MoonJune stalwart Dennis Rea (Moraine, Iron Kim Style, Zhongyu) continues his series of “musical travelogues” with Giant Steppes, a boldly unconventional exploration of Central Asian music that follows on from his acclaimed 2010 MoonJune release Views From Chicheng Precipice. The album also comes with Rea's companion book Tuva and Busted, available as a free download from Blue Ear Books at https://blueearbooks.com/books/tuva-and-busted

Recorded over several years in Seattle and Siberia, Giant Steppes is the ever-unpredictable guitarist/composer/arranger's most ambitious album so far, interpolating Silk Road desert airs, Russian choral songs, Tuvan throat singing, and mutant Tibetan pop with a gleeful yet respectful disregard for genre purity. The album is all over the map both geographically and sonically, mingling jazz, heavy prog, krautrock, surf, electroacoustic soundscapes, and field recordings and showcasing such formidable musicians as Tuvan singer Albert Kuvezin (Yat Kha), celebrated Russian choral ensemble Juliana & PAVA, badass bassist Wadim Dicke, trumpet mage Greg Kelley, Rea's 1970s Earthstar bandmate Daniel Zongrone, and Seattle treasures Steve Fisk, Doug Haire, Stuart Dempster, Dick Valentine, Don Berman, Greg Campbell, Brian Oppel, and Greg Powers.

What's more, Giant Steppes is paired with Rea's new companion book Tuva and Busted, a joint publication made available for free by MoonJune Records and Blue Ear Books. In the manner of his previous book Live at the Forbidden City, this richly illustrated account relates the improbable tale of how an early interest in Tuvan music eventually led, via two MuzEnergo tours of Russia, to Rea performing in the remote republic, collaborating with distinguished Tuvan musicians, and even acting as a judge in a throat-singing competition. The book includes expanded liner notes for Giant Steppes that detail each album track’s origin and making. Tuva and Busted is available now as a free eBook from Blue Ear Books.

In Rea's words:
Just as my 2010 MoonJune Records release Views from Chicheng Precipice was an unorthodox sonic love letter to East Asia’s traditional music, Giant Steppes takes a similarly capricious look at traditional and modern music from Central Asia – in this case the Uyghur homeland of Xinjiang, the Altai and Tuva regions of Russia, and Tibet – as viewed through the lens of my personal experiences in these places and my own mongrel musical interests. It is not an attempt at authenticity but an earnest inquiry into the enticing possibilities suggested by its musical and geographical sources. I’m humbled by the generosity of spirit of my collaborators, and dedicate this music with love and respect to the landscapes, people, and wildlife of the heart of Asia.

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About the free e-book Tuva and Busted
https://blueearbooks.com/books/tuva-and-busted

Published as a companion book to his musical album Giant Steppes, Dennis Rea’s Tuva and Busted is a free eBook available as a joint publication courtesy of Blue Ear Books in partnership with MoonJune Records. In the manner of his previous book Live at the Forbidden City, this richly illustrated account relates the improbable tale of how an early interest in music from the tiny republic of Tuva in remote Central Asia eventually led, via two MuzEnergo tours of Russia, to Rea performing in Tuva, collaborating with distinguished Tuvan musicians, and even acting as a judge in a throat-singing competition. The book also offers expanded liner notes for Rea’s brilliant new album Giant Steppes, detailing each track’s origin and making. Tuva and Busted is available now as a free eBook from Blue Ear Books.

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Dennis Rea short bio:

Active since the mid-1970s, guitarist-composer-arranger Dennis Rea has led or been a key contributor to such innovative groups as Moraine, Iron Kim Style, Zhongyu, LAND, Savant, and Earthstar and has worked with such prominent creative musicians as Hector Zazou, Stuart Dempster, Cui Jian, Albert Kuvezin, Klaus Schulze, Han Bennink, Hawkwind members Nik Turner and Michael Moorcock, and members of King Crimson, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Santana, Ministry, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. He has performed widely throughout the U.S. and in China, Russia, Germany, the UK, Taiwan, and Mexico. He has appeared on roughly 40 recordings to date for MoonJune Records and other labels. He is also the author of Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan, a chronicle of his adventures as one of the earliest progressive Western musicians to perform in China, and Tuva and Busted, an account of his further musical peregrinations in Central Asia. Rea's work has increasingly focused on bridging musical traditions from around the globe in personalized ways, as shown on his landmark albums Views From Chicheng Precipice and Giant Steppes.

"Dennis Rea's adventurous guitar playing blends jazz, rock, experimental, and world music into a unique vocabulary, marked by haunting lyricism, enigmatic textures, agile improvisation, and the raw dynamism of rock."

