Description
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, Author & Music Critic
TRACK LISTING:
Welcome to Nice 4:08
Nanti Glo 5:08
Rain Painting 5:33
Pretty Boy Floyd 4:32
Alora Andiamo! 3:53
Springfield Sonata 4:30
Tapioca Time 4:43
Always Sometimes 5:34
Schiffletting 5:43
The Mandy Walk 4:42
PERFORMERS:
John Stowell – Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Fretless Electric Guitar
Dan Dean – Vocals, Fretless Acoustic Bass Guitar, Electric & Fretless
Electric Basses, Percussion, Drum Programming
PRODUCTION INFO:
Produced by Dan Dean & John Stowell
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Dan Dean at DDP Studio, Mercer Island, WA
Recorded September 29, 2018 to May 6, 2020
Photographs by Philip Justin Mamelic, João Cabral
Photo of Dan Dean by Steve Korn
Cover Design & Layout by John Bishop
Recorded in high definition 32 bit 96 khz
DAN MCCLENAGHAN, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
4-STARS! Guitarist John Stowell has spent two decades recording for Seattle’s Origin records, collaborating with artists such as saxophonists Dave Liebman and Michael Zilber, drummer John Bishop, bassist Jeff Johnson and guitarist Ulf Bandgren. His work with the band Scenes—with Bishop and Johnson, and (twice) saxophonist Rick Mandyck—is particularly noteworthy. Bassist Dan Dean—with a sparser discography than Stowell’s—has made more of a name for himself as a producer and audio and recording engineer for the label; but his status as a recording artist in his own right took a big jump forward in his 2017 Origin Records outing Songs Without Words, a solo effort featuring his bass and vocals (mostly overdubbed into a choir) that earned a spot of one of the year’s best “beyond category” recordings.
Rain Painting pairs the two veteran Origin Records guys for more innovation—Stowell’s acoustic and electric guitars, Dean’s acoustic and electric basses and, again, his wordless vocals, along with some deft drum programing from Dean, to create an alluring sound that makes another category of its own, much in the way Songs Without Words did. All compositions come from Stowell’s pen; the vocal arrangements are Dean’s, as he creates a sound that brings the Beach Boys’ vocal layerings influenced by a church choir to mind when he overdubs, or (un-overdubbed) a hipster monk who has ditched the Gregorian chants for the sound of Chet Baker’s vocalese, circa 1958, on the trumpeter’s Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen to You (Riverside Records).
It is an album that sounds in-the-moment and effortless, but in fact it was a painstakingly constructed work of art, with Stowell laying down his acoustic guitar tracks first, followed by Dean layering in his vocals, and on into Stowell coming back in to add guitar solos and rhythm guitar parts, leading into Dean’s background vocal constructions, bass additions and virtual drum parts.
The results are spontaneous, joyful and life-affirming, showcasing Stowell’s wide-ranging guitar artistry, and Dan Dean’s sound shaping and innovative tone layering and designing. Go to the top of the class, guys.
JOE FINN, JAZZ GUITAR TODAY
I wanted to mention how much I am enjoying the 2021 album “Rain Painting” by John Stowell & Dan Dean. Modernity meets tradition in this collection of Stowell’s compositions and Dean’s wordless vocal arrangements and bass playing. The guitar, bass and vocal sounds are all very much in keeping with the heritage of the jazz style. And Stowell’s playing swings like crazy. His improvisation is unfailingly melodic and he doesn’t tend to repeat himself or fall back on the little pet phrases we tend to hear a little too often from some jazz guitarists. These traditional and familiar sounds stand in contrast to Stowell’s compositions which are futuristic in terms of their extended forms, harmonies, and shifting metric devices we sometimes hear.
Dean is also playing percussion on this recording so there is an interesting sonic palette with lots of variety and contrast in terms of the coloration and texture. All of this adds up to a very satisfying listening experience with plenty of outstanding guitar work which is nicely balanced with the layered vocal harmonies and backgrounds. The multitrack approach to the engineering of this album is also worth mentioning and pretty amazing to contemplate. All the sounds on this intricate recording are the work of just two men who seem to have adopted a strictly perfectionistic approach. Every ensemble passage is tight, clean, and perfectly in tune. Yet you need to remind yourself that you are not listening to a band, because Stowell and Dean capture that spontaneous quality we associate with live ensemble performance.
