I wrote a couple of weeks ago that a bass clarinet is a wonderful, magical thing. Thank you, Andrew D’Angelo–if there were any remaining doubts about the world’s greatest woodwind, you’ve now put them to rest.
BCDELUXE is D’Angelo’s first solo record, and while he is a multi-instrumentalist, the album is wall-to-wall bass clarinet. And boy oh boy, it is so much more than that. D’Angelo recorded the album at home, and out of consideration for his neighbors, he played everything softly. The immediacy of the resulting sound is stunning. It’s a cliche to say that a record makes it feel like you were there; BCDELUXE sounds like you’re sitting with the instrument in your own lap.
I mostly know about the recording technique because D’Angelo says as much in the notes. But there are audible hints. The clicking of keys–usually incidental, sometimes as a musical feature of its own–is unusually loud compared to the clarinet itself. Same thing with D’Angelo’s occasional vocalizations. It sounds like he’s almost shouting, but I suspect he wasn’t trying to make any sound at all.
The tunes show off all kinds of technique, from rapid-fire arpeggios on the opening “BIC” to clean, pure high-register work on pieces like “Happy Mellow.” Some are just an unaccompanied single bass clarinet; others are multitracked, either with two horns playing interacting melodies or with a choir of bass clarinets supporting an additional voice. Solo pieces don’t always lend themselves to protracted development; accordingly, track lengths vary from 56 seconds up to almost ten minutes.
The most remarkable aspect of this release is something you can’t hear. D’Angelo has brain cancer, and everything on BCDELUXE was recorded in short sessions between doses of chemotherapy. While you don’t need to know the biographical background to be impressed by the record, it’s a testament to D’Angelo’s focus and dedication that he even attempted it, let alone that he played well enough to sculpt something so assured.
Artistically, at least, D’Angelo is winning the battle against cancer. The rest of us have the privilege of hearing his reports from the front line.
