Disconnect by Glenn Stallcop

Every once in a while, I have come across someone who has developed such an altered view of reality that it is really quite difficult to know where to start when talking to them. These people aren’t stupid, in fact, they are usually intelligent enough to have “deduced” all kinds of conclusions from that which they believe to be true. The problem, of course, is that it isn’t.

I used to see this problem in some of my older relatives who had been alone for long periods of time. Between lack of contact and insecurity, they could come to believe all kinds of bizarre conclusions they had extrapolated, usually concerning those who had not shown up to see them for a while. Just talking with them would usually clear up any confusion, but not always.

Those with mental health problems are just as intelligent as anybody else, they just have made strong habitual connections to harmful or distressing conclusions which make it hard for them to function. (This, of course, is an oversimplification!) These connections are very difficult to break, willfully or otherwise, and can lead to more forceful therapy such as shock treatment or psilocybin therapy in order to attempt to break those connections and possibly form more helpful ones.

In light of the unfortunate reality of the mental health situations associated with isolation, it is beyond my comprehension why anyone would knowingly seek out misinformation in the pursuit of delusional fabrications! Then again, neither did I believe people would knowingly give up their privacy for cute cat videos. People make disconnections from reality almost routinely, it seems. There are multi-billion dollar industries based around coercing people into forming opinions about products, people, intentions, politics, employment, lifestyle, or anything else associated with a source of revenue. Sometimes, it seems truthfulness itself seems to have become an opinion. Sometimes I think people mistake freedom of expression with equality of ideas. Not so.

As we become mired in our “information” society, we lose contact with what that information refers to. Words and ideas represent reality and not the other way around. Plato was a smart guy, but he got that one backwards. When information and opinion become reality there is a disconnect, and this can lead to delusion and tragedy. It is the consequences of this disconnect that this album is about.

Glenn Stallcop is a composer, pianist, and a long-time double bassist with the Phoenix Symphony. He has recorded many albums of piano improvisation over the last 20 years. He is a well-established composer with over 100 published works for orchestra, chamber music and vocal works, solo piano and double bass.

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