MJR066 MORAINE "Groundswell"

Moraine's long-anticipated third CD for MoonJune Records, Groundswell, marks a major step forwardfor the shape-shifting Seattle-based instrumental juggernaut. Engineered by legendary Pacific Northwest producer Steve Fisk, Groundswell is the first Moraine release to fully exploit the creative possibilities of the recording studio, resulting in a dramatic sonic experience with plenty of surprises. Consisting largely of previously unreleased material, including pieces written for the Moraine by composers Daniel Barry and Jon Davis, Groundswell is certain to cement the band’s standing as a singular voice like no other in the progressive jazz-rock continuum. Led by seasoned guitarist Dennis Rea and featuring ace instrumentalists Alicia DeJoie (violin), James DeJoie (woodwinds), Kevin Millard (bass), and new drummer Tom Zgonc, Moraine quickly built a reputation as one of the most original instrumental rock bands anywhere, winning over listeners around the globe with its unique amalgam of art rock, forward-thinking jazz, Asian-inspired music, and more. With a distinctive repertoire balancing rigorously composed passages with exploratory improvisation, Moraine has captivated audiences with memorable performances at most of North America’s major progressive-rock showcases, including NEARfest and Baja Prog. The band’s previous releases for MoonJune Records, manifest deNsity and Metamorphic Rock, garnered hundreds of glowing reviews worldwide and earned the band a diverse following ranging from jazz aficionados to metalheads to
world-music enthusiasts.

Black River Transect captures all of one 2013 concert, and part of another, by the “Tanabata” ensemble occasionally convened by guitarist/composer Dennis Rea with his friend and mentor, the internationally heralded trombonist and didgeridu player Stuart Dempster. The selections here are a blend of Rea's compositions and improvisations based on loose organizational devices, performed by some of the most adept and sensitive players then active in the Pacific Northwest. Both concerts were expertly recorded on the fly by audio genie Steve Kennedy-Williams.

Paedomorphic avant-rock band Axolotl confounded cochleas in Seattle for several years around the turn of the millennium. Spearheaded by the dastardly guitar duo of Dennis Rea and Bill Horist and propelled by bass invader Ryan Berg and drum levitator Olli Klomp, this first-ever Axolotl release commemorates Olli's last gig with the band, a fiery set of Rea and Horist originals presented by the vital SiL2K concert series.

2x4tet combines the final two formal recording sessions instigated and led by the late saxophonist and champion of free improvisation, Wally Shoup (1944-2024). Recorded before the pandemic interregnum in 2017 and 2018, these tracks capture Wally at the height of his improvisational prowess.

He is joined by Bill Horist, Dennis Rea, Greg Campbell, Paul Kemmish, John Seman and Olli Klomp, forming two contrasting quartets among them. The first is an electric formation featuring dual electric guitars and percussion. The second is an unusual acoustic assemblage with two upright bassists and drums. Fittingly for a swansong recording, these participants include some of Wally's closest friends and longtime musical associates in his adopted hometown of Seattle. The resulting interactions traversed widely variegated sonic terrain with poise and brio, and exemplify Wally's musical ethos.

The electric half of 2x4 is also significant for being the final broadcast of the venerated Sonarchy live radio hour, a joint production of Seattle's Jack Straw Cultural Center and KEXP curated and engineered by Doug Haire every week from 1996 to 2018. Sonarchy provided a vital platform for adventurous Pacific Northwest musicians to air their work before the broader public. The session here took place nearly 22 years to the day after Wally's first Sonarchy broadcast at the series' outset.

Wally was very keen to bring these two fully improvised sessions to light. Thanks to Right Brain Records and the contributors for making his wish real!

This album is also available as a limited issue CD. (Contact us if interested.)

All sales proceeds benefit Wally's long-time partner, Shirley.

Internationally-acclaimed for his work with MoonJune artists art-rock juggernaut Moraine (MJR028), and free-jazz provocateurs Iron Kim Style (MJR031), guitarist and composer Dennis Rea has been a key presence on the Pacific Northwest creative music scene for decades.With Views From Chicheng Precipice, his most ambitious release to date, he presents a completely different but equally-compelling facet of his musical personality. Blending striking arrangements of ancient and contemporary themes with sonic experimentation and expansive improvisation, Views from Chicheng Precipice is boldly unorthodox in its choice of instrumentation and treatment of traditional musical material (while remaining warmly respectful of its sources): incorporating techniques such as reharmonization, chromaticism, and free improvisation, and; incoporating noise, effects and amplification. The result is a sonorous and surprising listening experience that goes far beyond typical attempts at "East-West fusion." Rea’s MoonJune solo debut is an heartfelt homage to the music of East Asia, filled with moments of stunning beauty and intrigue.