Telesma

Update on Telesma and Jason Sage.

Greetings, dear Telesma family. Jason continues to progress in his healing process, recovering from a serious car accident, which, among other things, included breaking his neck. The threat of a blood clot that prevented him from being able to begin physical therapy has passed as it is no longer visible in scans. What a relief it was to learn that!

Jason, with the help of the amazing Jackie Sawiris, has been compiling and organzing the treasure trove of both audio and video files of Telesma, as well as the hundreds of recordings Jason and Ian made together and with Ian's uncle, Cris Hesford. Jason is creating a film about Telesma and Ian.

Currently, Jason and Cris have been playing along with pre-recorded tunes that include Ian, so they have, in essence, never stopped their collaboration with him, in spite of his untimely passing in February 2026.

Ian's wonderful mother, Jackie Hesford, made the trek to Baltimore from Tucson recently to settle Ian's affairs and organize his belongings and many musical instruments. She and Ian were very close, and it is heartbreaking for Jackie to lose her only child.

We will be holding a memorial for Ian later in the year. We will keep you posted.

Jason is still not able to get back to his work setting up audio and video for shows. Please consider contributing to Jason's gofundme (link in comments). Thank you so much!

Dan Rodricks, well-known Baltimore journalist, who covered Ian after his first cardiac arrest in 2012, has penned a beautiful piece about Ian on Baltimore Fishbowl's home page. Link in comments.

The outpouring of love and support for Ian has been truly inspiring. It’s wonderful to witness the community coming together for each other during times of grief.

Even more amazing is seeing and sharing our experiences with everyone whose life was impacted by this special soul.

In 2012 after his initial heart attack, the first thing Ian said to us when he woke up was “I am not alone”. He was never alone….not that time or ever since. And our memories and experiences will keep him alive in our hearts forever.

🙏❤️🙏

This is a wonderful video about Ian's and Shodekeh's love for Tuvan throat singing.

Maryland Traditions- Tuvan Throat Singing Maryland Traditions - Tuvan throat singing with Shodekeh and Ian Hesford

RIP, our dear brother, Ian Hesford.

TELESMA ' White Lotus ' (1080p HD) by Adam Scott Miller. Ch.2 of 3: VIsionary Video Voyage Official music video for Telesma ' White Lotus ' from the album 'Action In Inaction '' White Lotus 'is Chapter Two in the Lotus Chain trilogy.Chapter One: Te...

It is with a shocked and heavy heart, that we announce to our dear Telesma family that Ian Hesford has passed away. This morning, he was riding his bike to work when his heart gave out for the final time. We all remember that fateful April 20, 2012 show at Rams Head Live in Baltimore when Ian’s heart gave out the first time, and he had no pulse for 93 minutes before finally being revived.

Ian, co-founder of the band and someone who never met a strange musical instrument that he could resist, was told back then, that with the defibrillator they installed in his chest, he would not be allowed to perform live with Telesma. He was enraged and said that he would NOT allow the defibrillator to be installed! (We were able to call in his original doctor, who gave the ok for Ian to perform live again, and the defibrillator was installed.) We are so grateful for the almost 14 more years we had with Ian.

Ian’s mom, Jackie, requested that people send up prayers for his soul today. “He died on Friday the 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day and he was the love of my life,” she said. We will have a memorial in the spring to celebrate his life.

If you have photos, memories, videos of Ian that you would like to share here, please do. And keep Ian in your hearts.

Update on Jason: He continues to heal and is so grateful for the love and support he's received. Jason's healing process will be long and arduous, and getting his pain under control is a constant battle, but he is hanging in there!

Jason was told to stop physical therapy because of a blood clotting issue that is concerning, putting him behind in his healing, and he still does not have full use of his dominant hand and arm. If you are in Baltimore and would like to help him with things like meals, laundry (in his house) and light cleaning, or just to drop in for a visit, we would be so grateful! We are forever thankful for our Telesma family!

We want to extend an EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to Jessica Snow, who has been Jason Sage's guardian angel, bringing delicious vegan food, driving caregivers and now staying with Jason. We are so grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving, Telesma family! ♥️ Jason continues to heal and for that we are so grateful. We are so thankful to those of you who have visited, brought meals, donated tohis gofundme and sent messages for him. He can still use help, as he can’t use his right arm/hand and is in quite a bit of pain. Message us if you want to stop by or bring food. We love you!!

The end of an era, for sure, with the closing of Ram's Head Live! in Baltimore. It's the venue Telesma was playing when Ian Hesford collapsed and died onstage (and revived 93 minutes later) and when we went back for our "Resurrection" show to celebrate his life—and our "Action in Inaction" album. It was one of our favorite venues to play.

It was kind of Al Shipley, formerly of the City Paper, now writing for the Baltimore Banner, to mention Telesma. I don't think we are exactly Progressive Rock, as it says in the article, but to be fair, no one really knew how to categorize us. At the beginning, in 2004, we billed ourselves as Neo-Classical Post-Industrial Psychedelic Primordial Space Fusion!