I had always considered my last commissioned work, “Suite: Light and Shadow,” as my favorite and best extended work, my Magnum Opus. Probably because it was my most recent commissioned work, performed in January of 2008. I do realize how fortunate I am to have received not one, but two commissions for extended works. The first was in December 1996 by the First Lutheran Church of Glendale, CA, for “Ocean of Love and Mercy,” a 6-movement suite with a prelude and 4 interludes, which was released by Cadence Jazz Records. The next extended work, which many consider to be my best, is 2004’s “Suite: Clarity,” which was a 5-movement suite in 7/4 time, with a prelude and 2 interludes, released on Clarion Jazz. However, it was not a commissioned work. It was financed and produced by yours truly. As was my most recent one, a mini-suite entitled “Perceptions” in February of 2016. It was a suite in 3 movements with 2 interludes, which was the second disc of the 2-disc set for the Dale Fielder Quartet’s 20th anniversary album, “Resilience!” released on Clarion Jazz. But “Suite: Light and Shadow” was my personal favorite (so far) as it was fully commissioned. Being so, that gave me time for about one year to write it. The University’s commission also paid for flying us out there, lodging us, and paying each of us a generous and respectable fee. Plus, Jupiter Saxophones, whom I endorsed at the time, paid for us to do an afternoon clinic with the students. I have to thank my good friend Joseph Thomas Dorsch for bringing me to the University, and trombonist Christopher Nigrelli, the faculty member who signed off and approved it for the University. Just good vibes all around.

I’ve been lamenting over the last several years about being a victim of ageism, that so many great artists are facing later in life. The so-called music business is always focused on new, young artists as more “marketable.” That issue was compounded in 2020 by the advent of COVID-19, which shut everything down. In its aftermath, there were fewer and fewer places and opportunities for me to perform. Since that time, with a few exceptions, it’s been about me creating and financing my own projects and recordings. By 2024, things seemed to be picking up. I had my weekly paid rehearsals every Tuesday, now in its 16th consecutive year! By then, it was live-streamed and started growing an international audience of about 200+ each week. And I started working as a member of top-tier jazz artist Marvin Smitty Smith’s Septets and Octets, gaining consistent visibility on the LA jazz scene. All of this came to an abrupt end on January 8, 2025, when we lost our house and all our possessions in the Altadena, CA wildfire. I managed to save all my saxophones and a few pieces of clothing, but lost everything else. The worst of it was losing all of my music manuscripts, Clarion Jazz’s entire physical inventory, my books, my CDs and vinyl collection, and most importantly, all my audio and video masters. Having to leave LA for the Dallas area cut me off from my Quartet of 30 years, all my friends, and musical contacts. In essence, at the age of 69, I had to start over musically in a new city with a jazz market considerably smaller than LA. For over a year now, I have only managed 2 gigs as a bandleader. So I had plenty of time to reflect and evaluate my life.

One of the things that I constantly thought about was this work, “Suite: Light and Shadow.” It really hurt that my audio and video masters of it were lost in the wildfire. I thought it would never be heard again, even by me. Then one day, I was fooling around scrolling through the internet and came upon the Reverbnation site and lo and behold, found the title tune “Theme from Suite: Light and Shadow.” Somewhere in the past, I had the foresight to post that on Reverbnation! Just listening to it again brought back how powerful of a work and performance it was, and I was grateful that this one track survived. It led me to reach out to my old friend, Joseph Thomas Dorsch, who mediated the commission for me, as well as recording it. I asked him by chance whether he still had his masters after all this time? He answered by emailing me a Dropbox with all the audio from the concert that night! In addition to the suite, which was the second set of the concert, he included the first set, which, in my memory, was equally as powerful a performance as the suite, if not more so. So it looks like we will be having a second digital album release following “Suite: Light and Shadow!” Joseph recorded the audio of the concert using 2 Neumann microphones going straight to disc. So the audio sound is very good. Joseph saved my ‘Magnum Opus’ from obscurity! I also did a video recording of the concert, which, of course, is now lost forever. Photos of the clinic earlier that morning with the students, as well as the quartet performing at the concert, were taken by my wife Patricia, who at the time was my fiancée. Both are gone and lost forever. The story of my life since 2025. But this work, thanks to Joseph, remains and is saved for future listeners to enjoy.

