Slocum,Matt With Love & Sadness CD

My previous recording, Sanctuary, is a musical reflection on places and characters in my personal life that have provided a sense of creative refuge and a feeling of home. With Love and Sadness takes a more expansive view, examining my seemingly delusional aspiration that we can somehow evolve toward a more compassionate and inclusive society. This is balanced musically against the darkness of an ongoing realization that systemic racism in America is still so much more pervasive than I had imagined. The structure of the piece emerged as I was reflecting on the depths of this national crisis during a trip to the Maine wilderness last August. As a result of pandemic-related closures, it was the first time my wife and I had traveled in many months. It felt like a new perspective, at least early in the journey. The shape of this composition outlines the evolution of my reflections throughout the course of that trip.

1. Prelude 2. First Light 3. An Evolving Alliance 4. End of the Season 5. Precipice 6. An Abandoned Illusion 7. America Revisited