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The Musicians :
Nick Peck - Vocals, Grand Piano, Hammond B3, Rhodes, Mellotron,
Synthesizers, Sonic Manipulations, Credit Cards
Gary Morrell - Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, additional
Electric Bass on 'The Teepee Morgue' and 'Portrait',
Humurous Commentary
Mike Bemesderfer - Vocals, Flute, Electronic Wind Controller,
Positive Commentary
Yasou Keays Sonoda - Drums, Hi-hat Shuffle, General Disturbance
Eric "Doc" Kampman - Vocals, Insightful Commentary
Gary Scheuensfuhl - Drums and Percussion
Don Tyler - Electric bass
Harvey Salem - Electric Bass on 'Writer In A Rainstorm',
Wry Commentary
Tim White - Sitar and Bamboo Flute on 'Boulder and Cactus',
Philisophical Commentary
Danielle DeGruttola - Cello on 'Into The Opera' and
'Where Do We Connect'
Chris Bohn - Rhythm Guitar on 'Into The Opera', Lead
on 'Where Do We Connect'
Pauline Oliveros - Poetry Reading on 'The Candle Card Game',
Master's Commentary
The Tracks are :
1. Prologue
2. Mouths And Frogs
3. Writer In A Rainstorm
4. The Teepee Morgue
5. Into The Opera House
6. Mars
7. Boulder And Cactus
8. The Mountain, The Mirror, And The Pocket Watch
9. The Candle Card Game
10. Portrait/Bow In The Cabin
11. Wher Do We Connect?
12. Finale:Into The Trunk
Under The Big Tree is a concept work about personal connection.
In June 1993, I was studying music at a seminar with composer Pauline
Oliveros, in Rose Mountain, New Mexico. After several days of meditation,
Tai Chi, and listening exercises in one of the most splendid locations
I have yet seen, I reached a state of deep relaxation. The last two
nights, Pauline hosted shamanic "journeying" exercises, during which
she circled round her students while beating a drum. After an eternal
period of letting go, I submerged into deep trance, during which a
series of extremely detailed scenes came to me. The movement into
this dream world was through a long succesion of sinister, sharp fanged
mouths. Once there, each scene was quite varied : floating above the
Sydney Opera house, staring at a yellow flower growing at breakneck
speed through the cracks in a granite boulder, standing on a dusty
red surface of Mars. The culminating image was the most profound :
I was in the branches of a dead tree on a dry, cracked plain in Africa.
The branch broke, sending me towards the ground. Upon giving in to
the falling, however, a waterfall appeared beneath me, taking me down
into the moist trunk of the tree, deep into the earth. Below stood
a clear pool of water, and above, dozens of other people, each upon
a ledge protruding from the sides of the tree. I realized that I had
found the archetypal place of our shared human experience : that which
Carl Jung refers to as the universal unconscious.
Upon finding my way back, I scribbled down in careful detail what
I had seen, and spent the next year interpreting the images scene
by scene. The themes of human alienation, self examination, and liberation
emerged. I found myself faced with the daunting task of re-telling
that most universal of all human myths : the hero's journey.
The following year, I returned to Rose Mountain and spent five fertile
days writing the lyrics and a good portion of the music presented
here, After another year of polishing, my musical colleagues entered
the picture, and we began rehearsing and recording the material. Many
fine serendipitous moments emerged in the studio, including the freely
improvised 'Teepee Morgue'. The overdub and mixing process
also brought tremendous new elements to the work.
My thanks to the eleven fine musicians that helped me bring this project
from a vision into a reality. They have been unstintingly generous
with their time, talent, and musicianship. In particular, Gary
Morrell and Mike Bemesderfer, my co-producers, deserve
my deepest gratitude. Their positive energy, enthusiasm, and belief
in the work allowed it to happen despite a plethora of obstacles.
Ironically, the process of creating the album itself became a phenomal
opportunity to explore the human connections between the three dozen
or so people that were involved.
Nick Peck
The opening track 'Prologue' starts with a piano and is then
followed by a strong drum beat. There are some nice keyboards and
the vocals start off fairly softly, but it becomes more powerful later
into the track. The music is quite complex with lots of intricate
guitar and keyboards.
The next track is 'Mouths And Frogs', which is a superb track,
with some stunning keyboards and guitar and some great drums. It is
constantly building up towards a climax and when it reaches it it
starts all over again. On it's way to the climax, it's highly complex
imagery gives it so much depth and emotion. The drum work is stunning
in places with superb drum rhythms. There's also some superb keyboards
and awesome intricate guitar.
Track three is 'Writer In A Rainstorm', which is another superb
track, the vocals are superb, ther'es a great melody and some excellent
guitar.
'The Teepee Morgue', is slightly more jazz orientated, with
a good strong drum sound, a really heavy bass and intricate piano
and guitar sections.
The next track 'Into The Opera House', has a piano intro, the
vocals are superb, there's some great guitar with a stunning guitar
solo. This track reminds me a little of the Alan Parsons Project.
Track six is 'Mars', which is an excellent track with some
stunning guitar, great melody and superb vocals.
The next track is 'Boulder And Cactus', this track has an Eastern
influence with Tim playing Sitar and Bamboo Flute.
'The Mountain, The Mirror And The Pocket Watch' is an excellent
track with nice changes in direction, mood and tempo. There's some
great keybords and superb guitar.
Track nine is 'The Candle Card Game' and is a track
that is mainly made up of lots of different sound effects and some
poetry reading.
The next track is 'Portrait/Bow In The Cabin', which starts
with some more sound effects, the track then changes direction and
goes more melodic with some great guitar and superb keyboards.
'Where Do We Get Connected' starts with some great flute (Jethro
Tull style), the vocals on this track remind me a little of John Wetton
when he was with King Crimson. there are nice changes in mopod, direction
and tempo. Great flute, Great guitar and great keyboards.
The closing track is 'Finale : Into The Trunk', piano intro,
acoustic guitar, soft vocals slowly building up with nice changes
in mood, direction and tempo. Great melody, superb vocals, excellent
guitar and flute.
Personally, I think this album is brilliant, but it did take several
listens before I got into it. The music is highly complex at times,
with lots of atmosphere and emotion.
Highly Recommended!!!
For more information, write to TyeDye Records. 37 Matilda Ave. Mill
Valley, CA 94941. USA
Website : http://www.tyedye.com
email : nick@tyedye.com
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