Dennis Rea

DETAILED BIO

PERFORMANCE

Hundreds of solo and group performances in the U.S., China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Germany. Among the artists Dennis has performed or recorded with are Han Bennink, Hector Zazou, Stuart Dempster, Cui Jian, Jeff Greinke, K. Leimer, Wang Yong, Boris Savoldelli, Lesli Dalaba, Elizabeth Falconer, India Cooke, Wally Shoup, Amy Denio, Toshi Makihara, Trey Gunn, Fred Chalenor, Tucker Martine, Bill Rieflin, Jessica Lurie, Eyvind Kang, Craig Flory, Bill Horist, Briggan Krauss, Eric Apoe, Gregg Keplinger, Liang Heping, Liu Yuan, Geoff Harper, Reuben Radding, Greg Campbell, Caterina De Re, and Paul Kikuchi.

In the U.S.

Performances of original jazz, progressive rock, electronic music, and improvised music at festivals, concerts, and clubs in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast, including NEARfest, WOMAD Festival, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Seattle Improvised Music Festival , Earshot Jazz Festival, Northwest Folklife Festival, ArtsEdge Festival, Olympia Experimental Music Festival, Columbia Gorge Amphitheater, Experience Music Project, On The Boards, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle Art Museum, Henry Art Museum, Egg Lake Faire, Seattle city parks, the Sonarchy live radio hour, and dozens of live music clubs in Seattle.

Prominent artists that Dennis has opened for include Sting, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith, The Samples, and the Trey Gunn Band.

In China
  • Performed in the 1996 Beijing International Jazz Festival with LAND, followed by 10 concerts in Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Kunming, and Chengdu.
  • Organized a 20-concert tour of Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, and Guangzhou (Canton) for The Vagaries, including performances televised throughout China and neighboring countries as part of the 1991 China International TV Festival.
  • Concert tour of Beijing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou in 1991 with Identity Crisis, including a performance broadcast by Chengdu TV.
          These were among the first extensive unofficial concert tours undertaken by Western bands in China.
  • Solo concerts at Sichuan Music Conservatory, Sichuan Radio, Chengdu TV, Southwest China Art Institute, Chengdu Workers' Cultural Palace, and several universities.
  • Collaborative performances with well-known Chinese musicians Cui Jian, Wang Yong, ADO, Liang Heping, Zhang Xing, Firefly Band, Cobra, He Yong, Huang Qiang, and Zhu Ling.

In East Asia
  • Numerous group and solo performances in Taiwan, at venues including the New Phase Arts Center, Tainan Municipal Cultural Center, the Living Room, May Jam Festival, Feelmore Jazz Club, The Wall, Dog Pig Art Cafe, and National Cheng Kung University.
  • Concerts in Hong Kong and Macau with LAND in 1996.
In Europe
  • Recorded two albums in Germany with Earthstar in 1979/80, in association with electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze.
  • Recording session and performance in Munich in 2007 with the international jazz-rock quartet Ting Bu Dong, featuring Atze Ton (Munich, bass & engineer), Volker Wiedersheim (Hannover, keyboards), and Olli Klomp (Seattle, drums).

GRANTS
  • Recipient of grants from the Malcolm S. Morse Foundation, Earshot Jazz, and the Washington State China Relations Council for LAND's appearance in the 1996 Beijing International Jazz Festival.
  • Recipient of grants from the Arts International Fund for U.S. Artists Abroad (in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation) and the Washington State China Relations Council for The Vagaries' tour of China
  • Recipient of Seattle Arts Commission, King County Arts Commission, and Jack Straw Foundation Artist Support Program grants as co-producer of the Tenth Seattle Improvised Music Festival.
  • Recipient of a 2007 Artist Support Program residency from Jack Straw Foundation to complete Views from Chicheng Precipice, a CD ofradically reimagined East Asian traditional music.

