Every human being has their own personal relationship with the dark.
In childhood we are faced with decisions as we learn just what good and bad are. We may be told what is right or wrong, but the real answer to those questions happens inside us. As we get older we may start to see just what kind of human beings we are.
Along the way we will encounter darkness in some way. For me darkness is most associated with death. In astrology, death equals transformation, and is represented by the planet Pluto.
Astrology comes and goes in my life. When I feel my life get especially intense, I turn to it to try and understand the spiritual mechanics. In the last month or so I have been dropped off on Pluto with no map back to Earth. I discovered that I'm traveling through a transit called Sun square Pluto. I have never faced a more severe trial of transformation where the past must die so that my new life may begin anew.
Throughout my life I have had extreme dreams, nightmares, and visions on a regular basis. In the last month or so, the volume was turned up to 12, higher than I have ever experienced. I woke up one night feeling that my soul had been stabbed. It is during these moments that I turn to my beloved 70's beat down and taped up Bass Clarinet. My horn is what you might say working class, just like me.
The Bass Clarinet has power and depth that still remains unexplored. It's true power is it's incredible dynamic range. You can shout like a flamenco singer, but you can also whisper in the dark. The Bass Clarinet is where I can engage my relationship with that darkness. By playing it solo, I can walk through my own haunted landscape, using the sound as my guide
Listen then, as I try to survive myself as I play through my subconscious, and integrate with my own shadow
ML
1. Sun square Pluto 04:15
2. Moon square Pluto 05:31
3. The 8th House 05:32
4. Mars square Neptune 04:16
5. Saturn square Uranus (for Eric Dolphy) 04:19
6. Mars opposite Neptune (for Bennie Maupin) 03:51
7. Jupiter in Scorpio Retrograde (for David Murray) 06:56
8. Pluto Retrograde 06:55
9. Liner notes narration aka bonus track 02:56
*I went to a sweat lodge once and asked the medicine man if I could stay after everyone left and play my bass clarinet in extreme darkness. He said as long as I remember that I would be playing on sacred ground.
**I believe Eric Dolphy is the king of the BC. David Murray and Bennie Maupin are princes. I may be the local magistrate in Philly, but I'm very committed to my office :
Headphones and a quiet environment recommended. Under a full moon on a clear night ideal (:
Matt Lavelle: Bass Clarinet
Recorded at Chew Studio, Philadelphia 10/27/21
