Dennis González

• Name — Dennis González • Born — 15 August 1954 • Birthplace — Abilene, Texas, U.S. • Died — 15 March 2022 • Place of death — Dallas, Texas, U.S. • Genre — Avant-garde jazz, free jazz • Occupation — Musician, artist, writer, educator • Instrument — Trumpet • Label — daagnim, Clean Feed

González was born in Abilene, Texas, on August 15, 1954. He relocated to Oak Cliff in 1976. He later established the Dallas Association for Avant-Garde and Neo Impressionistic Music (daagnim) in the late 1970s, doing so at the suggestion of Anthony Braxton and Art Lande. The daagnim organization, which functioned both as a group of musicians and as a record label, was based on and named after the AACM.

González' primary musical instrument was the trumpet (including B♭, C, and pocket trumpets), though he has also played drums, flute, synthesizer, and baritone saxophone. AllMusic describes González as "[a] talented trumpeter who has recorded a consistently rewarding string of lesser-known dates," whose "playing falls between advanced hard bop and free jazz." The Penguin Guide to Jazz observed that González' recordings during the 1980s for Silkheart Records represented "part of a determined effort to wrest creative initiative back from New York and the West Coast." The Penguin Guide commented among González' greatest achievements was having coaxed saxophonist Charles Brackeen out of retirement during the late 1980s, and that by the early 1990s, González "more than ever before... seems the heir of Don Cherry." Additionally, Henry Grimes' November 2003 appearance on González' Nile River Suite was the bassist's first official recording in more than thirty-five years. González began working for Dallas radio station KERA-FM in 1978. There, he hosted a music program called Miles Out. He ultimately worked with KERA for 21 years, but left after the station had largely shifted from music programming to a news and talk format. González was also employed as a teacher and taught at Spence Middle School, Woodrow Wilson High School, and North Dallas High School. For several years during the 1990s, González retired from jazz performance and recording. In 2001, he formed a trio, Yells at Eels, with his sons Aaron (double bass) and Stefan (drums, vibraphone). In 2010, the trio recorded with Ariel Pink, appearing on the song "Hot Body Rub" on the album Before Today, and on a vinyl EP, Ariel Pink With Added Pizzazz. González's most recent offering with Yells at Eels is a collaboration with Fort Worth experimental drone rock outfit Pinkish Black, entitled Vanishing Light in the Tunnel of Dreams, which was released in May 2020.

González was married to Carol until his death. Together, they had two children: Aaron and Stefan. González died on March 15, 2022, at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Dallas. He was 67, and suffered from several unspecified health issues prior to his death.