Artist Biography
by Bryan Thomas
Co-founders
Dennis Davison (ex-
United States of Existence) and
Jonathan Lea (ex-Revolver) originally met in 1986 after
Lea answered an ad
Davison had placed in a local paper.
Davison
had been looking for a lead guitarist to join his then-current band
Playground, whose members had moved to L.A. from Maryland. The duo's
friendship flourished into a longtime partnership thereafter. In 1989,
Davison and
Lea disbanded Playground and formed
Jigsaw Seen. Drummer
Teddy Freese (ex-
Yipes!, who had a Top 100 hit with their cover of
the Beach Boys' "Darlin'," ex-
Spanic Boys) joined in 1993, followed by bassist
David Nolte(ex-
the Last)
in 1996. They gigged around L.A., attracting the attention of the New
Jersey-based Skyclad Records, which issued their debut album,
Shortcut Through Clown Alley, in 1990. This was followed by a five-song EP,
My Name Is Tom, in 1991. The band then toured the U.S. (
the Smashing Pumpkins even opened for them once). In 1993, Skyclad folded. At the time,
Davison and
Lea had been compiling
Melody Fair: Bee Gees Tribute, a tribute to the early
Bee Gees, which featured their cover of the title track.
Davison and
Lea
then brought the project to the L.A.-based Eggbert Records and its
successful release in 1994 led to future tribute projects. In the mid-
to late '90s, in fact,
Jigsaw Seen contributed to several various-artist tribute albums. In 1995, Eggbert released a
Hollies tribute album,
Sing Hollies in Reverse,
which featured their splendid cover of "On a Carousel." They also
recorded covers for two Del-Fi tributes: their CMJ-charting cover of
"Baby Elephant Walk" was a highlight on Del-Fi's 1996
Henry Mancini tribute
Shots in the Dark; and in 1998, their version of "Luci Baines" (originally recorded by
Arthur Lee's pre-
Love band,
American Four) appeared on
Delphonic Sounds Today!, a compilation of contemporary artists paying tribute to vintage Del-Fi artists. Their version of
the Left Banke's "Desiree" was the lead-off track on 1999's
A Tribute to the Left Banke: Shadows Breaking Over Our Heads. Meanwhile,
Jigsaw Seen
had continued recording tracks for its second full-length album;
unfortunately, it would be five years before critically acclaimed
Zenith would be released on the band's own Vibro-Phonic label (a year earlier, a various-artists compilation,
Listen and Learn With Vibro-Phonic, had been issued to rave reviews).
Zenith was nominated for a Best Packaging Grammy and was picked up for distribution in the U.K. and Japan. In April 2001,
Davison and
Lea's acoustic tour of Great Britain resulted in a limited-edition six-song live CD,
Perfformiad I Mewn Cymru (Performance in Wales), released by Vibro-Phonic in August 2001. In addition to his role in
Jigsaw Seen,
Lea has also played with L.A. pop maven
Kristian Hoffman and ex-
Bongwater vocalist/actress
Ann Magnuson. He also contributed guitar to unfinished
Pete Ham studio demos for the posthumous release of 1997's
7 Park Avenue and 1999's
Golders Green. Bassist
David Nolte has produced and/or co-written albums by David Gray and
Maria McKee.
Lea and
Nolte have also played in
Rufus Wainwright's and
Dave Davies' (of
the Kinks) touring bands. Songs Mama Used to Sing was released in 2002.
Tracklist
| 1 |
Pillar Of Salt |
2:16
|
| 2 |
Can Andy Come Out And Play? |
2:56
|
| 3 |
Where You're Goin' |
3:27
|
| 4 |
Jesus Of Hollywood |
3:21
|
| 5 |
These Are The Days |
4:26
|
| 6 |
Idol Chatter |
3:18
|
| 7 |
Jim Is The Devil |
3:09
|
| 8 |
Sebastian Kane |
3:07
|
| 9 |
Under Pam |
4:17
|
| 10 |
Cordially Invited |
2:49
|
| 11 |
December |
0:59
|
| 12 |
Jezebel |
3:00 |
