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
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
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