MIXED MEDIA
  • With The Vagaries, represented the United States in the 1991 China International TV Festival (1991)
  • Subject of two TV specials produced by Chengdu TV, China (1990, 1991)
  • Composed music for the Spectrum Dance Theater production Eyeplay at Broadway Performance Hall, Seattle (1983)
  • Performed in "Cobrew," a music and dance event combining John Zorn's "COBRA" and Lisa Nelson's "Tuning Score," at the 1999 Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance and Improvisation.
  • Composed music for gallery installations for painter Daryl Trivieri at Semaphore East, New York City (1985)
  • Featured on the soundtrack to Robert McGinley's film Shredder Orpheus, winner of first prize at the Baltimore and New Orleans independent film festivals (1988)
  • Collaborated with soundtrack composer Stephen Thomas Cavit on the score for the documentary film Fallon, NV: Deadly Oasis by director Amie Williams (2004)
  • Collaborated with soundtrack composer Stephen Thomas Cavit on the score for the documentary film Ginney Ruffner: A Not So Still Life, by director Karen Stanton (2004)
  • With cellist Lori Goldston, created live soundtracks to classic silent films at Pike Street Cinema, Seattle (1994)

MUSIC WRITING
  • Author of Live at the Forbidden City, a book-length account of my experiences as a musician in China and Taiwan
  • From 1997-2001, co-published the Tentacle, the print and Web journal of Northwest creative music
  • Contributor of musician and composer entries to the Routledge Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture
  • Music reviewer and contributor, The Improvisor, MusicHound Jazz Guide, Amazon.com editorial reviews, The Stranger, OPTION, Earshot Jazz, and Sound Choice magazines
  • Music editor, Arts Focus magazine (Seattle), 1987-88
  • An account of Dennis' musical activities in China was published in CHIME: The Journal of the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research, as well as two further articles on contemporary Chinese music
  • Author of the New Directions in Chinese Music series of Web pages on the Sonarchy World Wide Web site

OTHER
  • Former co-director of the 20-year-old Seattle Improvised Music Festival, North America's longest-running festival devoted entirely to free improvisation, presenting such internationally renowned artists (many in their Seattle debuts) as Johannes Bauer, John Butcher, Nels Cline, Axel Dorner, Phil Durrant, John Edwards, Frode Gjerstad, Tristan Honsinger, Francois Houle, Luc Houtkamp, Jin Hi Kim, Carla Kihlstedt, Peggy Lee, Paul Lovens, Rudi Mahall, Toshi Makihara, Bob Ostertag, Barre Phillips, Mark Sanders, LaDonna Smith, Raymond Strid, Gebhard Ullmann, and Fred Van Hove
  • Former co-producer (with Wally Shoup and Matthew Sperry) of Other Sounds, a Seattle-based concert series that presented hundreds of local, national, and international improvising and experimental musicians
  • Private guitar instruction in the U.S., China, and Taiwan
  • Guitar seminars and lectures on jazz and modern music at Sichuan Music Conservatory and Chengdu University of Science and Technology, China
  • Participant in improvisation workshop with saxophonist John Butcher, 1998
  • Interviewed twice by National Public Radio about my involvement in music in China
  • Interviewed for the nationally syndicated radio program Echoes: A Nightly Soundscape
  • Subject of feature interview in the December 2001 issue of Exposé progressive rock magazine
  • Panelist, "Jazz DIY: Taking Control of Your Career as an Independent Jazz Artist," at the Experience Music Project, Seattle
  • Panelist, Jack Straw Productions 2004 Artist Support Program, Seattle
  • Music consultant, Seattle Art Museum and Seattle Asian Art Museum
  • Selection panelist, Seattle Center ArtsEdge Festival
  • Interviewed by national research organization The Urban Institute as part of a study of arts funding in the U.S.

COMPOSITIONS

Compositions written, co-written, or featuring major contributions by Dennis Rea

Utica, New York, 1973-79
  • Vife (1972)
  • Exuberance (1970s)
  • Recipe (1970s)
  • The Far Side of Weird Man's Land (1970s)
  • Of Quaggas, Sturgeons, and Dholes (with Norm Peach, 1970s)
  • Blossoming Stars (1970s)
  • Network of Extensions I (1970s)
  • An Alpine Hymn (1970s)
  • A Time of Going Away (1970s)
  • Dot Gallery (1978)
  • Timeless Pastures (1978)
  • Alpenglow (1978)
  • Elysium (1979)
  • Sea Eagle (1979)
  • Splendored Skies and Angels (with Craig Wuest, 1979)
Bands that I played with during this period: Atmosphere, Zuir, Earthstar

Celle, Germany, 1979-80
  • Billows (1979)
  • Embroidery (1979)
  • Forest Floor (with Craig Wuest, 1979)
Bands that I played with during this period: Earthstar

