Dennis Rea

Dennis Rea's adventurous guitar playing blends modern jazz, creative rock, experimental music, and world musical traditions into an approach that is uniquely his own, marked by haunting lyricism, enigmatic textures, agile improvisation, and the raw dynamism of rock.

Over the years Dennis has led or been a key contributor to such innovative groups as Moraine, LAND, Iron Kim Style, Stackpole, Savant, Earthstar, Identity Crisis, and Ting Bu Dong. He has performed or recorded with many prominent creative musicians, including acclaimed French composer Hector Zazou, Dutch jazz legend Han Bennink, trombone virtuoso Stuart Dempster, godfather of Chinese rock Cui Jian, and Korean master musician Young Sub Lee, as well as members of King Crimson, Hawkwind, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Santana, Ministry, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. He has performed on three continents at venues such as NEARfest, WOMAD, Beijing International Jazz Festival, Sichuan-China International TV Festival, MuzEnergo Tour of Russia, Baja Prog, Bumbershoot, Columbia Gorge Amphitheater, Northwest Folklife Festival, Orion Sound Studios, Earshot Jazz Festival, Chrome Hearts (Los Angeles), and Seattle Art Museum.

Dennis has collaborated with many of the most important figures in contemporary Chinese music and was one of the first Western musicians to record an album for the state-owned China Record Company. His activities have spanned film, theater, radio, and modern dance, and he has appeared on more than 30 recordings to date. He is also an accomplished author whose book Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan will be reissued in an updated edition by Blue Ear Books in early 2015. He is a co-organizer of the annual Seaprog festival and the periodic Zero-G concert series, and for more than a decade co-organized the long-running Seattle Improvised Music Festival.

His current and projects include instrumental avant-rock band Moraine, Jon Davis's Zhongyu, processed thumb piano trio Tempered Steel, the Heaney-Henneman-Rea Guitar Threesome, Don Berman's Empty Boat, and Daniel Barry's Celestial Rhythm Orchestra.

Awards

Finalist, Best Guitarist, 2005 Seattle Weekly Music Awards; Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award, Best Northwest Outside Jazz Group, 2000, as leader of the improvising quartet Stackpole

Gear

Carvin HH2, Godin LGXT, and Gibson ES-335 guitars; Fender Deluxe amplifier; numerous effects units, including Zoom G71.ut

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”Dennis is a young, very talented musician who I think will develop into something quite interesting” - Stan Getz in 1979

“One of the most talented instrumentalists in the region, Rea has long distinguished himself in varied settings, creating a dynamic, lyrical, enigmatic blend of modern jazz, boundary-pushing rock, experimental music, and world music traditions. In Seattle, he has participated in some of the most impressive homegrown musical outfits, including the late 1990s juggernaut quartet Stackpole, with whom he won the 2000 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for best Northwest 'outside jazz.'” - Earshot Jazz

[LAND / EARTHSTAR]

“The first time I heard LAND guitarist Dennis Rea, he was playing the greatest phased guitar solo of all time on Earthstar's 1979 classic of Euro-electronica, French Skyline.” - The Wire (UK)

[VIEWS FROM CHICHENG PRECIPICE]

“a unique masterpiece” — Disk Union (Japan)

“Everything is exactly right about this album

”Dennis is a young, very talented musician who I think will develop into something quite interesting” - Stan Getz in 1979

[LAND / EARTHSTAR]

“The first time I heard LAND guitarist Dennis Rea, he was playing the greatest phased guitar solo of all time on Earthstar's 1979 classic of Euro-electronica, French Skyline.” - The Wire (UK)

[VIEWS FROM CHICHENG PRECIPICE]

“a unique masterpiece” — Disk Union (Japan)

“Everything is exactly right about this album. ... I do not often utter the word ‘masterpiece,’ but I would do it for this CD.” — Herman te Loo, Jazz Flits (Netherlands)

