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, embracing haunting lyricism, enigmatic textures, agile improvisation, and the raw dynamism of rock. He has performed widely in North America, Asia, and Europe and has led or been a key contributor to numerous innovative groups, including Moraine, Land, Stackpole, Savant, Earthstar, Identity Crisis, Iron Kim Style, Tempered Steel, Chekov, and Ting Bu Dong. He has performed or recorded with such prominent creative musicians as European free jazz legend Han Bennink, Chinese rock megastar Cui Jian, acclaimed French composer Hector Zazou, German electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze, trombone virtuoso Stuart Dempster, and jazz mainstay John Clayton, as well as members of King Crimson, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ministry, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. He 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 included film, theater, radio, and modern dance, and he has appeared on more than two-dozen recordings to date. He is also an accomplished author whose most recent work is the book Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan.
Rea's music career began in the early 1970s when he formed the eccentric progressive rock group Zuir in his hometown of Utica, New York. In the late 1970s he made a series of albums in Germany with Craig Wuest's proto-electronica group Earthstar. In the early 1980s he collaborated with composer K. Leimer in the pioneering Seattle-based experimental music group Savant. In 1983 he moved to New York City, where he was involved with the downtown new-music community. Since returning to Seattle in the late 1980s, he has performed or recorded with such innovative musicians as Jeff Greinke, Fred Chalenor, Wally Shoup, Bill Horist, Lesli Dalaba, India Cooke, Trey Gunn, Lori Carson, Toshi Makihara, Elizabeth Falconer, Amy Denio, Tucker Martine, Bill Rieflin, Jessica Lurie, Elaine DiFalco, Eyvind Kang, Greg Campbell, Tom Baker, Jim Knodle, Lynette Westendorf, and Olli Klomp.
Between 1989 and 1996 Dennis spent several years living in China and Taiwan, where he gave more than 100 concerts at cultural centers, universities, music conservatories, and clubs, on radio and television, and in sports arenas with the Chinese pop star Zhang Xing. His 1990 solo album for the China Record Company, Shadow in Dreams, sold tens of thousands of copies and was cited among the year's best releases by China Youth Daily. While abroad he organized three of the earliest unofficial concert tours of China by Western bands, comprising more than 40 concerts in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as a performance at the 1991 Sichuan China International TV Festival that was viewed by a television audience numbering in the hundreds of millions. He has performed with such influential Chinese musicians as Cui Jian, Wang Yong, Liu Yuan, Liang Heping, He Yong, ADO, and Cobra. He has also written extensively about Chinese music in various popular and academic publications including the Routledge Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. In 2005 he returned to Taiwan for a two-week concert tour with the international bands Jetlegrs and Chekov; in 2008 he again traveled to Taiwan for reunion concerts with his early 1990s Taiwan-based band Identity Crisis and subsequent performances with the international jazz-rock quartet Ting Bu Dong. His pioneering experiences performing in East Asia are chronicled in his book Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan. His CD Views from Chicheng Precipice, a radical reimagining of East Asian traditional music, will be released by MoonJune Records in 2010.
”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
“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)
“…Dark timbres, dense harmonic aggregations, and exotic melodies abound … while the emphasis here is clearly on ensemble playing, 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
“”This vibrant Seattle-based quintet abides by a rather distinctive group-centric sound that draws upon the musicians’ influences, spanning electronics, jazz, jazz-fusion, progressive-rock and a consortium of styles. The beauty of it pertains to their multifarious aggregation of genres, all woven into a neatly packed program. They morph the best of various musical worlds here, amid turbulent strings passages, thrusting rhythms, and jubilantly executed melody lines.
”The band conveys a myriad of emotive attributes via these resonating compositions. At times, they embark on a frenzied array of soloing jaunts, where everything in the band’s path is devoured. With traces of vintage, Jean-Luc Ponty style fusion along with the weighty impact of King Crimson, the artists inject resonating choruses, awash with cellist Ruth Davidson and violinist Alicia Allen’s streaming staccato lines. However, they soften the mix with eloquent phrasings, complemented by intriguing noise-shaping activities and guitarist Dennis Rea’s blistering crunch chords.
