Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Seven
cassette released in 1983
*Special thanks to a friend for sharing this with me.
NIGHT IN A SOUTHERN SWAMP
Can a 14 foot alligator surface under a canoe and overturn it? What creature belongs to that eerie scream that comes from somewhere above the water, surrounded by the jungle of giant cypresses.
Why are we paddling through this southern swamp at night anyway? A search for danger? Excitement? Adventure at any price?
In fact , it's an experiment in time - a search for antiquity - a return to the primeval. For here, amid the cries of the night, under a dome of stars and walled by the ancient and towering trees, we move ever deeper into the strangness of the great swamp. The paddle dips and plays a gentle, watery obligato to the calls from the treetops, from the jungle shores, from the sky and from the hidden retreats among the swamp grasses. We have left routine behind - primeval night surrounds us. Slowly we relax into this old world, our only contact with the outside world is the feel of the paddle prodding the dark, moving us ever further into the unknown waters of the swamp - ever further away from reality.
WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Chuck-will's widow, Red-tailed Hawk, Barred Owls, wood Ducks, Great Horned Owl, Common Gallinule, Snowy Egret, Pine Woods Tree Frogs, Southern Swamp Chorus Frogs, Barking Frogs, Cricket Frogs, Gopher Frogs, Screech Owls
DON'T FEED THE ALLIGATORS
You remember those walks along a sandy, shell-strewn shore? With the surf rolling in? And the seabirds crying in a sunny sky? Most of us long to do it again at the very first opportunity. It will all come flooding back to you, now, in three dimensions. And perhaps it will add something new as well. After you stroll along the beach, you turn inland, following a trail through the heavily forested wetlands that contrast dramatically with the beach scene. Here, among ancient cypress trees four or five hundred years old, strange and distant cries float towards you through the moss-hung air. Intimate sounds surprise you - wing sounds, water sounds, unexpected splashes. From what? A waterbird? The flail of an alligator's tail? It's all part of the lush and private world of the southern swamp. The three dimensional effect is stunning - your room, or your mind will transform, your environment will change. You will be there. And just when you yearn again for the beach, you will hear the surf and the gulls in the distance. You are moving towards them. Soon you break out into the sun, sea and sky. Once again the sea wind is on your face, cooling your skin. And you are strolling back along the sand.
WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Mockingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, House Wren, Great Egret*, American Wigeon*, Laughing Gulls*, Ring-billed Gulls*, Snowy Egret*, Common Gallinule*, Fish Crow*, Tufted Titmouse, Red-headed Woodpecker, Rufous-sided Towhee.
*Numerous water and shore birds in the background.
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Night in a Southern Swamp {29:38}
Side 2
1. Don't Feed the Alligators {29:27}
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Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Four
cassette released in 1982
NIAGARA FALLS, THE GORGE AND GLEN
No matter how many photographs of Niagara Falls you've seen, your first real sight of The Falls is unforgettable. But equally unforgettable, even awesome, is the thought of descending some 180 feet to the basin of the falls, suiting up in a waterproof outfit, and sailing through the swirling waters, waters as deep as the falls are high, then through the enveloping mists, past the cascading American Falls, right up into the thundering heart of the Horseshoe Falls. The Maid of The Mist landing is the starting point of Side 1. The falls are heard in the near distance, and the gulls and terns provide an unexpected nautical feeling to the start of the adventure.
Soon we are right alongside the staggering cataract. This is the roar you will remember for the rest of your life. A roar that can dependably conjure up memories of mists and the rainbow that curves through the mists on any sunny day.
When we cross the parklands, again with the falls in the distance, we hear song birds, the cardinal and common flicker. We are on our way to the place that has enticed film producers and daredevils, one of the most treacherous stretches of white water in North America, the Niagara Gorge.
The canyon floor of the gorge, where we hear the swiftly plunging, and dangerous rapids, is 230 feet down. Now we can hear the violence of the river, a violence that has taken many lives of those who have challenged it.
From the excitement of the falls and the violence of the gorge, we move downriver to the ancient beauty and tranquility of the Niagara Glen, where, along the nature paths, past the debris of Ice Age avalanches, we hear the sounds of spring in the glen, chickadees, a nuthatch, a brown thrasher, even a chipmunk and in the background a red-tailed hawk.
Along the calmer reaches of the river, a little further downstream, a chorus of robins, some old squaw ducks, and easiest of all to identify a flock of Canada geese that happens to pass overhead.
Niagara has many moods, and each one has a vital sound that brings memories of a tour through the area flooding back.
On Side 2 we'll continue the tour through a totally different kind of Niagara experience.
WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Ring-billed Gulls, Common Tern, Cardinal, Common Flicker, Gray Squirrel, Black-capped Chickadees, Eastern Chipmunk, Red-tailed Hawk, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Thrasher, Robins, Old Squaw Ducks, Canada Geese
AMONG THE PONDS AND STREAMS OF NIAGARA
Meditation is a method of relaxation that doesn't come easily to everybody. We need help, a stimulus of some sort, something to trigger the meditating process.
Side 2 might do it.
A few minutes walk up river from the falls brings us to a delightful area of ponds and streams, diverted from the main river. Here, amid woodland trails, lovely islands, and grassy knolls, you can wander for hours, lost in a miniature Eden.
The hypnotic tunes of the rushing stream harmonize perfectly with a myriad of bird calls. This is a sequence to accompany the mind as it drifts away from 'now', and moves back to 'then.'
But, one can't drift forever, even in meditation. To bring you gently back to reality you find yourself at the river rapids above the falls, and then, the distant roar of the falls themselves urges you back into the present, and the raucous cries of herring gulls and black-backed gulls confirm the fact the meditation is over. You are back where you began the Niagara experience ... back at Niagara Falls.
WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Song Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throat, House Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Mourning Dove, Northern Oriole, Common Crow, Mallard Ducks, American Toads, Robin, Cardinal, Eastern Phoebe, Herring Gulls, Black-backed Gulls
(from the liner notes)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Niagara Falls, The Gorge and Glen {29:09}
Side 2
1. Among the Streams and Ponds of Niagara {29:05}
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