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Jon's Jazz CD's are available at AMOEBA Records and on CDBaby.com. If you want to hear his other albums, click HERE If you like what you hear and want us to send you CDs to play on your station, drop us an email... Jon's latest work, “George Bush Sings!” can be heard here on MYSPACE MUSIC or at CDBaby: CDBABY.COM AND BROADJAM: BROADJAM Thank you for listening

This album is dedicated to the realization that this Democracy can survive even the most incompetent of fools holding the White House. Conservative and Progressive alike can enjoy this highly musical offering, not just because the grooves are inspired and groundbreaking, but because it turns out that George W. Bush was an accomplished rapper.

YOU CAN CHECK OUT PRESS RELEASES ABOUT SOME OF THESE TRACKS..... START A BUSINESS- AMERICA'S OIL ADDICTION and MONEY TRUMPS PEACE Being an artist may involve some responsibility, both to the art and to the audience. The writer, dancer or composer may have an obligation to devote some portion of their artistic output to the cause of artistic freedom, and the abstract pursuit of truth and beauty. For decades, Jon has divided his time between making music and being an observer and advocate on the issue of the politics of oil. He has had over a hundred letters on transit and oil published in the Los Angeles Times and been elected to his Neighborhood Council. And over that same span of time, he has worked with some of the major names of Rock, Blues and Jazz. The cover artwork of his CDs, masterfully designed by Michael Rosen, reflect Jon's interest in the memory and history of the Pacific Electric Railway, one of the major trolley systems destroyed by the highway lobby. It is his belief that overall, this lobby has had a grossly negative influence on American life. The oil, auto, tire and concrete industries have “convinced” legislators to spend 95% of transit funding on the private auto and bus, with the remaining scraps going to passenger rail.

"George Bush Sings" is an audio response of an environmentalist learning that an oil executive had taken the White House. These songs reflect the wide diversity of influence that came from Jon’s varied playing collaborations, such as a tour of Europe with Ike and Tina Turner, or playing keyboards with Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Staple Singers, Sal Marquez, Phil Chen, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Jaye P. Morgan, Morey Amsterdam, Barry Zweig, Arthur Lyman, Bobby Womack, Eartha Kitt and many others. This project represents a departure in methodology for Jon, in which he uses vocal samples to construct an audio alternate reality. Prior to this, all his material was Jazz-flavored and written either the old-school way with pencil, or as improvisations that were recorded and developed. "George Bush Sings" represents the first time where keyboardist Hartmann employs guitar as the dominant voice in his rhythm section. Each song employs the vocal samples as a framework, with guitar being the chordal and rhythmic anchor. The musicians who contibuted to this project were Michael Rosen, George Sopuch and Vlad Naslas-guitar, Jack Lees-percussion, Lynn Woolever-bass and Dave Price-sax. Rosen also played harmonica on "Live in Peace", and Hartmann (a non-guitarist) played rhythm parts on some selections, in addition to the midi parts and recording. The direction of this project is free association poetry meets World/Funk/Pop/Rock political protest. REVIEWS!

In his four decades of working in music, Jon Hartmann has done it all...playing a B3 in front of a thousand screaming fans, or tuning a Fender Rhodes. At the tender age of eight, he started writing music at the piano. Jon played the saxophone and clarinet through high school and college, then graduated from UCLA, with a B.A. in Music Composition. In addition to playing live, recording and mixing, he now teaches piano to both children and adults.

He’s toured the world – from his 1968 overseas gig in Southeast Asia to entertain soldiers for the USO, to working with Ike & Tina Turner and having the Rolling Stones in the audience during a 1973 concert in Germany – his talents have been recognized all over the globe.

A member of both American Federation of Musicians and ASCAP, Hartmann has an extraordinary working biography which reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of stage performers within the music industry. Jon was signed as a writer in 1975 for Peacock Music, where he and Jimmy Whitney co-wrote "Goodness Knows," recorded that year by Michael Jackson.

Hartmann has also worked with Dee Dee Bridgewater, The Staple Singers, Jaye P. Morgan, Oscar Brown Jr., Eartha Kitt, The Ink Spots, The Platters, Steve Lawrence, Morey Amsterdam, and Ann B. Davis. He’s shared the marquee with Jackson Browne, B.B. King, Billy Eckstein and Johnny Nash.

He’s been part of the stable of keyboard players called by H.B. Barnum for touring and recording. Hartmann additionally has also performed in numerous concerts and casuals and has even recorded jingles, published demos and tuned pianos. His love for music is never-ending.

In 1978, he stopped touring and started concentrating on writing music. He went on to study synthesis and audio production and continued to perform in the Los Angeles area. With this exposure, he soon became known in other musicians circles including Barry Zweig, Sal Marquez, Phil Chen (bass player for Rod Stewart), Cathy Segal-Garcia, and John Brahaeny, who hired him to play keyboards on his songwriter's demos.

From there his desire to learn grew from being a sideman and accompanist, to starting his own band and a second career as a recording engineer, mixing his own albums.

Coming off of his third self-produced album, “Pacific Electric” - a project which brings him full-circle in a self-described ‘coming of age’ tour, Jon continues to produce non-stop. Dedicated to the memory of the Pacific Electric Railway, this CD is representative of his own musical styling maturation, exploration and revelation as well as his own passion about the environment. Hartmann describes this album to be“organic” stating it’s the solos that get complex, whereas the melodies are often relatively simple. Pacific Electric is a group of tunes that reflect the old-school be-bop sensibility, and yet have a feeling of complete freshness and vitality. Modern Jazz, old school funk are intertwined in all original compositions with an Afro-Cuban groove – an eclectic mix of all musical inspirations.

His CD, “3 If By Air” –is a modern rhythmic instrumental jazz fusion release. Flavored with many up-tempo tunes, it captivates and creates a mental vacation getaway in a true ‘CD for all-seasons.’ His release “The 10th House,” takes the self-realization process to the next level! These songs transport listeners to a new realm of jazz fusion with a Latin funk/rock-edge. “The 10th House” brings life harmony in music to a spiritual place found within our own internal rhythm of melodic peace.

Hartmann has been an advocate for passenger rail since 1967, when his attorney brother took him inside the Subway Terminal Building in Los Angeles. Seeing the graveyard of the world's largest urban rail system had an effect on Jon, and he was soon to find out that General Motors, Standard Oil, Mack Truck and Firestone Tires were busy in a "criminal conspiracy to monopolize ground transportation." Other than the movie about Roger Rabbitt, no one has dared to offend the auto industry by talking about what happened, and continues to happen.