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© 2008 The Artists' Quarter,
Thumbnail photos © Howard A. Gitelson
Additional AQ images © Howard A. Gitelson Don Berryman and Andrea Canter as indicated. Special thanks to Al Iverson, the original AQ webmaster. |
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© 2008 The Artists' Quarter,
Thumbnail photos © Howard A. Gitelson
Additional AQ images © Howard A. Gitelson Don Berryman and Andrea Canter as indicated. Special thanks to Al Iverson, the original AQ webmaster. |
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Dean Magraw is more than a guitar virtuoso. His utter unity with the instrument creates a musical experience that emanates from the stage, but cascades over the room in sheets of rejuvenating spirit. Unseen Rain is the grinning shaman’s new release with collaborators Jim Anton (bass) and JT Bates (drums). Recorded live in the studio over a three-day period, it captures the magical combination of performance immediacy mixed with countless hours of ensemble building preceding the sessions. Magraw’s electric and acoustic mastery of stringed instruments and his penchant for world music sounds are wonderfully framed by the fluid sympathy of Anton’s bass and the expressive, talkative, percussion of Bates. Magraw’s many musical associations have included a long-time duo run with Peter Ostroushko, stints with Ruth McKenzie, Claudia Schmidt and Greg Brown, and an acclaimed 2006 recording with Chicago heavy hitter John Williams. Dean won the NAIRD 1994 Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year for his solo debut, Broken Silence.