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Dan Dean: Vocalise
by Dan McClenaghan
Dan Dean has created a new music genre, a choir-of-angels approach molded via meticulous overdubs using one voice. His own. Fans of the bassist (vocalist, sound shaper, engineer) could not have had a clue as to this vocalise direction Dean would take from listening to 2010's Duets (Origin Records) with vibraphonist Tom Collier or to 2 5 1 (Origin Records, 2010), a marvelous set that featured bassist Dean accompanied by keyboardists George Duke, Larry Goldings, Gil Goldstein and Kenny Werner ...
Continue ReadingDan Dean: Fanfare For The Common Man
by Dan McClenaghan
Songs Without Words (Origin Classical, 2017) opened the door to Dan Dean's giant step into “going vocal"— an innovative approach to his choir-like voice-layering presentations of classical music. Rain Painting (Origin Records, 2021), teaming Dean with guitarist John Stowell, proved a perfect digression into Stowell's distinctive compositions, employing Dean's vocal harmonies, bass playing and drum programming with Stowell's guitars, before Dean's return to the world of classical music with Fanfare For The Common Man. To be clear here: ...
Continue ReadingJohn Stowell & Dan Dean: Rain Painting
by Dan Bilawsky
Now here's a uniquely compelling set from two of the Pacific Northwest's great individualists on one of jazz's most stalwart imprints. Guitarist John Stowell and multi-hyphenate Dan Dean have each made their respective marks on many Origin dates in the past. The former's instruments have figured into more than 25 recordings there, from solo sets to duo meetings with Dave Liebman and sideman appearances to a string of albums with collective combo Scenes; and the latter has spanned worlds and ...
Continue ReadingJohn Stowell / Dan Dean: Rain Painting
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist John Stowell has spent two decades recording for Seattle's Origin records, collaborating with artists such as saxophonists Dave Liebman and Michael Zilber, drummer John Bishop, bassist Jeff Johnson and guitarist Ulf Bandgren. His work with the band Scenes—with Bishop and Johnson, and (twice) saxophonist Rick Mandyck—is particularly noteworthy. Bassist Dan Dean—with a sparser discography than Stowell's—has made more of a name for himself as a producer and audio and recording engineer for the label; but his status as a ...
Continue ReadingDan Dean: Songs Without Words
by Dan McClenaghan
Bassist Dan Dean's original plan for this project was the hiring of sixteen string players to join him in the studio to record a set for solo bass with string orchestra: Vivaldi's Concerto For Lute and Orchestra in D Major, along with music from JS Bach, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff and Albononi. The cost for the project proved prohibitive, but the paucity of funds turned out to be the mother of innovation. Dean tackled the project alone, adapting his arrangements to his ...
Continue ReadingTom Collier: Across The Bridge
by Dan Bilawsky
Ruminations on the past, musical or otherwise, are often weighed down by the sediment of sentiment. But it certainly doesn't have to be that way. Looking back can provide an outlet for the imagination to take control, and vibraphonist Tom Collier seems well aware of that. On Across The Bridge, Collier revisits his youth, delivering nine original numbers that touch on a childhood spent on the opposite side of the West Seattle Bridge from where he currently resides. It's a ...
Continue ReadingDan Dean: 2 5 1
by Bruce Lindsay
Take four talented and creative keyboard players, one at a time. Select a few standards, plus one original tune. Pick up your electric bass and join in. Enjoy. The result is 2 5 1, an immediately accessible and inviting album of keyboard and bass duets from Dan Dean and his guests. Of course, the above plan only works if the bassist is as talented as his guest keyboard artists--thankfully, Dean meets that requirement. He's an experienced musician, ...
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