“It does for [traditional Chinese music] what Miles and Gil Evans did with Spanish music on Sketches of Spain, this time with Rea's guitar taking a prominent role and the musical ensemble providing an intricately enmeshed pastel sound quality filled with light and shadow. ... It is an achievement that has no real parallel in the music offerings out there lately. And it reconfirms that Dennis Rea is an important emergent figure on the music scene of today.” - Grego Applegate, Gapplegate Guitar & Bass Blog

“Spectacular — a perfect fusion of modernity and tradition. ... Views From Chicheng Precipice is a brave record in its choice of instrumentation and respects the arrangement of the traditional musical material. The result is an amazing listening experience that goes far beyond the usual attempts at fusion between East and West.” — Daniel Orlandi, La Voce (Italy)

“...a profound work, essential and nuanced, to be seized with repeated plays” - La Luna Alfonso (Italy)

[MORAINE]

Moraine are among the foremost standard-bearers of a modern form of jazz-rock that yearns to break free from the ponderous heritage of the Seventies. A near-perfect blend of lyricism, atmosphere and raw energy, Groundswell embodies, in many ways, the modern progressive ethos. Highly recommended to all open-minded prog listeners, this is essential listening for lovers of instrumental progressive rock.” – Raffaella Berry, Fire of Unknown Origin

“a new catalog of exquisite sonic adventures that greatly dignify the contemporary progressive scene.” – Cesar Inca Mendoza Loyola, Autopoeitican (Peru)

“...with its combination of rock energy, chamber classicism, and sophisticated jazz harmonies, Manifest DeNsity is simply _good_ music - at times, great music - played by an unusually configured collective. Like a square peg and a round hole, Moraine defies reductionist categorization...” - John Kelman, All About Jazz

“[Moraine] morph the best of various musical worlds ... turbulent strings passages, thrusting rhythms, and jubilantly executed melody lines ... There's a lot to sink your mind's eye into here, but the ensemble equalizes the cerebral factors with hearty melodies and pumping jazz-rock grooves. ... A musical highlight for 2009, regardless of genre or rigid categorizations...” - Glenn Astarita, Jazz Reviews.com

“...Dark timbres, dense harmonic aggregations, and exotic melodies abound ... Rea's guitar work continually imbues the proceedings with splashes of color from his global grab bag of stylistic goodies - including liberal dashes of oriental intrigue.” - Barry Cleveland, Guitar Player

“Incredible jazz chamber rock fusion ... Moraine will intrigue and energize the listener as they obliterate all boundaries. ... people looking for something new and different will enjoy this powerful and intelligent music.” - Brad Walseth, JazzChicago.net

(5/5 stars) “If Moraine is not the discovery of the year, it is only because they might be the discovery of the decade. ... it's pure instrumental music with an unusual sound, close to both the best examples of prog rock and the best examples of jazz-rock ... it's just great!” - Iouri Lnogradski, Jazz Russia

“Intelligently written, brilliantly executed, with gusto and just enough good sense. ... I can't find another band to compare them to - and that's huge. ... Oh, so rich. Bravo.” - Francois Couture, Monsieur Delire (Canada)

[IRON KIM STYLE]

“One of the best albums of the year ... The energy of this album is really unparalleled. And the consistency of the project is above all suspicion. Even old Miles would be very proud of these grandchildren based in Seattle.” - Mauritius Comandini, All About Jazz (Italy)

“That the entire content was composed on the spot is rather jarring: these gentz follow each other with almost shocking precision, alert to each others' subtlest cues and signs, cohesive while fully independent in each line and measure.” - Mark S. Tucker, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

“Although this entire disc is improvised, it often doesn't sound that way. This is jazz/rock at its finest without any of that fusion excess.” - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery (NYC)

“For a fusion album that really is fusion, this is one of the best examples you'll hear in today's jazz-rock world.” - Dead Earnest (Scotland)

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