Cosmic Rift by Lisa Mezzacappa & Nightshade

Released 2011 on Leo Records.

Cory Wright, Bb and bass clarinet
John Finkbeiner, electric guitar
Tim Perkis, electronics
Lisa Mezzacappa, acoustic bass
Kjell Nordson, vibraphone and percussion

Nightshade was born in 2009 when Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco invited me to be part of a concert series where musicians were asked to respond to visual artworks in their galleries. I was paired with two artists - Yehudit Sasportas, based in Tel Aviv and Berlin, and Edgar Arceneaux, who works in Los Angeles. Yehudit graciously welcomed me into her studio on a visit to Berlin and much of the music on this record was influenced by her emotionally visceral and visually stunning work. When I met him as he was installing his "22 Lost Signs of the Zodiac" in the YBCA gallery, Edgar read me my "lost" horoscope, based on the myth of Delphinus, and that piece emerged as a melancholy sea chanty about an ancient musician rescued at sea by dolphins. After our first rehearsal, when I told Tim Perkis the name of the group, he said, "How did you know to call us that?" There was immediate cohesion, like we had stepped into a strange little parallel universe together, where sound and texture and melody and form had some interesting new relationship. Later, I asked San Francisco filmmaker Alfonso Alvarez created a "film dream" for us to perform with live - "Alvamel's Dream" is our soundtrack to Alfonso's richly textured, evocative work.

I remember when I first told Dave Mihaly, a musician friend here about Nightshade, and described our instrumentation, he said, "Wow that's really a meal!" Well I guess bon appetit - and thanks for listening.

Lisa Mezzacappa
San Francisco CA
May 2011

Tracklist

1.	Cosmic Rift (prelude)	1:52

2.	Delphinus	7:28

3.	The Eric Dolphy Memorial BBQ	5:36

4.	Regard de L'étoile	8:32

5.	Ballet	6:37

6.	Alvamel's Dream	10:36

7.	Cosmic Rift	5:56

Credits

released January 1, 2011

All compositions by Lisa Mezzacappa (ASCAP) except:
"Ballet" by Cory Wright (ASCAP), "Regard de L'étoile" by Olivier Messiaen, arranged by Lisa Mezzacappa; "The Eric Dolphy Memorial BBQ," by Frank Zappa (Munchkin Music) arranged by Lisa Mezzacappa and released with permission from the Zappa estate.

Recorded June 2010 by James Frazier at New, Improved Recording, Oakland CA. Mixed by Myles Boisen at Guerrilla Recording, Oakland CA. Mastered by Myles Boisen at the Headless Buddha Mastering Lab, Oakland CA.

Cover art: "Cosmic Rift No. 38 "by Yehudit Sasportas (Berlin 2010).

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