Evil Clown Newsletter 4/2/2016

The last new release for this newsletter was recorded the next week on 22 March 2016 at the Lilypad in Cambridge.  This is the first instance in a new model for a Leap of Faith concert.  Rather than start with two or three of the smaller bands for the first half of the concert, and combining them for the second half, I did something new:  I invited the Orchestra members to this gig and the one still pending (on 4/12) and when I had 9 people responding for each show I fixed each large ensemble.  This makes a section through the orchestra which is very different than other regular Sub-Units.  It made a very nice program: each of the three 20-minute Sub-Unit trios on the first CD was composed of completely different players and consequently had a different overall sound. The Orchestra set went very well too.  Rob Miller came to the show and took many excellent photos.

Audio CD                                                            Evil Clown 9095
Turbulence - Vortex Generation Mechanisms
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) Vortex Generation Mechanisms - 50:57
     Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
     2/25/2016

PEK - tenor, alto, sopranino saxes, contra-alto clarinet, sheng, gaunzi, 
            daxophone, theremin, Korg ms-20, metal, whistles, electronics
Steve Norton - bartione, alto, sopranino saxes, alto, contra-alto clarinets, 
             metal

​Turbulence - Vortex Generation Mechanisms

     by Karl Ackermann (March 2016)

Two weeks later, on 17 March, we did second Leap of Faith set with Todd Brunel at Evil Clown Headquarters. This set also marks the first appearance of Kevin Dacey in a small Leap of Faith setting - PEK, Glynis Lomon, Yuri Zbitnov, Andria Nicodemou, Todd Brunel, & Kevin Dacey.  the [d]ronin instruments recently acquired from Italy are used for the first time on this set.  Glynis' son Devon had made a terrific drawing in a dense script saying "Leap of Faith" which I incorporated into the album cover for LOF - Plasma.

Audio CD                                                            Evil Clown 9100
Leap of Faith Orchestra Sub Units ‐ Probabilistic Analogues V1
​Lilypad, Cambridge MA - ​3/23/2016 
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) Sub Unit 1: Applications to Reliability Theory - 22:02 
     Steve Norton - soprano and sopranino saxes,bass and contra-alto

           clarinets 
     Bob Moores - trumpet, electronics 
     Yuri Zbitnov - drums 
 
2) Sub Unit 2: Latent Semantic Indexing - 19:55 
     PEK - tenor sax, clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, piccolo oboe, 

          shenai, bamboo flute, game calls, aquasonic, metal 
     Tony Leva - bass 
     Kevin Dacey - drums, metal, crotales, vibes, siren 
 
3) Sub Unit 3: Hyperpyramidal Generalizations - 20:54 
     Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice 
     Andria Nicodemou - vibes, crotales 
     Sara Honeywell - trombone

Audio CD                                                            Evil Clown 9095
Turbulence - Vortex Generation Mechanisms
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) Vortex Generation Mechanisms - 50:57
     Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
     2/25/2016

PEK - tenor, alto, sopranino saxes, contra-alto clarinet, sheng, gaunzi, 
            daxophone, theremin, Korg ms-20, metal, whistles, electronics
Steve Norton - bartione, alto, sopranino saxes, alto, contra-alto clarinets, 
             metal

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 1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCprJy4kMIRs51FIFQF12dw/videos

     PEK YouTube channel 2 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClfRlTeeHnSxRsJTkFakiJw/videos
     Kevin Reilly YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Kjreilly/videos
     Bandcamp, for Streaming, Downloads and CD Orders https://evilclown.bandcamp.com/

Newly added domains to take you to the home page for each  currently working band within the Evil Clown stie:

     www.evilClown.rocks
     www.leapOfFaith.rocks
     www.stringTheory.rocks
     www.Turbulence.rocks
     www.metalchaosensemble.com