Rain Painting will certainly be of interest to listeners who love jazz guitar music and fans of jazz vocals but I am sure that jazz listeners in general will love what they hear as well.
CHRIS LUNN, ANCIENT VICTORYS
Both artists were in duos at our jazz sessions during the late 70s at The Other Side of the Tracks in Auburn. Stowell came up from Portland with David Friesen; Dean did his duo work with vibes player Tom Collier. They were both amazing musicians then and have continued to explore music with a keen inventive sense. This collection is all original tunes by Stowell that he left with Dean to develop some layered vocal. The project developed over the year, and added to Stowell’s acoustic, electric, and fretless electric guitars were Dean’s vocals, various bass parts, percussion, and some drum programming. Dean had done a classical recording for Origin with layered vocals which attracted Stowell to the concept.
“Welcome to Nice” has a walking movement with vocal opening then releasing to warm, melodic, and harmonically mischievous Stowell guitar. Bass and percussion are layered in. All instruments and vocals are just these two players and layered over a one-year period. Love the blues stroll of “Nanti Glo” with Dean’s bluesy vocal slow and fun. No rush by Stowell, and maybe as bluesy a sound I have ever heard him develop in a solo. Solid rhythm by the drums and bass of Dean keeps this swinging while they explore. Vocal sounds include not only scat but multi-layered harmonies by Dean. (Is it time to put words to this blues?) “Rain Painting” guitar and vocals trick your mind as if they are ending a song again and again. Love the concept, the holds, the wavering sounds. Again, there is a bluesy feel with a modern touch that later dances slightly with scat and guitar poking fun. The tight swing between the two builds and is a masterful collaboration. “Pretty Boy Floyd” features a series of slow pop lines with the guitar. Dean works both vocals and bass. A harmonic Stowell guitar hints at a movement then dances in , swinging and warmly exploring. The Dean scat is both fun and a rapid exploration of his upper vocal area. “Alora Andiamo!” pokes at sounds and short lines with the guitar and bass helping before releasing to a complex and Latin rhythm by Stowell. Amazing precise work. “Springfield Sonata” shows new-age coloration while pushing the vocals and ringing guitar. Love the blues stroll on “Tapioca Time” with the vocal lead-in and Stowell’s open bluesy study. Dean catches the low end of Stowell’s guitar with superb bass. This tune makes me want to dance and swirl. “Always Sometimes” is a quiet and warm ballad with Stowell introducing Dean’s vocal serenely, then releasing to a walking Stowell guitar exploration. Accessible warmth. “Schiffletting” with its slow, holding vocal lines with guitar underscoring the melody works. Stowell solos warmly, dancing within a phrase and using his guitar as a talking vocal instrument also. They close with “Mandy Walk” with darting extensions of both vocals and guitar. The guitar solo a third of the way through is melancholy, bluish, and works with the percussion of Dean. The unusual harmony of this tune reflects the expertise of Stowell’s improvisation. This is an unusual project that explores what voice, melody, and layered instrumentation can do for the creative composition of Stowell.
FLORIAN BIss, JAZZ N MORE (SWITZERLAND)
When guitarist John Stowell discovered that Dan Dean, who had taken on the audio mastering of one of his recordings, was also an experimental vocalist and bassist, he asked him to work together with a very open outcome. Over a year ago, new soundtracks were recorded and mixed together in Dean’s studio. Once Stowell recorded the themes of his compositions on the guitar, Dean put his layered “Vocalese” or a bass line above it, and so on. In addition to various guitars and basses, percussion and drum samples were used. What sounds like the recipe for an artificial, lifeless porridge has produced a quite original and highly lively album. The unity of Stowell’s ten compositions is contrasted with the diversity of the instruments and arrangement surprises. Nothing is cheap here, and Dean’s scat inserts and fretless bass lines congenially merge with the exquisite melodies of Stowell’s guitar. “Rain Painting” is a refined art entity with the intimacy and intensity of a live chamber music interplay.