The Dale Fielder Quartet, with my girl, and long-time musical partner, pianist Jane Getz, as well as my man Thomas White on drums, had, for a period of time from 2006 to 2008, recorded and performed with the very talented bassist Edwin Livingston. Edwin has performed with various artists, including Elvin Jones to Queen Latifah. For about two years, for some glorious reason, we were able to enjoy his presence in the Quartet as our original bassist, Bill Markus, had another lucrative front-line commitment during this time and was unavailable. Edwin recorded with us, starting with the “Sensuous Universe” video and recording project in 2006. He also played and recorded with us on one of the Quartet’s most important CDs, “DFQ Plays the Music of Pepper Adams,” which is still selling today. And he finished his time with us in January 2008 with this performance at Lenoir-Rhyne University, as Bill came back to us in February, if I am remembering this correctly.

The artwork that graces the front cover of this album was a painting done by my late niece, Ronnie Adele Fielder, who also writes under the pen name, Einnor Eleda. She painted this in 2009 and titled it “Light and Shadow.” You can see in the painting the ‘Shadow Angel’ at the bottom reaching out to the ‘Light Angel’ at the top, who is pulling her out of the shadow and into the Light. Ronnie was a deep young lady. She was a true visionary and a very talented writer and visual artist who left us much too young at the age of 46, in October 2025. Several months before she passed, she called me up and said, “Uncle Dale, I had the most extraordinary dream last night about your music. All I can say is that you will write and release to the world what will be known as your Magnum Opus!” I truly believe that “Suite: Light and Shadow” is my Magnum Opus, as it is my favorite of all the extended works I have done. And this work is dedicated to her.

Because my music is also my spiritual work, “Suite: Light and Shadow” then, is a spiritual Shadow-Work Ritual and Balancing Invocation, using the musical manipulation of sound and vibration. Light and Shadow, at first glance, may appear to be opposite qualities. Yet, together in the human sense, by facing and accepting the shadow part of ourselves, we bring it into the Light and find a balance that leads to a new perspective of ourselves. Our very consciousness begins to organize itself according to a new level of coherence. When these two qualities meet in this way, our consciousness becomes both more relaxed and receptive, as well as more focused and intentional. We stop creating our reality unconsciously by random, disconnected thoughts, and begin creating our reality with cohesion, intention, and presence. In fact, this is how this very online album came into being. So the music of “Light and Shadow” is a musical work meant to heal consciousness, just by listening. This is what I have learned from my Master and guiding light, John Coltrane. Truly, the listener doesn’t even need to be aware of all this. So all the tunes follow a specific spiritual order and purpose, of bringing the shadow into the Light. Originally, the suite began with “The Unmanifested Oneness.” But because Bandcamp only allows the first track to be the featured track that is cued when the listeners land on the site, I had to put the 10th track, “Theme from Light and Shadow,” first as the featured track, so it could also play in Bandcamp Discover. I didn’t like it at first, but after a few listens, it works very well. It is the strongest track in the suite and in no way messes up the flow. Except now we’re ending on a ballad, “Shadow Dance.” But even that’s okay! Why not? You can also just play “Theme from Light and Shadow” again at the end to get the full effect. To listen to the suite sequentially, use the album page showing all 10 tracks and click the arrow on “Theme from Light and Shadow,” and just let it play. It will play through as the suite was performed.

To end, I’d like to quote from my liner notes from my first suite, “Ocean of Love and Mercy”: “The work of the artist in this day and age is so misunderstood and unappreciated that it is hard to maintain one’s motivation to strive and progress the music, for few seem to even care. But it is the love and mercy of the artists giving their art to the world, without expectation of anything in return, that helps attract light into the world, which, in turn, holds back the darkness so mankind can still hope and dream in the midst of so much negativity. Such is the nature and purpose of this music. It is my hope that you, the listener, can take something from this recording and use it as an impetus towards whatever your goals are; for music is truly the fuel of our dreams.”

In closing, I’d like to use the affirmation: “May Peace and Love Prevail In Our World!”

~Dale Fielder

“Suite: Light and Shadow” will be released July 1, 2026, on Clarion Jazz at: https://clarionjazz.bandcamp.com/