Leap of Faith (2015 to Present)
Accelerated Expansion Closing
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… For Accelerated Expansion Closing we have a quartet with Michael Knoblach on percussion and no bass player and the result lands on the quieter end of the dynamic spectrum. Quiter, but no less intense. The other performers are Glynis, John and me, so this is a small ensemble comprised of hard-core Evil Clown regulars……”
Accelerated Expansions Closing:
Leap of Faith
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA – 21 March 2024
1) Accelerated Expansion Closing – 1:08:34
2) Recession Velocity – 5:27
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, piccolo oboe, English horn, bass tromboon, alto flute, novation peak, moog subsequent, syntrx, arp odyssey, prophet, soma pipe with game call, daxophone with delay, korg ms-20, Linnstrument controllers, lfo percolator, theremin with moogerfooger, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, spring & chime rod boxes, array mbira, orchestral chimes, Tibetan chimes, bells & bowls, chimes, wood blocks, brontosaurus & tank bells, gongs, plate gong, temple blocks, log drums, ratchet, cow bells, Englephone, danmo, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, temple bells, orchestral anvils
Glynis Lomon – cello, aquasonic, voice
John Fugarino – trumpet, slide trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, rattles, bells, novation peak, moog subsequent, korg ms-20, nord stage 3, Linnstrument controllers, spring & chime rod boxes, Englephone, danmo, temple & wood blocks, log drums, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, orchestral anvils, Tibetan bowls, gongs, chimes, crotales, glockenspiel
Michael Knoblach – shakers, devil chasers, split bamboo mallets, LP udders, Fisher Price Happy Apple, wooden clacker, bells, Bodhran, copper bowl, enamel bowls, sand blocks, African circumcision rattles, slinky, tit-fers, wooden billiards triangle, meinl helix bowls, xmas ornaments, tiny sleigh bells, glass furniture carpet protectors, ratchets, tiny seed pod shakers, huge & medium seed pods, party time balloon pump, wooden robot, Griswold cast iron skillets, flex-a-tones, vibratones, whisk, abacuses, basket of rocks, turtle skin rattle, egg beater, happy apple, pitchforks, devil chasers, wood shakers, fisher price turtle, fisher price bee, first years clown, humpty dumpty toy, spooky world noise makers, plastic tubes, castanets, Victorian children’s rattles, antique Asian bronze children’s rattles, healing balls, mortar & pestle, confirmation bells, wooden bell, sleigh bells, elephant bell, sistrum, antique sheep shears, axatse, scalp massagers, basket rattles, metal rattle, African wood blocks with stone inside, Chicxulub dinosaur and star teething rings, bags of marbles, water filled mason jar, magic wands, water filled lobster pot, palm frond rattles, plastic ball rattles
Joel Simches – live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing.
Full Video
Video Shorties
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. Currently, the core unit is the duet of PEK and Lomon and we are regularly presenting LIVESTREAMs to YouTube from Evil Clown Headquarters with other guest performers.
We have lots of good bass players and drummers available in the roster, and many of the recent Leap of Faith recordings have leveraged those resources and featured ensembles sizes of six or more performers. For Accelerated Expansion Closing we have a quartet with Michael Knoblach on percussion and no bass player and the result lands on the quieter end of the dynamic spectrum. Quiter, but no less intense. The other performers are Glynis, John and me, so this is a small ensemble comprised of hard-core Evil Clown regulars…
I am interested in the difficult and very interesting aesthetic problem of large ensemble free improvisation. Our general solution is to equip the ensemble with a very broad palette of sounds and to create a series of dramatic transformations through a range of sonority over the duration of the improvisation. Of course, this technique is also extremely effective in a smaller unit, and this performance shows how improvisors with access to these tools and a deep interpersonal music connection can make extraordinary improvised music together.
Anyway, I enjoyed this set, and I’m sure you will too!! Check it out.
PEK 3/23/2024
Paul Brennan Photos & Video Grabs
