Total Eclipse (of the sun) (2018). Total Eclipse was inspired by the 2017 total eclipse that transected the United States. The sun is represented by the melodic passages of the alto saxophone, and the the moon’s obscuration of the sun is represented by the steadily-descending pitch of the Arnold Palmer slide didge. The appearance of the sun’s corona during moments of the total eclipse is marked by the reverberating echoes of a large Balinese tuned-gong in Eb, and an extended saxophone cadenza. Its “outer space vibe” is enhanced by the long echoing reverberation from the Gol Gumbaz mausoleum.
from
Sonic Eclipse,
released December 28, 2019
All songs (except #8) composed by Duo Gillis Cunningham (DGC) aka James E Cunningham b.1954, and Glen H Gillis b. 1956.
*Whales in a Mechanical Ocean, composed by Matthew M. Baltrucki b. 1986, feat. The DGC and recorded samples from the David L. Kaplan Musical Instrument Collection at the University of Saskatchewan Department of Music.
Glen Gillis: alto saxophone
James E Cunningham: didgeridoos, conch trumpet, wailphone, and select idiophones
Guest percussionists: Satnam Ramgotra and Matt Nichols
Produced by Matt Baltrucki and James E Cunningham
Engineering, mixing, mastering, and post-production by Matt Baltrucki
Assistant engineering by Zach Binder
Album artwork by Kelley Cunningham
Recorded at Studio A, Department of Music, Florida Atlantic University
Hoot/Wisdom Recordings LLC 2019© all rights reserved