident Latin duo at AMIGOS Chilean restaurant in Wellington and the Kelburn Village Pub. Erwin La Cruz is from Venezuela and plays: mandolin, cuatro, guitar and percussion. He also sings in Spanish and English.
I also performed regularly in Palmerston North with Cristián (see above) who is from Chile. The three of us have also performed together.
NEW VIDEO for the original Latin song recorded with AMIGOS in Christchurch...
EN MIS PALMAS www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMSxajWMJE
SONG OF A PAKEHA
here is the YOUTUBE link... www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7hXslg6VfE Live with Jan on Djembe at the Penguin Club, OAMARU March 2016 composed Kaitaia Oct 2001 V1 2/4|Em Em+7 | Em7 Em6 | Cmaj7 | ‘/. riff | I’m in my car heading north | B11 | B11 | Em riff | B7 | To the Hokianga |Em Em+7 | Cmaj7 | Am7 | D7/F# | I turn the dial to Iwi radio |B7 | B7 | Em | B7 | I say, “Kia ora” to a hikoi for health. CH Cmaj7 Cmaj7 Am7 Am7 My great grandfather was born in this land D9/F# D9/F# Em Em riff I am an islander, a pakeha now Cmaj7 Cmaj7 Am7 Am7 We said goodbye to mother England so long ago G B7 Em B7Ka korero ahau I te reo Maori Break Em C B7 B7 Em C D7 B7 V2 I love to sing with my maori bro’ there From the Hokianga There is a new wairua in the air Tu tiramai nga iwi, rua nga ao V3I love to dream of my next trip up north To the Bay of Islands Maybe we’ll play in the Tuna café Moerewa me Kaitaia ano. |