Laurence Cook acoustic & electronic drums
William Parker bass
Alan Silva Kurzweil music system

recorded UUSA Meetinghouse, 1999-06-05
engineer the eremite mobile unit
photo Thierry Trombert
mastering Jim Hemingway
producers Silva & Michael Ehlers

“This is first & foremost religious music. Every sound serves an extra-musical purpose —creating a sonic analogy to a mystical experience. The sheer roiling volume, density & fullness of tone fills the listener with a powerful sense of the infinite, a sublime combination of awe, dread, & unearthly ravishments…” —Ed Hazell, 1999

Alan Silva (born Bermuda, 1939) made regular appearances on the Western Massachusetts eremite records scene from 1998 > 2004. He performed at the last two Fire in the Valley festivals (1999 & 2002), played in small ensembles with Marshall Allen, Johannes Bauer, Malcolm Goldstein, Sunny Murray, William Parker, & Oluyemi Thomas (among others), led the final concerts by his 35+ year open-form large ensemble juggernaut, the “Celestrial Communications Orchestra” (2003), & guested with numerous visiting musicians, including 2 Days in April with Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan & Parker. After 30+ years living as an ex-pat in France & Germany, it was an all-around career 3rd act, albeit on the grassroots scale.

During the summer months, Silva maintained a little tradition of presenting small ensembles at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst’s “Meetinghouse". He had somewhat recently put down the bass, his primary instrument of 25+ years with Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, & Frank Wright, for the polyphonic Kurzweil music system (created by Raymond Kurzweil & Stevie Wonder). Silva’s fascination with all things orchestral had long been evident, from his bandleader debut Skillfulness (ESP, New York 1968) to CCO's monumental long-form statements Seasons (BYG, Paris 1970) & HR57 (eremite, Poschiavo 2001). Opportunities to work with real orchestra-sized ensembles were few & far b/t, & the Kurzweil enabled Silva to express the full scale & textures of an orchestra in any setting; it became the ideal vehicle for the deep space regions he’s spent a lifetime exploring. 

The Meetinghouse, a historic vaulted-ceiling church with unruly acoustics, a massive 1889 Tiffany stained-glass window, & no air conditioning was in many ways the ultimate environment for this era of Silva’s music. The ensembles on these swampy valley summer nights, always billed as Alan Silva Celestrial Communications Ensemble, drew upon his new & old communities, fellow lifers who thrived in long-form, freely improvised settings, & who shared Silva’s understanding of music as a spiritual calling. 

Whether for the secular listener or the sacredly-inclined, Silva’s UUSA concerts reached heights of intensity & otherworldliness rarely equaled in the lifetime of a concert series defined by such qualities. To celebrate Alan Silva’s 87th birthday on 2026-01-21, & to just up the fun around here, eremite presents 3 of these nights, culminating in the 2002-06-22 trio extravaganza with Laurence Cook & Sabir Mateen (Alan begins the concert spinning his prayer wheel for the 21st century & for his recently deceased father, Ruby). The two earlier recordings pre-date the 21st century upgrades to the eremite mobile unit, but are sufficiently heavy, historical, & hi-fi to share.

eremite records thanks Laurence Cook, Jackson Krall, Sabir Mateen, & William Parker. Thank you Alan Silva for your singular contribution. May your music ring through the cosmos for eternity.