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The Big Picture

Matt Lavelle

Label: Bandcamp
Released: 2020
Views: 587

Tracks

1. I didn't see them before (William Parker) 08:33 2. Holy Spirits (Albert Ayler) 08:04 3. Thurston is dead (Greg Neu) 08:20 4. Heaven (Duke Ellington) 08:15 5. He'll be there for you (Rev. Nat Dixon) 10:23

Personnel

Matt Lavelle

trumpet

Album Description

2019 sure seems far away. Here is a live recording made on my fathers birthday about a year ago in Brooklyn. Also on the bill were my brothers Jack DeSalvo and Ras Moshe. We decided to do a trio of trios. My idea was to do a trio of music written by other composers from a spiritual perspective. I also wanted to work with musicians that came up after me, 49 years old at the time. I found them in Evan Crane and Leonid Galaganov. I feel a spiritual commitment to the music in every sound they make. I wanted to get back to the kind of music I hear when the piano is gone. I like the freedom and extended vulnerability. Back with Eye Contact and Spiritual Power I felt a pull of energy that I needed to get back to. I call this trio the Big Picture. I received the idea from Sonny Rollins who said that one thing he learned about life was that there are two things- a big picture and a small picture. In the big picture are all the things that really matter. How did we treat others? Have we learned how to love one another? EVERYthing else is small picture. I’m trying to focus on the big picture. Of course I didn’t know that 2020 would be bringing the pain. The only thing I’ve come to expect is the unexpected, and Covid for the world and a knee replacement for me awaited me in 2020. All I can say now is, what's next? I didn’t see them before was written by William Parker. The first time I heard and played it was with the Little Huey Music Orchestra at a church in Harlem last year. The tune just opens my heart right up. Holy Spirits was written by my number one spiritual influence in music, the great Albert Ayler. Albert’s version was far more urgent, and I slowed it down. The thing about Albert that gets me so much is that he was always at where I have been trying to get my whole life, where the spirituality in the music supersedes all other aspects. Holy Spirits is an access point, and I hope a door he left open for me. Thurston is gone was written by a trumpet student of mine, Greg Neu, about his turtle Thurston who died. I heard some New Orleans in there. Heaven was of course written by the great Duke Ellington. I wanted to flip the Johnny Hodges interpretation and drill down to the center. Duke’s Sacred Music is a profound influence on me. I’m driven to explore the bridge between it and myself the same way I try to explore the bridges between Albert, Ornette, Duke, and Pops. He’ll be there for you was written by tenor player, composer, and the reverend Nat Dixon. I played with Rev. Dixon a few times last year and fell in love with this tune. I asked him if we could play it and went with the vibe I once heard Duke Ellington mention, all heart. 2020 is almost over, and so much has changed. Chump got canceled, I think. At the center of it all was a not so gentle push for us all to maybe ease up on that digital dope, and try to remember those things that we tend to forget. I hope this music brings you to the Big Picture deep down inside us all Peace ML 2020 This album is dedicated to Gary Lavelle credits released December 9, 2020 Matt Lavelle: trumpet, flugelhorn, alto and bass clarinet Evan Crane: Bass Leonid Galaganov: Drums Produced by: Jack DeSalvo Mixed and Mastered by Larry Hutter Recorded live 12/20/19 at Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn NYC, by Rene Pierre Allain Special thanks to Jack, Larry, Rene, Evan, Leonid, and Ras license all rights reserved

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