Musical career Dennis Rea

1 musical career

1.1 earthstar
1.2 1980s , 1990s - seattle, nyc, china, taiwan
1.3 2000-present

musical career
earthstar

in late 1970s rea made series of albums in germany earthstar, brainchild of fellow utican, keyboardist/synthesist craig wuest. influenced german electronic music scene of 1970s, including tangerine dream, harmonia, popol vuh, , klaus schulze (who later produce group’s 1978 album french skyline), earthstar born out of partnership of wuest , members of zuir, plus other utica-area musicians. in 1977 earthstar signed nashville-based moontower records, released group’s first album, salterbarty tales, following year. schulze’s encouragement, wuest moved germany in 1978, recorded french skyline , subsequent release, atomkraft? nein, danke!, hamburg-based sky records [6][7]. rea joined wuest , other members of earthstar in germany in 1979 , 1980 sessions @ schulze’s ic studio , appeared on both releases, unreleased album sleeper, nightlifer. earthstar notable perhaps american band participate in germany s kosmische musik/electronic music scene while still @ height.[1][2][3]

1980s , 1990s - seattle, nyc, china, taiwan

in 1980s rea collaborated composer k. leimer in vanguard seattle-based experimental music group savant, described philip sherburne in pitchfork “some of striking , original american electronic music of period.”[8] in 1983 moved new york city 3 years, involved downtown new-music community. returning seattle in late 1980s, performed various avant-rock bands (notably color anxiety , fred) , became involved in free improvisation alongside musicians such wally shoup, bill horist, , stuart dempster. in 1988 co-organized first public edition (and numerous subsequent editions) of seattle improvised music festival, still continues 30-plus years later.

between 1989 , 1996 rea spent several years in china , taiwan, played more 100 concerts @ cultural centers, universities, conservatories, expat bars, religious celebrations, , underground happenings, on radio , television, , in sports arenas chinese pop star zhang xing. 1990 solo album state-run china record corporation, shadow in dreams, sold 40,000 copies , cited among year s 10 best releases party organ china youth daily. while abroad organized 3 of earliest unofficial concert tours of china progressive western bands (identity crisis, vagaries, , land), playing more 40 concerts in beijing, chengdu, chongqing, kunming, guangzhou, hong kong, , macau, plus performance @ 1991 sichuan china international tv festival viewed tv audience estimated in hundreds of millions. has performed such influential chinese musicians cui jian, wang yong, liu yuan, liang heping, yong, ado, , cobra. has written extensively chinese , other asian music in popular , academic publications including chime, routledge encyclopedia of contemporary chinese culture, , routledge history of social protest in popular music, , adventures foreign musician in far east chronicled in book live @ forbidden city: musical encounters in china , taiwan (blue ear books, 2015).[4][9][10]

back in seattle in mid-1990s, rea formed or participated in dozens of groups , projects, among more prominent being ethno-electronic ensemble land, formed jeff greinke, ambient musician , composer rea first met in seattle in 1980s. through various incarnations group included trumpet player lesli dalaba, bassist fred chalenor, drummers bill rieflin , greg gilmore, chapman stick player george soler, , others.[1][2][3] between 1998 , 2001 rea led free-jazz quartet stackpole, won golden ear award earshot jazz magazine best northwest outside jazz group in 2000. [11] 10 years key contributor groups led singer-songwriter eric apoe.

2000-present

rea has remained active performing, composing, recording, , touring throughout new century, gaining greater visibility through association nyc-based moonjune records, whom has released 6 albums date: 3 primary band, electric instrumental quintet moraine; 1 each free-jazz group iron kim style , jon davis’s asian-prog-fusion project zhongyu; , solo album views chicheng precipice, unorthodox take on traditional music of east asia.[12] in addition moraine, works ffej , frank junk in electronically processed thumb-piano trio tempered steel, hawkwind founder nik turner , drummer jack gold-molina in improv project flame tree, , various seattle instrumentalists in tanabata ensemble. during period, rea has undertaken 2 concert tours in russia (muzenergo tour) , 2 in taiwan, , has performed in mexico, england, , germany. several partners, founded ongoing seaprog festival of progressive/avant rock , intermittent zero-g concert series, both in seattle.[5][13] rea has been awarded grants musical activities u.s. department of state (fulbright-hays program), arts international fund u.s. artists abroad, seattle arts commission, king county arts commission, malcolm s. morse foundation, , jack straw foundation.