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Composer Spotlight

A co-presentation by Jack Straw Productions and Washington Composers Forum

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DENNIS REA - ReciprocAsian

Wed, March 12, 7:30pm

Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle

Guistarist/composer Dennis Rea will perform and discuss works recorded during his 2007 Jack Straw Productions Artist Support Program residency, as well as other recent compositions to be included in a forthcoming album combining adapted East Asian traditional music and original Asian-inspired works. Musical participants in the recordings include Stuart Dempster, Elizabeth and John Falconer, James DeJoie, Greg Campbell, and Paul Kikuchi.

Photo by Daniel Sheehan

Dennis Rea's adventurous guitar playing blends modern jazz, creative rock, experimental music, and world musical traditions into a personalized approach that encompasses haunting lyricism, enigmatic textures, agile improvisation, and the raw dynamism of rock. He has performed widely in North America, Asia, and Europe at such venues as the WOMAD Festival, Beijing International Jazz Festival, China International TV Festival, and Earshot Jazz Festival. Over the years he has led or been a key contributor to numerous innovative groups including Land, Axolotl, Savant, Eric Apoe & They, Identity Crisis, and his current bands Moraine, Tempered Steel, Iron Kim Style, 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, and trombone virtuoso Stuart Dempster, 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.

Dennis was a finalist for Best Guitarist in the 2005 Seattle Weekly Music Awards, and won a Golden Ear Award for Best Northwest Outside Jazz Group in 2000 as leader of the improvising quartet Stackpole. He is also an accomplished author whose most recent work is the book Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan. For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rea.

To listen to Dennis Rea's music, visit his various MySpace sites:
http://www.myspace.com/dennisrea
http://www.myspace.com/liveattheforbiddencity
http://www.myspace.com/moraineseattle

About Composer Spotlight

The Composer Spoltight series is presented by Jack Straw Productions and Washington Composers Forum (WCF). This series of talks and performances of new music highlights an innovative composer or performer every second Wednesday of each month at Jack Straw Productions. If you are a composer and would like to present at a Composer Spotlight event, please conatct arts manager Van Diep.

About Washington Composers Forum

The Washington Composers Forum is a non-profit arts organization that nurtures the creation, performance, and dissemination of new music by composers living in Washington State. Since its founding in 1984, WCF has produced concerts, readings, and lectures in the U.S. and Canada, representing many composers in the region. Visit their website for more information.

Composer Spotlight History

Below is a complete listing, by year, of all past presenters in the series.

2008

Gust Burns

Hope Wechkin

Dennis Rea

2007

Sarah Bassingthwaighte