”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, eJazz News, Jazz Reviews.com
[Review of Moraine's “manifest deNsity,” on MoonJune Records] “Moraine [is] a unique sort-of progressive band from Seattle that don't quite sound like anyone else. I dig the way the two strings saw away tightly while the guitarist solos intricately in between...The melodies have a middle eastern tinge, yet are constantly shifting into other areas. Whenever the guitarist solos, the strings play complex inter-connected lines along with him. I like that there is an organic feeling to this music with uplifting melodies and thoughtful solos which never sound like anyone is showing off. Even more than the inspired solos it is the exotic melodies and crafty arrangements that makes this band special. Considering that this is an American band, they often don't sound that way. Many of the melodies sound like they could come from Eastern Europe. Moraine remind me of some of the fine bands who record for Cuneiform: quirky, creative & filled with surprising twists and turns, well worth checking out no matter what you are into.” - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, NYC
“Moraine combines a dark palette with unique instrumentation and driving, sprawling architectonic musical structures. … It is one of those CDs that immediately gets your attention from the opening bars of the first cut. One could speculate as to what influences the band has had, but what’s most important is that for a listening experience it’s truly tabula rasa time. Moraine doesn’t really sound like anybody. They are a Prog-Rock original, that most rare of entities. They do not take an easy path. They do not rely on riffs of a gratuitous nature or other filler material. … They achieve a continuously compelling group sound that grabs you by the ears and does not let go. … Mr. Rea and company have achieved orbit status. ... Such refreshingly outside Rock invites repeated absorption, and gives you a feeling of anticipation for future editions. This band could pan out to be the biggest Prog thing since Beefheart, Crimson, Gary Lucas and/or the Softs. Time will tell. They are off to an auspicious start with Manifest Density.” - Gregory Applegate, Gapplegate Music
(4 stars) “Moraine ... provides instrumental music that is passionate and emotional but complex, challenging, and abstract. ... Moraine's appreciation of world music is definitely one of their strong points; during the course of this 54-minute CD, they incorporate elements of everything from Asian music to Middle Eastern/Arabic music to East European gypsy music - and those world music influences only add to Manifest Density's richness. ... adventurous listeners who have some patience will find that the more they listen to Manifest Density, the more this album reveals its excellence.” - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
(4 stars) “Manifest Density is like a head-on collision between the Mahavishu Orchestra, Univers Zero, King Crimson, Present, and Dr. Nerve. ... Moraine is hard to classify yet impossible to ignore. …for those who are feeling brave and in the mood for some experimental sounds, this will be a ride worth taking over and over again.” - Pete Pardo, Sea of Tranquility
“This would be the best fusion jazz record of 2009, except that it’s not quite fusion jazz. Then again, that’s what makes it the best fusion jazz record of 2009! ... Intelligently written, brilliantly executed, with gusto and just enough good sense. ... an unusual hybrid of adventurous jazz-rock and rock-in-opposition. I can’t find another band to compare them to - and that’s huge. ... Oh, so rich. Bravo.” - Monsieur Délire
“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
“The band led by guitarist extraordinaire Dennis Rea is a powerhouse of individuals with advanced musical ability and compositional prowess but instead of cramming every nook and cranny with musical schizophrenia, they choose a different path. … There is enough amazing playing here to satisfy even the most ardent fan of titanic technique but with enough melody to give casual listeners something to get their ears around.“ - Rob Hudson, modmove.com
“Manifest Destiny is one of those CDs that captures your attention right from the start of the first section; here is something exciting, different, and innovative that is challenging and complex. Adventurous listeners who possess a little patience will find more and more in this release with every listen. ... Fantastic!” - JazzNet Denmark
(4 stars) “music that seems modern in every way.” - babysue.com
[In an entry on Land] “...a killer combination of Dennis Rea's part abstract, part high-energy guitar and Lesli Dalaba's blurts and liquid runs on trumpet.” - Encyclopedia of Northwest Music
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
Musical influences include John Abercrombie, Art Ensemble of Chicago/AACM, Derek Bailey, Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton, Brotherhood of Breath, John Cage, Eugene Chadbourne, Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Cui Jian, Miles Davis, Stuart Dempster, Eric Dolphy, ECM, Bill Evans, free improvisation, Fred Frith, Stan Getz, Egberto Gismonti, Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, Gyorgy Ligeti, John McLaughlin, Charles Mingus, Ben Monder, No Wave, William Parker, Harry Partch, Annette Peacock, Jim Pepper, psychedelia, George Russell, Terje Rypdal, Elliott Sharp, Soft Machine, Sun Ra, Toru Takemitsu, Keith Tippett, Ralph Towner, Robert Wyatt, and the music of Brazil, Cambodia, China, Korea, the Naxi people, North Africa, Vietnam, and Xinjiang.
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