On Metal Chaos Ensemble: "... using unique strategies to yield densely active and eerily surreal music, an incredible excursion through experimental improvisation." - Squidco website staff
Evil Clown
During the 90s, Glynis and I played quite a bit with the great saxophonist Raqib Hassan who sadly passed a few years ago. I met Yuri while doing shows with Raqib. Raqib was an amazing composer and his ensembles were much more jazz than most of the work that I have done or that is out on Evil Clown.
This set is a 2 CD release from Raqib’s second tribute to Sun Ra at the Western Front in Cambridge. The band is Ensemble Mogra – a larger unit comprised of 10 notable players from the Boston Free Jazz scene including 3 drummers and percussion!
There was room left on the second disc, so I included a bonus track from a Cosmocentric performance in downtown Boston in 1993.
The second new recording, Excavations, was recorded a few weeks later…
It turns out that Waltham Water and Sewer had to rip up the street to replace the pipe from Evil Clown Headquarters to the Sewer right when we were going to record!!!!
What's a PEK to do, you might ask?
Stick a mic outside and use the construction sound in the piece of course!!!
This time we had MCE quartet (less Matt) and the special guest was Marc Drinkwater – guitarist with Fable Grazer and ringleader of the monthly Sonic Osmosis event at the Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge.
Leap of Faith did a little mini-tour of New York in August… I sent Grego a box of CDs shortly afterwards and the first of his reviews is in! Great new review just posted by Grego Edwards of Factorizations, the Leap of Faith / Steve Swell performance at New Revolution Arts in Brooklyn in August.
Leading avant jazz trombonist Steve Swell joins together with the Boston-based Leap of Faith group
for Factorizations (Evil Clown 9075). The set was recorded at New Revolution Arts in Brooklyn in August
of 2013.
Essentially Steve gives us a wide-ranging unaccompanied solo for the first half and Leap of Faith joins him
for the remainder. Pek is the ensemble's leader and plays clarinet, a variety of saxes, voice, etc. Glynis Lomon
is on cello and voice, Steve Norton is on clarinets and saxes and Yuri Zbitnov appears on drums and metallic
objects.
The Swell solo segment gives Steve plenty of space to work out sound-color effusions and then some
soulfully out motives, reminding us why he remains a central figure on New York's new jazz scene.
The full-band segment is a fully free outburst with great color and contrasts born of the intersection of
Swell, the reeds, cello and percussion. The out-lining group phrasing is expressively advanced, noisy at times
in the best sort of way, and filled with an excellent give-and-take. Swell spurs on Leap of Faith to their best
and vice-versa. This is a fine excursion into collective breadth and musical avant power.
If you soar with out-collectivity and appreciate it when the architectural inventiveness of such things
reaches orbital heights, this one is for you. And of course if you appreciate great trombone in the zone, this
puts Steve in a good place as well. More!
You can find this on Bandcamp among other places
Metal Chaos Ensemble has continued its rapid-fire development. The core unit is now up to 5 people. We are especially excited to welcome the newest regular member Andria Nicodemou – the amazing and incredible vibraphonist from Cypress.
The first of these recordings is entitled Zero-Point Energy and features the full core quintet plus very special guest Jane Wang playing a group of instruments called sound plates which she made herself. The plates sit on balloons which act as resonators and have long metal tines welded to them. Jane bows them, strikes them and rubs them with various implements creating ethereal and other-worldy sounds. It’s a fairly quiet instrument, so in addition to close micing it for the recording we eliminated the drum set from the ensemble and went to a more drony and suspended (chill) sonority than usual.
Evil Clown Newsletter 11/14/2015
Bandcamp: https://metalchaosensemble.bandcamp.com/album/excavation
Evil Clown page: http://www.giantevilclown.com/mce-excavation.html
Metal Chaos Ensemble returns to the Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge for another Sonic Osmosis session. This is a pretty unique event were a bunch of groups converge in a large space, each perform brief sets and then have a big loose jam session.
This time I brought the full documentation rig and got good video of all of the sets now posted on my YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCprJy4kMIRs51FIFQF12dw/videos
Since the session was very short (15 minutes), I put it out on Bandcamp as a Download-Only Single. I’ll match it up soon with some other MCE session for a full length release.
