David’s new album is out May 3rd on Better Company Records, and it features a new piece for eco|tonal, 2 Hours in Zadar! See below for video.

2 Hours in Zadar
Video and Music: David Crowell
Color and Editing: David Crowell
Videography: Toni Mijac

In Zadar, located on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, there is a sea organ. Resonating tubes lie underneath a series of marble steps, with the pitches of each tube triggered by the frequency and strength of the waves entering their sound chambers. A beautiful concept, and so intriguing that the cellist/singer Iva Casián-Lakoš and I made a special detour in order to spend several hours with this unique marvel. For Dalmatians, the sea is not just a place to swim or have a fun day out; it is profoundly integrated into the art and culture of society, a reference point and a reflecting mirror, a living character with many moods. To watch the sea “play” the organ is symbolic of this connection.

Though Casián-Lakoš was born and raised in Ohio, she spent multiple months of every year in Croatia; her mother, Nela Lakoš (author of the Croatian text used), has roots across Dalmatia. The first section of 2 Hours in Zadar explores the fragility of memory, the feeling of knowing a place so well that you can’t fully comprehend the depth of your own experience. As such, the music is infused with a heavy feeling of nostalgia. Samples of Zadar’s sea organ first appear in the second section, alongside Casián-Lakoš’ ritualistic, almost religious recitation of repetitive, chant like motives. Here the sea presents a darker, stormier mood, and the voice and cello are heard alternately as strongly present and far off in the distance. But ultimately, as stated in the text, she does not give in to the sea.

Another layer of meaning resides in Casián-Lakoš’ experience as a first generation American and the desire to fluently move between her different cultural heritages (she is also Mexican). Casián-Lakoš speaks Croatian with a native accent but does not consider herself fully fluent; in the first section bits of recited text are chopped up through processes of granular synthesis, projecting a stuttering, hesitant approach to the language. This tentativeness coexists with a beautifully sung solo in perfect Croatian, a contradiction which represents her struggle to fully connect with Dalmatian culture.

Luna
Film, music, and production: David Crowell
Cello, voice, and dance: Iva Casian-Lakoš

Luna exerts gravitational pull over the lapping polyrhythmic waves hitting its shore. Luna finds a meeting place for Baroque contrapuntal language and the hypnotic groove of Minimalism. Above all, Luna searches for beauty in the richest of all string instruments, the lyricism of the human voice projecting metaphorically, and at the end of the piece, literally.

In this video, filmed on the North Fork of Long Island from May-July 2020, overlaid images of forests and water create an immersive and unique visual hallucination. The contemplative first movement connects to the richness of Iva’s low register, exploring the link between the resonant wood of the cello and the forest surrounding her. Early in the second movement, an abrupt shift transitions from solid Earth to a beautiful but unstable water world, the waves a visual metaphor for the polyrhythmic motion of the music. This section climaxes both visually and musically as the complexity of the polyrhythms peak and the music courses through Iva's body and fingers simultaneously. The piece ends with a haunting melody for voice and cello, the ethereal environment rotating and breathing around Iva as she sings and plays.

Eklutna (Trailer)
Film, music, and production: David Crowell
Performed by: eco|tonal

Eklutna is an audio/visual interpretation of the beautiful part of Alaska I grew up in, filmed at locations which have deep familial and individual meaning. It explores interconnections between the sky, mountains, an elevated lake, and a gorge at sea level. Snow from the mountains (including Mt. Eklutna) feeds the glacier that partially melts into Eklutna Lake, from which Eklutna River flows, cutting through and shaping Eklutna Gorge. Ultimately the river reaches the sea, its evaporation helping to create the clouds which then drop snow, bringing the cycle full circle.

The double exposure images represent these connections by visually intertwining different aspects of the environment together, evoking the supernatural wonder and intense emotional connection engendered by the landscape. Eklutna is also influenced by a specific, powerful event – a temporary loss of ego – that I experienced while hiking near the peak of Mt. Eklutna several years ago. The resulting groundlessness was brief but jarring, and the music in the first section conveys this unsettled feeling with swirling electronics and fragments of vocals surrounding the two live performers. Visually, the dynamic light changes and unique colors of the North, further influenced by passing clouds, represent the truth of constant change and shifting perception.

Filming Eklutna was an adventure in and of itself, with spontaneous and planned trips to locations that involved significant hiking, climbing and mountain biking. One morning I was at Eklutna Lake by 6am to film a time lapse video of the sun rising above the mountains, gorgeous rays of light streaming in with progressive intensity, completely quiet except for the haunting calls of a loon couple echoing up and down 12 miles of water. My Dad accompanied me on almost all filming sessions, and served as first grip, artistic advisor, pest control supervisor, and most importantly of all, bear safety protocol manager! Both my Mom and Dad watched early versions of the video and offered perceptive comments which positively influenced the work. Eklutna is dedicated with love to them.

Land Acknowledgement:

Thanks to activism by the Dena’ina people of Eklutna, the circular flow of the environment described above has been partially restored through dam removal, and salmon have started returning to Eklutna River.

This work depicts and acknowledges the Dena’ina ełnena, the homeland of the Dena’ina people.

Live Performance:

Crowell: Mulatu
Bombyx for New Directions Cello Festival, (Northampton, MA)

for tenor saxophone, cello

Casian-Lakoš: Low Tide
Scena Amadeo, Croatian National History Museum (Zagreb, Croatia)

for singing-cellist, alto saxophone