Bandcamp homepage for each or the currently working Evil Clown Artists:

     https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/
     https://metalchaosensemble.bandcamp.com/
     https://stringtheory6.bandcamp.com/
     https://turbulence2.bandcamp.com/
     https://evilclown.bandcamp.com/


Started a streaming account at Soundcloud.  I've loaded up 5 or 6 albums with much more coming soon...  I'll upload a few albums at a time until I catch up with the old catalog...

     https://soundcloud.com/pek-746320808


In this newsletter…

1) Upcoming Performances
2) Leap of Faith Orchestra Plans & Progress
3) New Releases
4) New Reviews


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 Reviews

We are solidly in the Spring Schedule now with two shows completed and six more still on the book between now and the end of June...


So, these shows are on the book as of this writing.  See the posters on the Webpage for the full details... http://www.giantevilclown.com/performances---posters.html



4/9/2016 Nave Music Series, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, Somerville MA

Algorithms - A Night of Pure Improvisation

      New Language Collaborative - 8:00 pm - Halting Problem 
         Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
         Eric Zinman - piano
         Yedidyah Syd Smart - drums
      Metal Chaos Ensemble - 8:30 pm - Minimum Spanning Trees
         PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal, voice
         Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice 
         Andria Nicodemou - vibes
         Kevin Dacey - metal
      Leap of Faith - 9:00 pm - Turing Machines
         PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal, voice
         Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
         Steve Norton - clarinets, saxes 
         Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice
         Andria Nicodemou - vibes
      Leap of Faith Orchestra - 9:30 pm - Entscheidungsproblem
         Everybody


4/12/2016 Lilypad, Cambridge MA 
Quadratic Reciprocities - A Night of Pure Improvisation
      trios/quartets:
      Sub Unit 1 - 8:00 pm:  Latice Points
      Sub Unit 2 - 8:30 pm:  Ring of Polynomials
      Sub Unit 3 - 9:00 pm:  Permutation Signatures
      everyone:

      Leap of Faith Orchestra - 9:30 pm:  Reduction Morphisms​

         PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds
         Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
         Steve Norton - clarinets, saxophones
         Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal
         Andria Nicodemou - vibes
         Mimi Rabson - violin
         Forbes Graham - trumpet
         Charlie Kohlhase - saxophones
         Kirsten Lamb - bass


5/7/2016 Nave Music Series, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, Somerville MA

Viscosities - A Night of Pure Improvisation

      Turbulence - 8:00 pm - Sheer Stresses
         PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal, voice
         Steve Norton - clarinets, saxes
         Charlie Kohlhase - saxes
         Keith Hedger - trumpet
         Bob Moores - trumpet
         David Harris - trombone, tuba
         Bill Lowe - trombone, tuba
      Leap of Faith - 8:45 pm - Tensile Stresses
         PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal, voice
         Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
         Steve Norton - clarinets, saxes 
         Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice
         Andria Nicodemou - vibes
      Leap of Faith Orchestra - 9:30 pm - Viscous Stress Tensors
         Everybody


5/22/2016 Unity on the River, Amesbury MA
Metal Chaos Ensemble with Guests at Unity on the River

​Extended Dimensions

      Metal Chaos Ensemble - Extended Dimensions - 12:00 am

         Maura Lynch - soprano, keyboards, direction
         Unity Church Choir
         Unity Church Djembe circle
         PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds, metal
         Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal
         Andria Nicodemou - vibes, metal
         Kevin Dacey - metal
         Matt Samolis - flute, metal
         Tamora Gooding - metal
         Catherine Cappozi - guitar




6/4/2016 Nave Music Series, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, Somerville MA
Leap of Faith Orchestra - The Expanding Universe

      8:00 Sub Unit 1 - Dark Energies
      8:30 Sub Unit 2 - Phantom Energies
      9:00 Leap of Faith Orchestra - The Expanding Universe

         PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal +
         Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
         Steve Norton - clarinets and saxophones
         Andria Nicodemou - vibes, metal
         Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal
         Mimi Rabson - violin
         Clara Kebabian - violin, viola
         Bob Moores - trumpet
         Forbes Graham - trumpet
         Charlie Kohlhase - saxes
         Sara Honeywell - trombone
         Dave Harris - trombone, tuba
         Josiah Reibstein - tuba
         Jane Wang - cello
         Tony Leva - bass
         Kirsten Lamb - bass
         Kit Demos - bass
         Eric Zinman - piano
         Yedidyah Syd Smart - drums
         Kevin Dacey - drums, metal
         Matt Samolis - flute, bowed metal



​6/24/2016 Mobius, Cambridge, MA
String Theory - Condensed Phases of Matter

         PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds

         Mimi Rabson - violin

         Clara Kebabian - violin, viola

         Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice

         Jane Wang - cello

         Tony Leva - bass

A one-time student of the free improvisational saxophonist,George Garzone, the prolific David Peck (aka PEK) is a multi-instrumentalist/composer and the founder of Evil Clown Records. The ambitious scope of PEK's larger mission is worth noting. The Evil Clown consortium operates, in part, as a large avant-garde cooperative of artists who may show up as part of the label's various groups -String Theory, Turbulence, New Language Collaborative, Leap of Faith and here, onIntermetallic Compounds from the Metal Chaos Ensemble. What all these groups have in common is an affinity for the unique vision PEK. 

Yuri Zbitnov, a regular in Leap of Faith and Metal Chaos Ensemble, juggles at least nine different "instruments" on Intermetallic Compounds and within that collection, he runs the gamut from traditional drums through the Chinese stringed instruments, the guzheng and yanqin. Vibraphonist Andria Nicodemou also plays the two Chinese instruments along with other instruments. PEK mans the saxophones and an assortment similar to Zbitnov and Nicodemou. All in all, the three musicians manage about eighteen different instruments, few of them customary to any existing genre. 

The title track is the entire album, running a bit over forty-seven minutes. Much of the first ten minutes of "Intermetallic Compounds" are left to an arsenal of musical devices, bells, whistles and metal, almost delicately carving out a wave of sound. Yet "chaos" is not the atmosphere at all—not yet. As the layers begin to build, we enter into something like a grandfather clock factory run amok as sounds swirl together around a warped melody with PEK's saxophone becomes clearer. The sound gets angrier and the noise edgier as the tension builds, leading to a partial collapse into more primal territory and vocalizations that seem not quite human. Then the disarray fades and the sound becomes hypnotic once again. 

The music is as much about what individual instruments/devices can bring to the overall sound as it is about individual musicianship. In other words, PEK and company use every available tool to its maximum functionality on an extended aural improvisation that marries people and their tools. Intermetallic Compounds is mesmerizing and filled with an expectancy only for the next unexpected turn of events. This is living, breathing art in every sense of the word.

In early March I was looking at the first review of Thomas Heberer / Leap of Faith - Solution Concepts and I wanted to check on the accessibility for bandcamp and the Evil Clown website for this title.... So I type "Leap of Faith Solution Concepts" into Google and I find something completely unexpected!!! Back in September the album was reviewed by Karl Ackermann for All About Jazz!!! And hit by a couple of thousand people no less!! What a pleasant surprise... And it explains something I did not understand... There is a link to the video of Abstract Structures in the review... That video has about 500 hits on Kevin Reilly's YouTube... I wondered why that one had got so many views beyond the fact that it was the first concert after the hiatus...


Anyway, I got in touch with Karl and sent him a box with 6 of the titles recorded early this year so he could select a few to review on AllAboutJazz.com.  About a month later, he has already published excellent and very perceptive reviews of Metal Chaos Ensemble - Intermetallic Compounds and Turbulence - Vortex Generation Mechanisms.  Following are Karl's 3 reviews and links to the reviews in AllAboutJazz...


1) Upcoming Performances

Audio CD                                                            Evil Clown 9099
Leap of Faith ‐ Plasma
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) Fundamental State of Nature - 56:06
     Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA - 3/17/2016

PEK - clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, tenor sax, piccolo oboe,

     tarogato, bass recorder, shenai, gaunzi, game calls, whistles,

     aquasonic, theremin, Korg ms-20, [d]ronins, daxophone, metal,

     electronics 
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice 
Todd Brunel - clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, metal,

     drums, [d]ronins, guzheng, Korg ms-20 
Kevin Dacey - metal, crotales / bells, balafon, wood, guzheng, 
     Korg ms-20, aquasonic, [d]ronins, guanzi, game calls 
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, wood, crotales / bells, [d]ronins,      

     guzheng, voice


2) Leap of Faith Orchestra Plans and Progress

Leap of Faith/Thomas Heberer: Solution Concepts

     by Karl Ackermann (September 2015)

Audio  CD                                                            Evil Clown 9096
Leap of Faith - Finite Simple Groups
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) Cyclic Groups - 49:40
         Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA - 3/3/2016 ​

PEK - clarinet, alto clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones, 
     shenai, guanzi, piccolo oboe, guzheng, daxophone, aquasonic, theremin, Korg 
     ms-20, voice 
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice 
Bob Moores - trumpet, metal, guzheng, temple blocks 
Kirsten Lamb - bass 
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, guzheng, yanqin, daxophone, aquasonic, voice

3) New Releases 

Audio CD                                                             Evil Clown 9076
​​​Thomas Herberer / Leap of Faith  -  Solution Concepts
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

Leap of Faith 
      1) Subgame - 39:24

Thomas Heberer Solo
     2) The Great Hill - 4:41 (Heberer)
     3) Teodoro - 5:08 (Heberer)
     4) Mongezi - 3:32 (Heberer)
     5) Loose Ends - 4:40 (Heberer)

Leap of Faith with special guest Thomas Heberer
     6) Information Sets - 21:53

Downtown Music Gallery, Manhattan - 16 August 2015

Thomas Heberer - cornet (2-6)
PEK - tenor sax, piccolo oboe, clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, voice (1,6)
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice (1,6)
Steve Norton - sopranino sax, alto clarinet, alto saxophone (1,6)
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice (1,6)



Since the last newsletter from mid-February came out, Evil Clown has been shredding hard.  We have 5 more new releases (two of which are doubles).  The first is a duet with PEK and Steve Norton as Turbulence - this album has already had a review at AllAboutJazz.com (see the review section below).  The two double CDs are from Leap of Faith Orchestra performances and the last two are Leap of Faith sets at Evil Clown Headquarters with extra Orchestra members.​ 


The Turbulence duet album was recorded first on 25 February...  At one point, there had been a full session planned for Turbulence on that date which had been canceled.  Somehow it was still on Steve's book, so he diligently showed up at the appointed hour with a car full of horns...  Not to waste an opportunity, we did the session as a duet using the horns and also percussion and some of the electronics rig...​  I sent the disc along with some of the other newer recordings off to Karl Ackermann (AllAboutJazz.com) and two weeks later there was a review!

Sparkles Out...

4/2/2016

Turbulence
   PEK - clarinets, saxes, double reeds
   Steve Norton - clarinets, saxes
   Charlie Kohlhase - alto and baritone saxes
   Bob Moores - trumpet

   Forbes Graham - trumpet

   Sara Honeywell - trombone
   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

   Kirsten Lamb - bass

Audio CD                                                            Evil Clown 9101
Leap of Faith Orchestra Sub Units ‐ Probabilistic Analogues V2
​Lilypad, Cambridge MA - ​3/23/2016 
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