Bandcamp: https://metalchaosensemble.bandcamp.com/album/gears-download-only
Evil Clown page: http://www.giantevilclown.com/mce-gears.html
Sonic Osmosis IV was reviewed in the Boston Groupie News by Kenne Highland @ Large
http://bostongroupienews.com/Kenne110915.html
5) Metal Chaos Ensemble at Sonic Osmosis
If your reading this from the webpage and you would like to receive this newsletter via email - send email to me at Sparkles@GiantEvilClown,com
Things have continued to be very busy recently at Evil Clown Headquarters…
Main links to web content:
Evil Clown webpage http://www.giantevilclown.com/
PEK YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCprJy4kMIRs51FIFQF12dw/videos
Kevin Reilly YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Kjreilly/videos
Bandcamp, for Streaming, Downloads and CD Orders https://evilclown.bandcamp.com/
In this newsletter…
1) Upcoming Performances
2) Leap of Faith Orchestra long term plans / Successful third performance – Flow Regimes released
3) New Factorizations review from Grego Applegate Edwards
4) New Releases from Metal Chaos Ensemble
5) Metal Chaos Ensemble at Sonic Osmosis
6) New Raqib Hassan releases from the Deep Evil Clown Catalog
7) New YouTube videos uploaded
Leap of Faith Orchestra – Hyperbolic Spirals
Metal Chaos Ensemble Set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1TufPh8XTs
Leap of Faith Set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk7Ggw63I-w
Leap of Faith Orchestra Set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHb_Ez0FvZE
Metal Chaos Ensemble – Zero-Point Energy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u1e9bagqQQ
Metal Chaos Ensemble – Excavations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OevzGTlvsLQ
Leap of Faith Orchestra – Flow Regimes
Turbulence Set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKjd_3CZ5I
Leap of Faith Set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL4vb8pJYC8
Leap of Faith Orchestra Set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjwmJ8zcyk0
Sonic Osmosis IV:
Set 1 – Ordinylitenhauer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moqo4Tt2Qg
Set 2 – Fable Grazer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzlNhdCtJV0
Set 3 – Forbes Graham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY0s_hV9y3w
Set 4 – Metal Chaos Ensemble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs0Ty4KlPAs
Set 5 – Become Loveable Problem Child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqK89bYCSNc
Set 6 – Big Jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl0lexgHQqA
Set 7 – Parma Chai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdWLLnWqUQM
Sparkles Out...
Here are the links for Factorizations and the other work from the tour.
http://gapplegatemusicreview.blogspot.com/2015/11/steve-swell-leap-of-faith-factorizations.html
Streaming, Downloads and CD Orders here:
https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/factorizations
Evil clown page here:
http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-factorizations.html
Also check out the companion CD - Riemann Surfaces - with the Leap of Faith set without Steve from this performance
Streaming, Downloads and CD Orders here:
https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/riemann-surfaces
Evil clown page here:
http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-riemann-surfaces.html
Also check out Solution Concepts - the performance from the following night at Downtown Music Gallery in Manhattan with trumpet superstar Thomas Heberer
Streaming, Downloads and CD Orders here:
https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/solution-concepts
Evil clown page here:
http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-solution-concepts.html
7) New YouTube videos uploaded
3) New Factorizations review from Grego Applegate Edwards
2) Leap of Faith Orchestra long term plans / Successful Third Performance – Flow Regimes Released
Supersymmetries – A Night of Pure Improvisation
12/15/2015
Lily Pad – Cambridge MA - $10
Set I – String Theory
Set II – Leap of Faith core ensemble
Set III – both groups together
String Theory
PEK- clarinets, saxes, double reeds, aquasonic, voice
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Mimi Rabson - violin
Clara Kebabian - violin, viola
Jane Wang - cello
Anthony Leva - bass
Kit Demos, - bass
Leap of Faith
PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal, aquasonic, voice
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Steve Norton - clarinets, saxes
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice
Facebook event not yet created…
Leap of Faith will be taking a few months off during January and February but has a full scheduled planned for 2016. Next shows will start in March. We’ll do some recording with the various groups at Evil Clown Headquarters in the interim.
