Craig Kupka first released Crystals: New Music for Relaxation #2 in 1982 via Folkway Recordings. A follow-up to 1981’s Clouds, the first in his Relaxation series, this second offering continued to explore a soothing spectrum of sound perfect for contemplation and meditation. A classically trained trombone player and composer, Kupka’s early days as a working musician found him accompanying modern dance classes at Cal State.
The musician’s improvisational ability to translate a dancer’s movement into sound led to his first release, 1979’s Modern Dance Technique Environments (Hoctor). Interested in the music of Paul Horn and Terry Riley, and looking for a non-rhythmic method of expression suitable for the guided meditations used in dance class, Kupka assembled a group of musicians and recorded Clouds in one take.
Discussing that effort, the musician has explained “…we went into rehearsals and worked on slowing ourselves down. We would let an event unfold before reacting to anything. It took a while, but we could slow ourselves way down.” That vibe continues on Crystals, an album that finds Kupka working with a similar line-up of musicians including Norman Beede on keys and synthesizer, Kenny Sawhill on bass trombone, as well as newcomer Bob Ose on trombone.
This trio of trombones is prominently featured on the appropriately titled opening track “Trombones of Lithia.” Recorded in a sonically “quiet” hall, the instrument’s warm rounded tones join three harmonic streams of resonating sound into an uplifting drone perfect for theta states of deep relaxation and meditation. The album’s eponymous second and final cut replaces the trombones for Beede’s Fender Rhodes EK-10 electric piano and Siel synthesizer, as well as Kupka’s Arp synthesizer. Operating on a more tension-release technique, “Crystals” unfolds with the kind of movement and color perfect for more active states of study and contemplation.
Craig Kupka’s Crystals: New Music for Relaxation #2 was reissued this past May from the original masters by the Smithsonian’s Folkways Recordings. Part of a trio of releases from the label last month, also reissued were Ann McMillan‘s Gateway Summer Sound, and The Entourage Music & Theatre Ensemble‘s The Neptune Collection.
