John Paul Jones hints at summer tour, begins week in New York

Summer touring plans may be starting to develop for John Paul Jones, who appeared on TV last night performing with Sara Watkins for his first of five gigs in New York this week.

The four upcoming gigs, which run Thursday through Sunday, will see Jones playing with Sonic Youth and violinist Takehisa Kosugi at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Jones also spent some time at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Monday backing Watkins on her first major media appearance as a solo artist since last Tuesday's release of her self-titled album.

He played bass on their rendition of "Long Hot Summer Days" for the new NBC show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. They also brought in Sean Watkins, Sara's brother and Nickel Creek bandmate, as well as Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, the drummer of Fallon's house band, the Roots, who previously jammed with Jones at the Bonnaroo Festival in June 2007.

While it appeared last week that none of the participants in Led Zeppelin's December 2007 reunion would likely be making any music this summer, plans have since emerged for at least one concert date involving drummer Jason Bonham as part of a supergroup also involving Slash, Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie Wood.

But that may not be all. John Paul Jones says he's hoping "to be everywhere this summer" with "a couple of other people" who've been "working [with him] on some other music, which is more rock based."

This comment comes from an interview printed in today's issue of Women's Wear Daily. When prompted to reveal some details, Jones tightened his lips, offering only:

"It’s a secret, actually. I shouldn’t have even said that, you know? There are some exciting projects coming up, let’s put it that way."

It's the first time this year that Jones has offered any public comment on his musical plans for the near future. Last October, Jones confirmed he was working with Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham and "trying out a couple of singers" for a record and a tour. Jones also said they were keen on playing loud music.

Talk of this possibility halted in early January, when Page's manager said singer audtions hadn't resulted in any selection.

So, what does this mean? Is Jones teaming up with the Slash-Osbourne-Wood-Bonham supergroup? And if he is, will Page join him too?

Could the "couple of other people" Jones mentioned be Page and Bonham? Furthermore, have they finally persuaded Robert Plant to do a 360 and participate in a Led Zeppelin reunion tour despite his most recent and insistent refusal last September?