John Stowell & Dan Dean Rain Painting - Origin82815 - Jazz - by Origin Records

Master guitarist and improvisor, John Stowell, has spent the last five decades touring the world, most often immersed in the universal jazz repertoire improvising with artists from wherever he's visiting. Through his recordings with "Scenes," and his quartet with SF Bay Area saxophonist Michael Zilber over the last 20 years, Stowell has had the chance to perform and focus on his own compositions more than ever before. It was through the mastering of those recordings that engineer, bassist, vocalist, producer Dan Dean discovered the nuances of Stowell's writing. The idea of collaboration came when Stowell heard Dean's recent classical voice recording, "Songs Without Words," where he layered multiple tracks of himself in what writer Raul da Gama called "...music-making of the highest order, which plumbs the depths of all of the emotions from wonderful joys to abject lamentations." Taking 10 of Stowell's compositions, Dean & Stowell layered voices, bass, and guitars over the course of a year, discovering unique avenues into the music with the end result feeling spontaneous, joyous and in the moment. "Dan Dean will redefine what you think is possible to achieve with the human voice. Prepare to be astonished." (Melinda Bargreen)