Description

Steve Dawson, best known for his work with Dolly Varden, has joined forces with some of Chicagos most inventive and acclaimed jazz musicians to create the improbable Funeral Bonsai Wedding. The group features three of the most revered musicians in the improvisational jazz world: Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Frank Rosaly on drums, and Jason Roebke on bass, along with Dawson on guitar and vocals, and Robbie Fulks and Dolly Vardens Diane Christiansen singing harmonies.

One of the most underrated songwriters in American music, Chicago-native Steve Dawson has been helming influential rock band Dolly Varden since the early 90s, producing humane and hooky solo records, collaborating with his wife Diane Christiansen and digging into soul on side projects. His newest venture is Funeral Bonsai Wedding, a jazz-folk collaboration that flashes with the vibraphone of Jason Adasiewicz on impressionistic but memorable arrangements that recall the best of Tim Buckley or Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison. Those may seem like lofty notices, but Dawson has a way with melody and image that live up to them. Roy Kasten St. Louis Riverfront Times

Recorded and mixed Feb May, 2014, at Kingsize Sound Labs, Chicago, by John Abbey. Featuring Robbie Fulks (harmony vocal on The Night of the Liquor Store Fire) and Diane Christiansen (harmony vocals on In the Valley of the Whale and In The Glow) Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering.