Leap of Faith (2015 to Present)
Loops of Gravitational Force
“The core duet of the Leap of Faith Orchestra (LOFO) comprised of PEK on clarinets, saxophones, clarinets & flutes, and Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice, joined by the Reverend Grant Beale on guitar and Eric Woods on analog synth, subtly merging electronic elements into the primarily acoustic sound of the group as they amble through unusual soundscapes.”
Liner Notes Excerpt by PEK
“… This is the first Leap of Faith set with this quartet lineup. Both Eric Woods (analog synthesis) and Reverend Grant Beale (guitar) have played with Leap of Faith and other Evil Clown ensembles for years. Recently, both played on the debut set of Simulacrum (Hyperreality) which features the electronics players from the roster. The combination of acoustic and electronic instruments in improvisation is an interesting aesthetic problem which has concerned several of the EC bands for some time…”
Loops of Gravitational Force:
Leap of Faith
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA – 25 September 2021
1) Loops of Gravitational Force- 1:10:08
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, tenor & alto saxophones, bass flute, piccolo oboe, contrabassoon, sheng, bass & tenor ocarinas, slide whistle, fog horn, electric upright bass, gongs, brontosaurus & tank bells, Tibetan bowls, cowbells, almglocken, wood blocks, temple blocks, log drums, chimes, orchestral chimes, electric chimes, xylophone, balafon, glockenspiel, Englephone, crotales, [d[ronin, chime & spring boxes, telstar, lfo synths
Glynis Lomon – cello, aquasonic, voice
Eric Woods – analog synthesis
Reverend Grant Beale – guitar
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Liner Notes by PEK
Leap of Faith is the core duet of the Leap of Faith Orchestra (LOFO) comprised of PEK on clarinets, saxophones, clarinets & flutes, and Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice. The ensemble is based in Boston and dates back to the early 90s. We utilize a huge arsenal of additional Evil Clown instruments to improvise long works featuring transformations across highly varied sonorities. At times, the core unit has been a trio or even a quartet. The longest running core unit was comprised of PEK, Glynis and drummer Yuri Zbitnov, who played for the last couple of years of the archival period and the first 5 years of the reboot starting in 2015. The ensemble has always been highly modular and our many recordings (well over 100) feature the core unit in dozens of configurations with a huge list of guests and occasionally as only the core unit with no guests.
This is the first Leap of Faith set with this quartet lineup. Both Eric Woods (analog synthesis) and Reverend Grant Beale (guitar) have played with Leap of Faith and other Evil Clown ensembles for years. Recently, both played on the debut set of Simulacrum (Hyperreality) which features the electronics players from the roster. The combination of acoustic and electronic instruments in improvisation is an interesting aesthetic problem which has concerned several of the EC bands for some time. Eric is very good at blending his analog electronics into everything from the more rock-oriented Metal Chaos Ensemble sets to the more acoustic Leap of Faith environment. I have also been adding electronic and electro-acoustic instruments to my own set up for the last few years. Grant, who has brought noise electronics and processed guitar into Simulacrum and Metal Chaos Ensemble sets, brought his clean sounding guitar to this session.
This is a strong set as I expected, since everyone is still very excited to be able to play music again with others. Stay tuned for a steady stream of new sets over the next few months from Leap of Faith and all the other active Evil Clown ensembles.
PEK 9/26/21
Video Screen Grabs