Seattle, 1980-83

  • Apercu (1982)
  • Network of Extensions II (1982)
  • Arcanum (1982)
  • Shadow in Deceit (with K. Leimer, 1982)
Bands/artists that I played with during this period: Savant, Jeff Greinke & Rob Angus, Marc Barreca

New York City, 1983-86
  • Timbretards (with Daniel Zongrone, 1984)
  • Gravel Dance (with Daniel Zongrone, 1984)
  • Vly (with Daniel Zongrone, 1985)
  • Sawmill Parkway (with Katie O'Looney, 1985)
  • Obsidian I (with Chipp Slater, 1985)
  • Dodging Jackrabbits (with Chipp Slater, 1985)
Artists that I played with during this period: Daniel Zongrone, Katie O'Looney, Chipp Slater, Kenny Yamazaki

Seattle, 1986-89
  • Butane (with Color Anxiety, 1989)
  • "The Ambient Song" (with Color Anxiety, 1989)
  • "The Love Song" (with Color Anxiety, 1989)
Bands/artists that I played with during this period: Color Anxiety, Fred, Catabatics, Particle Theory, New Art Orchestra, The Shredders, The Nordstroms, Storm, Sergeant Pageant

Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China, 1989-90
  • Home Remedy (1989)
  • Matterplay (1989)
  • Chengdu Blues (1989)
  • Kuaizi Variations (1989)
  • Clouded Leopard (1989)
  • Beehive in a Phone Booth (1989)
  • Huo Guo (1989)
Bands/artists that I played with during this period: Zhang Xing, Yinhuochong, Huang Qiang, Zhu Ling, Yang Chenggang, Zhao Xiong, Zhou Yi, Zhou Di, Wang Xing He

Tainan, Taiwan, 1990-93
  • Hot Bottom (1990)
  • Obsidian II (1990)
  • P.L.A. Boy (1990)
  • Hard to Be Sweet (with Michael Gittleman, 1989-91)
  • Jaguar Feathers (1991)
  • Yizu Wuqu (traditional, arranged by Rea 1991)
  • Manifest Density (1991)
  • The Heimlich Maneuver (1991)
  • Pock Market (1991)
  • Crooked House (1991)
  • Vanishing Point (1992)
  • Stella by Starfruit (1992)
  • Clown Hole (with Axel Schunn, 1992)
  • Rainy Season (1992)
  • Forgetz (1992)
  • Woozland (1992)
Bands/artists that I played with during this period: Mark DeForge, Lost Weekend, T.B. 301, The Gang of Formosa, Identity Crisis, The Vagaries, Cui Jian, ADO, Cobra, He Yong, Matthew Clark, George Soler, Frederic Eymard, Paul Chenard, Dominic Rablah, Nicole Darcy, The Cyberspace Chamber of Commerce, The Claydermen, Misery, Axolotl, The Lemming Dynasty, Christmess band

Seattle, 1993-present

  • Shu (with Jeff Greinke, 1994)
  • The Fifth Modernization (1996)
  • Deep (with LAND, 1996)
  • Hill (with Jeff Greinke, 1996)
  • Waylaid (1996)
  • Nacho Sunset (1998)
  • Uncle Tom's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1998)
  • Kuru (1998)
  • Kif (1999)
  • Flight of the Grackle (with Bill Horist, 2000)
  • Middlebrau (with Bill Horist, 2001)
  • Maple Cop Pie (with Bill Horist, 2001)
  • Staggerin’ (2002)
  • Starting All Under Again (2003)
  • Three Views from Chicheng Precipice (2005)
  • Blues for a Bruised Planet (2008)
  • Swaylone's Island (2008)
  • The Okanogan Lobe (2010)
Bands/artists that I played with during this period: Moraine, Ting Bu Dong, LAND, Axolotl, Stackpole, Chekov, Tempered Steel, Iron Kim Style, Eric Apoe & They, Ink, Jetlegrs, Hyperbaric Chamber Trio, Hector Zazou, Han Bennink, Boris Savoldelli, Cui Jian, Wang Yong, Liu Yuan, Chungking Mansions, Mothra, BHR (Baker-Heaney Rea Guitar Trio), CPR (with Pete Comley and Simon Poole), Sun Ra Tribute Band, Outland, Hughscore, Fred Chalenor's Exploding Love Spinach, Craig Flory & Doug Haire, Ed Petry, Rik Wright, DJ O.J. McVeigh, COBRA, Hit by Pitch, Brainwash, 3+2, Mothra, Tom Zgonc, Roland Barker & Christopher McRae