Resonance of mystery

Bass Cathedral unfolds solely through letters written by N., who is a part of a jazz band named Molimo m'Atet, which also includes Aunt Nancy, Drennette, Djamilaa, Penguin, and Lambert. They are now in the process of releasing their new album entitled Orphic Bend. But during a test pressing of the music, the band members see an extremely strange image: speech balloons appear at the moment Aunt Nancy's begins her bass solo, forming from the exact points where she plucks the string. The balloons enclose vague and mysterious phrases: "I dreamt you were gone...flew in the face of post-expectant aplomb...It was all only a dead expanse...bore the lament I laid your leaving to rest with" (3,4). One can only guess what these balloons have to do with anything and what their words mean. Aunt Nancy comes up with a possibility: "pestered by a gremlin or a ghost...the ghost of my father" (6). The balloons' words suggest memories of Aunt Nancy's father, who died when she was very young.

The letters N. writes are addressed only to a character called Angel of Dust; but who is Angel of Dust? Not much, if anything, is known about him or her, except that he or she is very close to N., through their exchange of letters. N. reveals everything about his and his ensemble members' lives to Angel of Dust, and he seems to want to maintain a strong relationship with whoever this figure is. In his first letter, N. writes, "I've been meaning to write for a while now, a while that seems like years though it's only been weeks" (1). Not being in contact with Angel of Dust for only a short time evidently has a large impact on N.; their bond must be exceptionally strong. He also looks up to Angel of Dust as a wise and eloquent individual: "Who but you could've written so movingly" (20). Angel of Dust seems to be experienced in the ways of life, perhaps a role model for N. Angel of Dust's part in N.'s life is quite unclear at the moment, but the truth will hopefully reveal itself soon.

~ Outside Reading #1

Mackey, Nathaniel. Bass Cathedral. Grand Rapids: New Directions Corporation, 2008.