Unlike many solo guitar works, this album does not leave you wanting the rest of the band to join in. Dean Magraw’s solid guitar work supports a strong voice and vision. “Foxfire” is a beautiful testament to the artistry of Dean Magraw, a man not afraid to color outside the lines.

How many Dean Magraws are there, anyway? There’s Dean Magraw the jazz cat. Dean Magraw the folkie. The rock star. Front-porch bluegrass picker. Bluesman. Celtic bard. World music man. As MPR’s Euan Kerr has said, “Dean plays everything.”

One of the most prolific and popular musicians based in the Twin Cities, guitarist Dean Magraw is also one of the most eclectic, with a thirty-year career spanning genres and cultures, from blues to classical to folk and jazz, from Japanese and Indian to Celtic and middle American. His new release, Unseen Rain, reflects his many influences, but perhaps none more strongly than his allegience to John Coltrane.

What Magraw, Bates, and Anton have created is an experimental jazz trio that’s both loose and tight at the same time, with enough discipline to keep the music structured, but plenty of freedom to roam out to the otherworldly edges of the sonic universe and back.