Dennis González
Encyclopedia
Dennis González is a jazz
musician
, poet
, visual artist
and music educator
based in Dallas
, Texas
.
González' primary musical instrument is the trumpet
(including B♭, C, and pocket trumpets), though he has also played drum
s, flute
, synthesizer
, and baritone saxophone
. Allmusic describes González as "[a] talented trumpeter who has recorded a consistently rewarding string of lesser-known dates," whose "playing falls between advanced hard bop
and free jazz
." , González has released at least 28 albums under his own name. He has recorded for the Silkheart
, Konnex, Gowi, Brut, Clean Feed
, Music and Art, Koch Jazz
, and 8th Harmonic Breakdown record labels.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
notes that González' recordings during the 1980s for Silkheart Records represented "part of a determined effort to wrest creative initiative back from New York and the West Coast." The Penguin Guide further notes that one of González' greatest achievements is having coaxed saxophonist
Charles Brackeen out of retirement during the late 1980s, and that by the early 1990s, González "more than ever before... seems the heir of Don Cherry
." González has also been instrumental in double bass
ist Henry Grimes
' return to performing and recording. Grimes' November 2003 appearance on González' Nile River Suite was the bassist's first official recording in more than thirty-five years.
During the late 1970s, González started the Dallas Association for Avant-Garde and Neo Impressionistic Music, or daagnim, at the suggestion of Anthony Braxton
and Art Lande
. The daagnim organization, which functioned both as a group of musicians and as a record label, was based on and named after the AACM
.
In 1978, González began working for Dallas radio station KERA-FM
, where he hosted a music program, Miles Out. He worked with KERA for 21 years, but left after the station had largely shifted from music programming to a news and talk
format.
For several years during the 1990s, González retired from jazz performance and recording. In 2001, he formed a trio, Yells at Eels, with his sons Aaron (double bass
) and Stefan (drums
, vibraphone
). In 2010, the trio recorded with Ariel Pink
, appearing on the song "Hot Body Rub" on the album Before Today
, and on a vinyl
EP
, Ariel Pink With Added Pizzazz.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, visual artist
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
and music educator
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
based in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
González' primary musical instrument is the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(including B♭, C, and pocket trumpets), though he has also played drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, and baritone saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
. Allmusic describes González as "[a] talented trumpeter who has recorded a consistently rewarding string of lesser-known dates," whose "playing falls between advanced hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
." , González has released at least 28 albums under his own name. He has recorded for the Silkheart
Silkheart Records
- External links :* *...
, Konnex, Gowi, Brut, Clean Feed
Clean Feed Records
Clean Feed Records is a jazz record label. The company was founded in 2001 in Lisbon, Portugal. , the label has issued more than 200 albums and one DVD. Its roster of artists includes Ken Vandermark, Dennis González, Scott Fields, Mark Dresser, Tim Berne, Charles Gayle, Peter Evans, Tony Malaby,...
, Music and Art, Koch Jazz
Koch Entertainment
Koch Entertainment was a music, film and television distribution company. It was purchased by E1 Entertainment in 2005 and now operates under the name E1 Entertainment.-History:The company began in 1975 as Koch International...
, and 8th Harmonic Breakdown record labels.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which are currently available in Europe or the United States...
notes that González' recordings during the 1980s for Silkheart Records represented "part of a determined effort to wrest creative initiative back from New York and the West Coast." The Penguin Guide further notes that one of González' greatest achievements is having coaxed saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Charles Brackeen out of retirement during the late 1980s, and that by the early 1990s, González "more than ever before... seems the heir of Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
." González has also been instrumental in double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
ist Henry Grimes
Henry Grimes
Henry Grimes is a jazz double bassist, violinist, and poet.After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music scene by 1970...
' return to performing and recording. Grimes' November 2003 appearance on González' Nile River Suite was the bassist's first official recording in more than thirty-five years.
During the late 1970s, González started the Dallas Association for Avant-Garde and Neo Impressionistic Music, or daagnim, at the suggestion of Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
and Art Lande
Art Lande
Art Lande is a jazz pianist, drummer, composer and educator.Born in New York City, he began piano at age 4, studied at Williams College, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969. He made the first record of his own compositions in 1973 for ECM Records, in a duo with saxophonist/flutist Jan...
. The daagnim organization, which functioned both as a group of musicians and as a record label, was based on and named after the AACM
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran....
.
In 1978, González began working for Dallas radio station KERA-FM
KERA (FM)
KERA is the National Public Radio affiliate station for North Texas. Based in Dallas, Texas the station's main transmitter is located in Cedar Hill, Texas with translators that serve Tyler , the Sherman/Denison area , and Wichita Falls...
, where he hosted a music program, Miles Out. He worked with KERA for 21 years, but left after the station had largely shifted from music programming to a news and talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format.
For several years during the 1990s, González retired from jazz performance and recording. In 2001, he formed a trio, Yells at Eels, with his sons Aaron (double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
) and Stefan (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
). In 2010, the trio recorded with Ariel Pink
Ariel Pink
Ariel Pink is a Los Angeles-based recording artist who is sometimes associated with the freak folk scene.-Biography:...
, appearing on the song "Hot Body Rub" on the album Before Today
Before Today (album)
- Personnel :*Chris Cohen – backing vocals*John Golden – mastering*Aaron González – bass guitar*Dennis González – trumpet*Stefan González – drums*Max "Sax" Kaplan – saxophone*Douglas Lee – artwork*Jim Lehnert – alto sax, baritone sax...
, and on a vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Ariel Pink With Added Pizzazz.