Leap of Faith Orchestra:  Mean Value Theorem - 50:19

     PEK - clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone,

          oboe, piccolo oboe, guanzi, hulusi, sheng, whistles, aquasonic,

          metal 
     Steve Norton - soprano and sopranino saxes, bass and contra-alto

          clarinets 
     Bob Moores - trumpet, electronics 
     Sara Honeywell - trombone 
     Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice 
    Tony Leva - bass 
     Andria Nicodemou - vibes, crotales, metal, slinky 
     Kevin Dacey - drums, metal, bells 
     Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, voice



CD-R                                                           Evil Clown 9091
Metal Chaos Ensemble ‐ Intermetallic Compounds
streaming, downloads and CD orders

1) Intermetallic Compounds - 47:05
      Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA, 1/21/2016

PEK - tenor sax, alto sax, bass tromboon, contra-alto clarinet, 
       gaunzi, sheng, metal, crotales/bells, daxophone, aquasonic,

       theremin, korg ms-20, daiko, guzheng, yanqin, whistles
Andria Nicodemou - vibes, crotales/bells, metal, aquasonic, daxophone, 
       guzheng, yanqin
Yuri Zbitnov - metal, drums, Daiko, Indian Festival Drum, daxophone, 
       vibes, aquasonic, crotales/bells, yanqin, voice

Audio  CD                                                            Evil Clown 9097
Leap of Faith / String Theory - Dimensions V1
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) String Theory - Parameter Spaces - 32:59
2) Leap of Faith - Configuration Spaces - 33:26
     Nave Gallery, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, Somerville MA - 
     3/5/2016

PEK (1,2) - alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, alto clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, 
     conntrabass clarinet, oboe, bassoon, shenai, sheng, hulusi, whistles, 
     Korg ms-20, theremin, aquasonic, daxophone, guzheng, yanqin, metal, 
     siren, game calls
Glynis Lomon (1,2) - cello, aquasonic, voice
Andria Nicodemou (2) - vibes, metal
Mimi Rabson (1) - violin
Clara Kebabian (1) - violin, electroncis
Tony Leva (1) - bass
Kirsten Lamb (1) - bass
Yuri Zbitnov (2) - drums, daiko, metal


In several of his Evil Clown groups such as String Theory, New Language Collaborative, Metal Chaos Ensemble and Leap of Faith, David Peck (aka PEK) employs enough instrumentation to supply a marching band (though they would be an odd lot for sure). On his Turbulence project, Vortex Generation Mechanisms, he leaves much of that unconventional battery in the boot. Which is not to say that there is any shortage of musical tools in the mix.

Turbulence—like many of the Evil Clown staple groups—has a rotational lineup where PEK himself is the one constant. Their first album, Flow Regimes, Volume 1 (2015), a joint outing with Leap of Faith, featured the group as a quintet. Vortex Generation Mechanisms, however, is a duet with the focus on PEK and fellow mulit-reedist Steve Norton. But the saxophone/clarinet central point is still surrounded by a total of eighteen "instruments" of far-flung origins.

The title track—a fifty-plus minute sonic voyage—is the sole piece on Vortex Generation Mechanisms. It seamlessly move across terrains that greatly vary in texture. At times PEK and Norton lose each other in a tangle of notes but find their way back to a quasi-center. In other phases of the piece, languid lines, sometimes ominous, from the bass clarinet mix with rasping metal and other odd sounds. One can imagine air being let out of a balloon in the midst of bells and gongs and yet a musical quality incorporates these outlying elements as part of the imagery.

Vortex Generation Mechanisms veers between minimalism and an air-driven calliope coming off the rails. Despite employing a plethora of non-conventional tools, the music always has a sense of meaningfulness; it can be calming and disconnected at the same time. As a result, it is always more provoking than pacifying. Like much Evil Clown's output, this is a project that organically grows with each listening.

