dennis gonzalez
trumpet (dallas)
Trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez is a musician/composer, visual artist, broadcaster, writer, educator, linguist, educator, writer, broadcaster, and world traveler who has lived in Dallas for the past 33 years. He has recorded 30 CDs as a leader in the jazz and church music styles for multiple European and American labels. He has also produced CDs on his own label in Dallas, daagnimRecords, since 1979.
Gonzalez describes his music as being a new, lyrical form of the jazz tradition, encompassing any and all styles of music from the world of music, from the spiritual to the profane, from reggae to bop to free jazz. His emphasis on the sound of his trumpet and the importance of melody in his music has garnered praise from listeners and critics internationally.
His international career began when he played and recorded at his home studio in Dallas with musicians in town to play at Ft. Worth's Caravan of Dreams. In New Orleans, he began a 24-year association that continues today with Alvin Fielder, Tim Green, and Kidd Jordan. In California, he connected musically with Sunship Theus, Henry Franklin, John Carter, Michael Sessions, Nels Cline, and Alex Cline. His European connections grew as he began traveling with his music and visual art, playing with Louis Moholo, Elton Dean, Keith Tippett, Kazimierz Jonkisz, Nils Petter Molvaer, and Rodrigo Amado.
He has performed in festivals, concerts, workshops, and television and radio programs throughout Asia, Europe, Central America, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and in most major American cities for the past 24 years. He has played or recorded with luminaries such as Charles Brackeen, Frank Lowe, Andrew Cyrille, Malachi Favors, Reggie Workman, Roy Hargrove, Fred Hopkins, Oliver Lake, Max Roach, and Cecil Taylor.
In 2009, his jazz trio Yells at Eels, with sons Aaron and Stefan, is celebrating a decade of existence.
He produced radio programs for National Public Radio affiliate KERA-FM in Dallas for 21 years and has worked to produce programs at UNT's KNTU-FM in Denton and Radio Student in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Gonzalez is a renowned visual artist with exhibits around the world from 1978 to the present, as well as an accomplished writer, with two books to his credit: Xi and Cu, both bilingual editions of his travel poems. His writings have appeared in various anthologies.
