Billy Dean Releases New Recording 'In Fairness To You'

Billy Denk is a Chicagoland guitarist, synthesist, and composer, a regular on the scene who is bringing a new level of smooth to his fans with his latest recording "In Fairness To You," which is the focus single from his album In Praise of Shadows.

Billy's recent focus has been to fuse elements of jazz twitch ambient, electronic, electro-acoustic into a collection of experimental avant garde recordings and performances. The music is available on all streaming platforms today.

"Both as a jazz musician and now as a composer and producer of ambient recordings, I feel that I have the depth and maturity to create music that resonates with people, that has something significant to say and shares heartfelt emotions that others can connect with," Billy reflects.

The artist's new album, titled In Praise of Shadows, is inspired by and named after an essay on Japanese aesthetics by author and novelist Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, published in 1933 and translated to English in 1977. In that 16-section essay, comparisons of light with darkness are used to contrast Western and Asian cultures. From "The Sun Was Shining" to "Unto This Light" and "Reflections in Darkness," the eight tracks capture Billy's various impressions of the theme.

Denk says, "I have been moving naturally into a more introspective phase of my composing,and it contrasts with some of the previous works that had more of a feeling of positivity and lightness, infused with repetitive sequencer-created patterns. I've always been interested in aesthetics and design, so the themes of Tanizaki's book struck a chord and led to some interesting sonic explorations. The idea behind In Praise of Shadows is that we can't define what we see without the contrast between darkness and light."

Billy received his first acoustic guitar at age nine, performing in folk and rock groups in high school while also playing clarinet in the school band. As he became more fluent playing jazz guitar, Billy started a regular jam session in nearby Woodstock, IL that evolved into the organization Jazz on the Square, promoting jazz performance and education in the local community. This included an annual jazz festival featuring predominantly Chicago-based jazz musicians, including Tim Fitzgerald, Chris Greene, Frank Russell, Outcast Jazz Band, and others. He also hosted the Northern Sky Jazz Show on Harvard Community Radio 101.3 FM, which featured music and interviews with musicians from Chicago and nationwide.

Watch the minimalistic video:

Denk's indie label Waltzing Square Recording is releasing the album, distributed worldwide by OneRPM. Music and production by Billy Denk. Art direction by Beau Skaronea & Erin Denk. Artwork by Billy Denk.