​Metal Chaos Ensemble - Intermetallic Compounds

     by Karl Ackermann (March 2016)

The twenty year history of Leap of Faith includes an eleven year hiatus that is noteworthy more for the cooperative's ability to seamlessly pick up the pieces than for an uber-extended break. Cellist Glynis Lomon—a one-time student ofBill Dixon—was working the Boston circuit with multi-reedist Pek in the 1990s. The two honed their far reaching technical skills taking them into the Leaping Water Trio, a precursor to Leap of Faith whose 1995 debut included trombonist Mark McGrain and occasional guests. 

A rotation of group visitors, with PEK and Lomon always at the center, along with multimedia performances, marked the continued artistic development of Leap of Faith until 2003. PEK left behind his day-to-day music career while Lomon remained involved with other projects, most notably Dixon's Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12, 2009) along with brass masters Stephen Haynes, Taylor Ho Bynum and Rob Mazurek and bassist Ken Filiano. In early 2015 PEK and Loman reunited to perform with the original members of Leap of Faith while lining up a new formation to include saxophonist/clarinetist Steve Norton, and drummer Yuri Zbitnov. 

Sharing the billing on Solution Concepts is trumpeter Thomas Herberer who adds significant contributions on five of the six tracks. The album was recorded live at the Downtown Music Gallery in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan on August 16th, 2015. Starting out and fits and starts like an extended warm-up, "Subgame" doesn't take much of its almost forty minutes to be convincingly harrowing. With barely the trace of a melody, the marathon number nevertheless captures some satisfying but inexpressible spirit of wild abandon. In very sharp contrast, Heberer joins the group on "The Great Hill," a study in finely developed improvisation with his solo cornet soulfully expressive. 

"Teodoro" takes yet another tack as the experimental piece consists of noises drawn from the musicians pushing their instruments beyond their normal range and augmenting with distorted voices. The brief "Mongezi" and "Loose Ends" again feature Heberer and are less structured than "The Great Hill." Bookending the middle four tracks—all written by Heberer—is another extended improvisation, "Information Sets," clocking in at over twenty minutes. Ranging from a whisper to near-chaos, the piece is strangely musical with Zbitnov's thundering beat supporting approximations of bagpipes and ethereal voices. 

Considering the relatively brief number of years that Leap of Faith were actively recording, their output has been prolific and varied. PEK and Lomon have worked in formations from duo to large ensembles. Heberer's presence on Solution Concepts makes it quite different from earlier Leap of Faith albums but true to the experimental vision that PEK and Lomon first realized more than twenty years ago. The music on Solution Concepts is probing, intelligent and—in some instances—poignant.

Videos by PEK

Two days later on 5 March we did the LOFO (Leap of Faith + String Theory) performance at the Nave Gallery.  For the first set String Theory had 5 strings (Glynis Lomon, Mimi Rabson, Clara Kebabian, Tony Leva & Kirsten Lamb) + PEK.   Steve Norton had a conflict on this date, so for the second set Leap of Faith was PEK, Glynis Lomon, Andria Nicodemou and Yuri Zbitnov set.  This is the first time this particular quartet played as Leap of Faith and it produced a different sound.  The brilliant clarinet player Todd Brunel showed up in time to join the combined Orchestra for the final set.  This version of the Orchestra was nicely balanced with 5 strings, two horns and three percussion.

The full LOFO is an expanded Leap of Faith with the core ensemble of PEK, Glynis Lomon, Steve Norton, Andria Nicodemou 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.  We are also doing some shows with different sections through the Orchestra - Core Leap of Faith + Orchestra Sub-Units.  When any two or more of these units play together or when the size of the group reaches at least 8 or 9 people, it's called Leap of Faith Orchestra....

Starting in June, we’ll do our full first full orchestra performance (all 5 ensembles together totaling 18-20 performers) with several more in the fall to be scheduled later.   The venue for the Full LOF Orchestra performances is the Nave Gallery at the Clarendon Presbyterian Church in Somerville...  a lovely room with very good acoustics where the Hyperbolic Spirals and Dimensions performances occurred.   For the full orchestra, I have created the first score, The Expanding Universe, utilizing frame notation to control who is playing at any given point in the performance with time code displayed to the ensemble.  There are also some written directions in the score defining pre-planned sonorities.  I used these techniques in Expansions, performed at Mobius in 1994, although that composition included far more notated melodic material than I will use for LOFO.  


