Dean Evenson (born December 14, 1944) is an American

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...

musician, composer, producer, and videographer. Dean plays several instruments including the

Western concert flute The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse flute, transverse (side-blown) flutes to which the C flute belongs. Almost all are made of metal or wood, or a combination of the two. A musician w ...

, Native American flute,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

. His music generally features sounds of nature combined with flute melodies and other instruments for ambience,

massage Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pa ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and relaxation.

Work and collaboration

Evenson has collaborated with many artists, including Li Xiangting, master of the

guqin The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement, as highlighted b ...

(Chinese 7-string zither),

Sergey Kuryokhin Sergey Anatolyevich Kuryokhin (16 June 19549 July 1996, nicknamed The Captain) was a Russian composer, pianist, music director, experimental artist, film actor and writer, based in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was an influential fig ...

, Russian avant-garde composer, and Native American elder Cha-das-ska-dum. He has also collaborated with Hungarian pianist Tom Barabas, trance guitarist Scott Huckabay, harpist d'Rachael, and

Tim Alexander Timothy Wayne Alexander (born April 10, 1965), also credited as "Herb" Alexander, is an American retired musician best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus. Prior to Primus, Alexander was the drummer for Arizona's Major Lingo from ...

, innovative drummer from the rock group Primus. In 1969, Evenson played flute for the psychedelic rock group The

Blues Magoos The Blues Magoos are an American rock group from The Bronx, a borough of New York City, United States. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning in 1966. They are best known for the hit song " (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Y ...

on their album ''Never Goin' Back to Georgia''. He worked in Manhattan as a recording engineer for Regent Sound with many Atlantic recording artists, including

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

, and

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

. In 1970, he and his wife Dudley Evenson became involved in the portable-video movement. They worked under grants from the New York State Council on the Arts with

Raindance Foundation Raindance Foundation (RainDance Corporation) was founded in October 1969 by Frank Gillette, Paul Ryan, Michael Shamberg, Louis Jaffe, and Marco Vassi. Raindance was a self-described "alternate culture think-tank" that embraced video as an alterna ...

and helped publish a magazine called Radical Software. During the 1970s, the Evensons traveled the country in a half-sized converted school bus, documenting the emerging new-age consciousness. They produced hundreds of hours of half-inch black-and-white video. His work has also been included in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''"The Way West"'' and the preview for ''"

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

"''

Life

He was born in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, United States. Evenson's hometown is

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, New York. Evenson got his master's degree in Molecular Biology in 1968 from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. He currently lives with his wife, Dudley, in the Pacific Northwest by a wild river in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. They have three children and one granddaughter. In 1979, Dean and Dudley Evenson founded the independent record company Soundings of the Planet in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Partial discography, DVDs, and books

* ''Soundings Tapestry – 1986'' ''(Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Joy to the World – 1986 (with d'Rachael)'' * ''Peaceful Pond – 1986 (with d'Rachael)'' * ''Soaring – 1987 (with Tom Barabas)'' * ''Echoes of the Night – 1987 (with Tsonakwa)'' * ''Music Makes the Snow Melt Down – 1988 (with Soviet musicians)'' * ''What Child Is This – 1988 (with Singh Kaur, d'Rachael)'' * ''Ocean Dreams – 1989'' * ''Instruments of Peace – 1989 (with Singh Kaur, Tom Barabas, Don Reeve)'' * ''Desert Moon Song – 1991 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Wind Dancer – 1992 (with Tom Barabas)'' * ''Forest Rain – 1994'' * ''Ascension – 1995 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Dreamstreams – 1996'' * ''Arctic Refuge: A Gathering of Tribes – 1996 (with Native American musicians)'' * ''Reflections: Gentle Music for Loving – 1996 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Back to the Garden – 1997 (with Tom Barabas)'' * ''Prayer: A Multi-cultural Journey of Spirit – 1998 (Various artists compilation)'' * ''Sound Healing – 1998 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Healing Waters – 1999'' * ''Peace Through Music 20th Anniversary Sampler – 1999 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Tao of Healing – 2000 (with Li Xiangting)'' * ''Sonic Tribe – 2000 (with Scott Huckabay, Gina Sala)'' * ''Butterfly – 2000 (with Tom Barabas) (compilation)'' * ''Native Healing – 2001 (with Cha-das-ska-dum)'' * ''Music for the Healing Arts – 2001 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Healing Dreams – 2001 (with Scott Huckabay)'' * ''Ascension to Tibet – 2001 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Angel's Calling – 2001 (with Tom Barabas) (compilation)'' * ''Healing Sanctuary – 2002'' * ''Sound Massage – 2002 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Tao of Peace – 2002 (with Li Xiangting)'' * ''Spirit Rising (Sonic Tribe) – 2002 (with Scott Huckabay, Gina Sala, Beth Quist)'' * ''Sound Yoga – 2003 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Mountain Meadow Meditation – 2003 (with Scott Huckabay)'' * ''A Gift For Mother – 2003 (with Tom Barabas)'' * ''Raga Cycle – 2004 (with 'Pandit Shivnath Mishra, Deobrat Mishra)'' * ''Sacred World Chants – 2004 (Various artists compilation)'' * ''Eagle River – 2005'' * ''Eagle River (DVD) – 2006 '' * ''Spa Rhythms – 2006 (with SoulFood)'' * ''Golden Spa Tones – 2006 (with Walter Makichen)'' * ''Spa Dreams – 2007 (with d'Rachael)'' * ''Wood Over Water − 2007'' * ''Healing The Holy Land – 2007 (Various artists compilation)'' * ''Soundings Global Rhythms Collection – 2008 (Soundings Ensemble compilation)'' * ''Chakra Healing – 2008 (with Soundings Ensemble)'' * ''Meditation Moment: 52 Weekly Affirmations – 2008 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Healing Suite – 2009 (with Tom Barabas)'' * ''Meditation Moods – 2010 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Meditation Moods DVD – 2010 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Sacred Earth – 2010'' * ''Reiki Om – 2011 (with Henry Han)'' * ''A Sound Sleep: Guided Meditations With Relaxing Music & Nature Sounds – 2011 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''A Year of Guided Meditations (DVD) – 2012 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''2 U.N. Earth Summits (1972 & 1992) (DVD) – 2012 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Relaxation Zone – 2012'' * ''4 Earth: Natural Sounds of Ocean, Stream, River, Pond – 2013'' * ''4 Earth: Scenic Vistas of Ocean, Stream, River, Pond (DVD) – 2013'' * ''Dream Space – 2013'' * ''Chakra Meditations & Tones – 2014 (with Dudley Evenson, Beth Quist)'' * ''Harmonic Way – 2014 (with Scott Huckabay)'' * ''Sonic Healing Meet the Masters Video Course (DVD) – 2015 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Desert Dawn Song – 2015 (original 1979 cassette) (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Golden Spiral – 2016 (with Scott Huckabay)'' * ''Stillness – 2016'' * ''Amber Sky – 2017 (with Phil Heaven & Jeff Willson)'' * ''Quieting the Monkey Mind: How to Meditate with Music (BOOK) – 2018 (with Dudley Evenson)'' * ''Prayers on the Wind: Native American & Silver Flutes – 2018 (with Peter Ali)'' * ''Net of Indra – 2018 (with Tim Alexander)'' * ''Peace Through Music 40th Anniversary Collection – 2019 (with Soundings Ensemble)'' * ''Tropical Relaxation – 2019 (with d'Rachael)'' * ''Healing Resonance – 2020 (with Scott Huckabay, Phil Heaven)''

References

External links

Soundings of the Planet Web Site

Soundings of the Planet Facebook

Soundings of the Planet YouTube

Soundings Mindful Media YouTube

Dean Evenson Instagram

Seattle Weekly article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evenson, Dean 1944 births Living people American new-age musicians American ambient musicians

Work and collaboration

Life

Partial discography, DVDs, and books

See also

References

External links