Zhongyu, "Zhongyu" is Chinese for "Finally"

Zhongyu? It is a Seattle-based prog-fusion project with gigging experience in China giving us some progressive, sometimes Chinese influenced modern music on "Zhongyu" is Chinese for "Finally"  (MoonJune MJR 078). Jon Davis heads it all up with his compositions, his Chapman stick, guzheng, Mellotron and ARP 2600. Dennis Rea, who readers of this blog may remember via a number of review posts on this page (type his name in the index box above for those), appears on electric and resonator guitars, Alicia DeJoie is on electric violin, James DeJoie is on baritone sax, flute and bass clarinet, Randy Doak is on drums and percussion, and Daniel Barry guests on trumpet for one number.

This is an unusual blend of prog rock, fusion and a little traditional Chinese musical influence. The band is first rate and the compositions are substantial, original and vividly pulsing. There is a rock edge to it all, especially thanks to Rea's fine guitar efforts along with Davis's dynamic Chapman work and Doak's edgy drumming.

It is one of those programs that covers a wide variety of moods yet holds together as a single statement. If you dig later King Crimson and other ambitious prog-fuse efforts this is an original equivalent.

Fine music that I highly recommend you hear!

Moraine, Groundswell, with Dennis Rea

For the thinking person, we have fusion-prog rock by Moraine, the Seattle-based outfit headed by electric guitarist-composer Dennis Rea. I believe this is the third album for MoonJune (066) and it most certainly is a strong one with the band very much homogenized into a multistranded unit of adventure with a sound of its own.

Part of that surely has to do with the individual sound palettes of each band member. Alicia DeJoie plays an electrified violin with a beautiful tone and attack that one might say is post-Steve-Goodman in that it transforms a classically trained background into vibrant electric kinetics. In James DeJoie we have an important ingredient to the band's sound, especially with his rich baritone sax but also his agile flute. Kevin Millard plays foundational and virtuoso lines on the SN stick bass. Tom Zgonc drums with fused rock turbulence and drive. And Dennis Rea plays an electric guitar with a special lining ability that is about wonderful note choice and sound texture, using his chops in the service of the musical statements of the moment.

This set has compositions that work well to bring out the special group sound and to rock through with their own brand of fusion. Rea contributes four pieces, Alicia two, James two, plus there are several by names unfamiliar to me but the music all has that post-Sort Machine smarts that set things up for good soloing all around from Alicia, James and Dennis along with some nice ensemble flourishes.

This may well be the most impressive of their albums in terms of a cohesive original group sound. It is a beautiful listen and will be welcomed by all prog-fuse enthusiasts. Dennis remains one of the more important yet relatively unsung fusion guitarist figures out there. The whole band comes through with flying colors. This is band music with a highly original way about it all.

Very recommended.

Moraine, Metamorphic Rock: The Band in Good Form Live at NEARFest, 2010

Moraine's first album showed the world they were a very smart prog/fuze outfit that offered a sound alternative to the usual ways of being new. Dennis Rea's torrid guitar styling led the way for a kind of great adventure in electric sound that drove home the idea that Moraine had an original vision and were well on their way to putting it forward for the world to dig.

Their subsequent 2010 appearance at NEARFest was well-captured and we now have what they played there on the new CD Metamorphic Rock (Moon June 040). This is especially strong as a all-band effort, with solid compositions by Dennis Rea and other band members and some interesting adaptations of traditional and contemporary world music. The instrumentation of electric guitar, baritone-winds, violin, eight-string bass, and drums is used to excellent effect in ways that make for an even more identifiable sound this time out.

The music generally is more sonorous and less edgy in this go-round, but no less original. It shows once again that Moraine is a band to follow closely in the years to come. And it's a terrific listen as well! Very much recommended.

Guitarist Dennis Rea Chimes In with A Fascinating Album of Chinese Music

In a short period of time Dennis Rea has established himself as a guitar-composer of great promise and diverse stylistic tendencies. His albums with Moraine and Iron Kim Style (MoonJune, both reviewed on these pages) showed a more aggressive, hard hitting style of avant fusion. Now with his Views From Chicheng Precipice (Moon June 034), he shows the more aerated, meditative, chamber music aspect of his talents.

It's based on new compositions inspired by traditional Chinese music as well as rearrangements of actual pieces. It does for this form of expression what Miles and Gil Evans did with Spanish music on Sketches of Spain, this time with Rea's guitar taking a prominent role and the musical ensemble providing an intricately enmeshed pastel sound quality filled with light and shadow. That is not to say that the music sounds like that Milesian masterpiece; the sound and the execution are worlds apart, but no less intriguing for that.

There are luminescent chamber fusion sections, music that alternates between the calmness that signifies like the play of reflections on a gently undulating garden pond and more densely powerful moments.

It is an achievement that has no real parallel in the music offerings out there lately. And it reconfirms that Dennis Rea is an important emergent figure on the music scene of today. It is a highly rewarding listen. And it's beautifully produced. Excellent!