You can check out the score for The Expanded Universe here:

The first round of preliminary preparation performances and some of the second round are complete.  Leap of Faith has done duel concerts with New Language Collaborative, Metal Chaos Ensemble, Turbulence and String Theory.  The results of those performances have been documented on the Evil Clown Webpage and on CD / download file issued via Bandcamp.  Round Two of the preparation performances for each of these combinations have been scheduled before June (with the String Theory and first Sub-Unit performances completed) .

Here’s where to find progress to date…  Each of these concerts produced a two CD double-live album with the first disc containing shorter sets by the each of the smaller sub-units of the LOFO, and the second disc a full set length piece by everyone together.  There are also some recent albums recorded at Evil Clown Headquarters for Leap of Faith, Metal Chaos Ensemble and Turbulence... 


Abstract Structures - LOFO (Leap of Faith + New Language Collaborative)

5 May 2015 - Lilypad, Cambridge MA
     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 - LOFO (Leap of Faith + Metal Chaos Ensemble)

12 September 2015 - Nave Gallery, Somerville MA 
     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

Flow Regimes - LOFO (Leap of Faith +Turbulence)

​27 October 2015 - Lilypad, Cambridge MA
     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


Supersymmetries – LOFO (Leap of Faith + String Theory)

​15 December 2015 - Lilypad, Cambridge MA
     Evil Clown Webpage:  http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-supersymmetries.html
     Bandcamp:  https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/supersymmetries-volume-1
                      https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/supersymmetries-volume-2


Dimensions – LOFO (Leap of Faith + String Theory)

5 March 2016 - Nave Gallery. Somerville MA

     Evil Clown Webpage:  http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-dimensions.html
     Bandcamp:  https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/dimensions-vol-1
                      https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/dimensions-vol-2

     Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/pek-746320808/sets/leap-of-faith-orchestra-leap-of-faith-string-theory-dimensions-v-12


Probabilistic Analogues – LOFO (Leap of Faith + LOFO Sub-Units)

22 March 2016 - Lilypad, Cambridge MA
     Evil Clown Webpage:  http://www.giantevilclown.com/lof-probabilistic-analogues.html

                      There are a whole bunch of great photos on the web page from Rob Miller.  Thanks Rob!
     Bandcamp:  https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/probabilistic-analogues-v1
                      https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/probabilistic-analogues-v2

     Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/pek-746320808/sets/leap-of-faith-orchestra-probabilistic-analogues

The next Leap of Faith set on 3 March at ECH was a quintet with PEK, Glynis Lomon, Yuri Zbitnov, Kirsten Lamb, Bob Moores.  This was a warmup for the LOFO Dimensions concert at the Nave Gallery two days later.  This set marks the first session at Evil Clown with the amazing bass player Kirsten Lamb and the first appearance of Bob Moore's trumpet in a smaller Leap of Faith ensemble.

Audio  CD                                                            Evil Clown 9098
Leap of Faith Orchestra - Dimensions V2
streaming, downloads and CD mail order

1) Abstract Spaces - 51:18
     Nave Gallery, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, Somerville MA - 
     3/5/2016


PEK - bass clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, baritone sax, daxophone, 
     bass tromboon, metal, Korg ms-20, theremin​
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Andria Nicodemou - vibes, metal
Todd Brunel - clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax
Mimi Rabson - violin
Clara Kebabian - violin, electroncis
Tony Leva - bass
Kirsten Lamb - bass
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, daiko, metal, daxophone, guzheng



​On Leap of Faith: "Alien yet familiar, bizarre yet completely fascinating. Expanding, contracting, erupting, settling down, always as one force..." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG

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 ​