Turbulence
PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds
Steve Norton - clarinets, saxes
Charlie Kohlhase - alto and baritone saxes
Keith Hedger – trumpet
Bob Moores - trumpet
Bill Lowe - trombone, tuba
David Harris - trombone, tuba
String Theory
PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, aquasonic
Mimi Rabson - violin
Clara Kebabian - violin, viola
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Jane Wang - cello
Kit Demos - bass
Anthony Leva – bass
In 2016 we will repeat the cycle of 4 concerts with Leap of Faith combined with each of the other sections between March and May. Then we will have 3 full orchestra performances between June and August. The venue for these performances will be the Clarendon Hill Church in Somerville where Hyperbolic Spirals was performed.
Ensembles have been fleshed out for each of the extended sections…
New Language Collaborative
Glynis Lomon – cello, aquasonic, voice
Eric Zinman – piano
Yedidyah Syd Smart - drums
Metal Chaos Ensemble
PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal, voice
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice
Andria Nicodemou - vibes
Matt Samolis - bowed cymbals, flute, metal
Kevin Dacey – metal
4) New Releases from Metal Chaos Ensemble
1) Upcoming Performances
6) New Raqib Hassan Releases from the Deep Evil Clown Catalog
The full LOFO will be an expanded Leap of Faith with the core ensemble of PEK, Glynis Lomon, Steve Norton and Yuri Zbitnov together with an expanded percussion section, an expanded string section and an expanded wind section plus Sydney Smart (drums) and Eric Zinman (piano) from Glynis’ other band New Language Collaborative. The percussion section is Metal Chaos Ensemble, the horn section is Turbulence, and the string section is String Theory. Each of these extended sections has a gig planed with LOF this year in the usual LOF format – 2 bands play 3 sets, on each and then one together. The combined sets are small two-section versions of the orchestra. During the first half of next year we will again do these four shows. These sets will all use our pure improvisation format. After these shows, which will tighten us up in a variety of smaller versions of the orchestra, we’ll do our full first full orchestra performance. For the full orchestra, I will create a score utilizing frame notation to control who is playing at any given point in the performance with time code displayed to the ensemble. There will also be some written directions in the score defining pre-planned sonorities and perhaps even some notated lines or harmony. I used these techniques in Expansions, performed at Mobius in 1994, although that composition included far more notated material that I am likely to use for LOFO. As of this writing, I have completed a draft of the first of these scores entitled The Expanding Universe.
You can check out the new score here:
The first round of preliminary preparation performances are nearly complete. Leap of Faith has done duel concerts with New Language Collaborative, Metal Chaos Ensemble and Turbulence. The results of those performances have been documented on the Evil Clown Webpage and on CD / download file issued via Bandcamp. The last one remaining is the 15 December performance with String Theory at the Lily Pad in Cambridge.
Here’s where to find progress to date…
Abstract Structures - Leap of Faith with New Language Collaborative
Evil Clown Webpage: http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-abstract-structures-1.html
Bandcamp: https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/abstract-structures-volume-1-implementations
https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/abstract-structures-volume-2-instantiations
Hyperbolic Spirals - Leap of Faith with Metal Chaos Ensemble
Evil Clown Webpage: http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-hyperbolic-spirals.html
Bandcamp: https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/hyperbolic-spirals-volume-1
https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/hyperbolic-spirals-volume-2
And new since the last newsletter:
Flow Regimes - Leap of Faith with Turbulence
Evil Clown Webpage: http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-flow-regimes.html
There are a whole bunch of great photos on the web page from Rob Miller. Thanks Rob!
Bandcamp: https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/flow-regimes-volume-1
https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/flow-regimes-volume-2
sonics osmosis at out of the blue gallery; Dylan's "ballad of a thin man" plays over p.a. Become loveable Problem Child (I think) had flute/sax/free jazz/ lester bangs woulda dug it; fable grazer had two acoustic guitars, 6 and 12-string (with feedback!), hammered dulcimer, miles david trumpet, electric guitar; very MX-80, maybe and everyone played for 10 minutes with a set of lights like they use in sporting events! Forbes graham MAY have been a fellow playing Miles davis trumpet and also using noises off his computer; metal chaos ensemble had pots and pans, basoon, sax and lastly a guy drumming like mad and SCREAMING + first half-Japanese e.p.! you get the drift; they meet once a month, Out of the Blue is VERY 1975 Bloomington Indiana, there was a hippie-dippie section and again MX-80 were "progressive-art-noise" so I was having 40 years ago flashbacks! Good fun, y'all should go!"
On Leap of Faith: "Alien yet familiar, bizarre yet completely fascinating. Expanding, contracting, erupting, settling down, always as one force..." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG