Dean Jennings: Musician and Renaissance Man

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He has been performing in the Treasury Valley for the last 20 years with such groups as the B3Side, Hoochie Coochie Men, Soul Purpose, The Boise Modern Jazz Orchestra, HP Big Band Riverside Jazz Orchestra, and The Kings of Swing. In addition, he has performed as a woodwind player in traveling Broadway plays such as Chicago and Spamalot. Also, he played in a tribute performance to Sonny Rollins with Phil Garonzik, Brent Jensen, Sandon Mayhew, and Marcus Wolfe, along with the rhythm section, which included Scott Reusser, Chuck Smith, and Rod Wray.​

 

Dean was a freelance musician in the San Francisco Bay Area for 12 years before moving to Boise. While residing in San Francisco, he performed in various musical idioms, from cool jazz with the group Octobop to alternative rock with groups such as Oomamaboomba and Mo’s Kitchen. In his later years of residence in San Francisco, Dean frequently performed in many corporate working bands because of his horn section work and aggressive soloing style.​

 

Dean began his music journey at the University of North Texas, where he received a degree in Jazz Performance. After attending the UNT, He studied with Pete Brewer in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Pete played in the famed 1975 One O’clock Lab Band with Lyle Mays and became one of the top studio musicians in Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Dean participated in the Lab Band program at UNT in addition to playing in the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and Pete Petersen’s Collection Big Band. Dean’s playing style is considered progressive and modern by nature, heavily influenced by his musical idols such as John Coltrane, Micheal Brecker, Chris Potter, and Kenny Garret.