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| Cellar Music - Geoffrey Dean Quartet: feat, Geoffrey Dean : Harish Raghavan, Eric Binder, Justin Copeland Dr. Geoffrey Dean is a jazz pianist, composer, author and educator currently performing in the Washington DC area. Dean has recorded and performed with notable jazz musicians across the globe including Terrell Stafford, Steve Turre, Greg Tardy, and many others. Dr. Dean recently published an educational book on jazz harmony titled Kenny Kirkland's Harmonic and Rhythmic Language: A Model For The Modern Jazz Pianist. Dean has also contributed as an author on modern jazz piano approaches for the Masterclass series in Downbeat Magazine. The Geoffrey Dean Quartet's debut album Foundations released in February 2024. Conceptions is the second album from the Geoffrey Dean Quartet featuring renowned bassist Harish Raghavan, Dr. Eric Binder on drums, and trumpeter Justin Copeland. Releasing on the acclaimed Cellar Records, Conceptions is a collection of all original music from the group featuring straight-ahead jazz, contemporary writing, odd meter, backbeat driven jazz, all played with modern sensibilities. These compositions were chosen as a combination of the group's writing styles to showcase a diversity of genres within jazz while exploring the quartet's versatility within the idiom. This quartet features some of the most in demand working talented instrumentalists in jazz today. Recorded in Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, Conceptions explores a variety of original repertoire including the warm, melodic opener "Came and Went" composed by Dean. Justin Copeland's burning "Phoenix Rising" exemplifies uptempo modern jazz. Binder's "Amidst A Dream" serves as a spacious ballad with odd bar structures that showcases Binder's harmonic abilities and appreciation of space in in his compositions. Dean's "Conflagration" is a driving energy piece with shifting meters allowing for unconventional approaches to soloing from the majority of the group. Justin Copeland's "Road To Somewhere" is a composition that builds in intensity and showcases unison lines from bass and piano that highlight Copeland's creative and personal compositional style. Dean's "Spiral" is a melodic, floating modified contrafact of the jazz standard "I Got Rhythm" by George Gershwin. "Prism" emphasizes modal shapes and uptempo playing honoring Dean's influences of Donald Brown and Chick Corea. "Arrival" is an epic Copeland composition that explores variations on a theme moved around the instruments of the ensemble. "What May Come" is Binder's backbeat driven composition that emphasizes mood, groove and vibe as much as it does harmony. Since meeting while pursuing their Doctoral Jazz Studies at the University Of Illinois, Dean, Binder, and Copeland have now played together for almost a decade. The addition of world-renowned bassist Harish Raghavan to this ensemble and recording it in prestigious Bunker Studio has produced a beautiful sounding and uniquely modern jazz quartet album for 2025 rooted in tradition. TRACK, TIMES: 1. Came and Went (Geoffrey Dean) 5:38 2. Phoenix Rising (Justin Copeland) 2:53 3. Amidst A Dream (Eric Binder) 4:14 4. Conflagration (Geoffrey Dean) 5:52 5. Road To Somewhere (Justin Copeland) 6:37 6. Song For Hannah (Geoffrey Dean) 3:48 7. Spiral (Geoffrey Dean) 6:26 8. Prism (Geoffrey Dean) 3:23 9. Arrival (Justin Copeland) 8:41 10. What May Come (Eric Binder) 5:46 TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 53:05 PLAYER, INSTRUMENT: Geoffrey Dean : Piano Harish Raghavan : Bass Eric Binder : Drums Justin Copeland : Trumpet Credits: Recorded at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn NY March 19-20, 2024 Produced by Geoffrey Dean Mixed by: Aaron Nevezie Mastering by: Alex De Turk Photography: Nick Moreland – Cover Spencer Porter- Back Cover Artist: Geoffrey Dean Quartet Album: Conceptions Label: Cellar Music Street Date: April 4, 2025 Website: www.geoffreydeanmusic.com Label website: https://www.cellarlive.com/ Instagram: Geoffreydeanmusic, theericbinder, harishbass, justincopelandmusic write your comments about the article :: © 2025 Jazz News :: home page |