Leap of Faith (2015 to Present)
Sense and Understanding
Review Excerpt Bruce Lee Gallanter
“… As is often the case, the quintet rise from the ashes of silence adding their voices one or two at a time and building, combining forces as they go. While Mr. Zbitnov again starts escalating the rhythmic from below, the brass and reeds ascend slowly with him, buzzing, simmering and building to the next level. Again, it is Mr. Zbitnov’s ever-engaging drumming that sets the pace here while both brass, reeds and cello interweave around him, rising and falling in organic waves. An outstanding effort from a series of ensembles that now passed the 100 mark for released discs!”
Bruce Lee Gallanter – Downtown Music Gallery
Two excursive works from the Boston improvising collective Leap of Faith, with the core trio of PEK on clarinets, saxophones, double reeds & flutes, Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice, and Yuri Zbitnov on drums & percussion, plus guests Kat Dobbins on trombone and Bob Moores on trumpets, creating a highly interactive environment performing PEK’s framework compositions.
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
”…I had the idea for this quintet based on the interactions between Bob and Kat at the Probability Clouds show by Leap of Faith Orchestra & Sub-Units. I scheduled our July show at Outpost 186 for this quintet, but that day was blazing hot, nearly 100 degrees and humid. Although I hated to do it, I canceled the performance. Luckily, we were able to make up the show later that week at Evil Clown Headquarters, and now finally a public performance…”
Sense and Understanding:
Leap of Faith
Outpost 186, Cambridge MA – 14 December 2019
1. Sense – 18:56
2. Understanding – 50:53
PEK – clarinet & contralto clarinet, alto, tenor & bass saxophones, tarota, English horn, sheng, contrabassoon,wood flute, melodica, game calls, Tibetan bowls, bells, wood blocks, rachet, gong, voice
Glynis Lomon – cello, aquasonic, voice
Kat Dobbins – trombone, rubber band, stomping, clapping, voice
Bob Moores – trumpet, game calls, wood flute
Yuri Zbitnov – drums, Tibetan bowls, wood blocks, Paiste gong, metal, wood, voice
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Review by Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
LEAP OF FAITH with PEK / GLYNIS LOMON / KAT DOBBINS / BOB MOORES / YURI ZBITNOV – Sense and Understanding (Evil Clown 9237; USA) Personnel: PEK – clarinets, saxes, taragato, English horn, flute, melodica & percussion; Glynis Lomon (2nd piece only) on cello, aquasonic & voice; Kat Dobbins on trombone, stomping & clapping; Bob Moores on trumpet, game calls & wood flute and Yuri Zbitnov on drums & percussion. Although the core members remain the same: Pek, Ms. Lomon & Mr. Zbitnov, this version includes Bob Moores, whose been around for a bit and newest member Kat Dobbins. This session was recorded at Outpost 186 in Cambridge, MA in December of 2019 and consists of two pieces, 19 & 51 minutes. As is often the case, things start off slowly with just a couple of instruments at a time: melodica, percussion and trombone. While Zbitnov plays a slow, skeletal groove, the trombone, trumpet and low-end clarinet circle slowly above. Each member gets a chance to stretch out and slowly add to the ongoing organic improv flow. Yuri Zbitnov, who will be retiring from Leap of Faith shortly is in strong form here, whipping up a storm but not overdoing it too much. “Understanding” is the longer piece here with Ms. Lomon joining the entourage. As is often the case, the quintet rise from the ashes of silence adding their voices one or two at a time and building, combining forces as they go. While Mr. Zbitnov again starts escalating the rhythmic from below, the brass and reeds ascend slowly with him, buzzing, simmering and building to the next level. Again, it is Mr. Zbitnov’s ever-engaging drumming that sets the pace here while both brass, reeds and cello interweave around him, rising and falling in organic waves. An outstanding effort from a series of ensembles that now passed the 100 mark for released discs!
– Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
Liner Notes by PEK
Leap of Faith is the core trio of the Leap of Faith Orchestra (LOFO) comprised of PEK on clarinets, saxophones, double reeds & flutes, Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice, and Yuri Zbitnov on drums & percussion. 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. The ensemble has always been highly modular and our many recordings feature the core trio in dozens of configurations with a huge list of guests.
One of the common variations of Leap of Faith is a 3-horn quintet with the core unit plus two guest horn players. There are maybe about fifteen albums with this general format.
A new variation of this ensemble features trombonist Kat Dobbins who has performed on about half a dozen Evil Clown sessions from the LOFO performances of PEK Frame Notation Scores, Turbulence, and the LOFO & Sub-Units shows at Third Life Studio. She has a great sound and improvisational sensibility which are very welcome at Evil Clown whenever she can make time for us in her hectic schedule…
The second added horn is Evil Clown regular Bob Moores on trumpet, pic trumpet, and flugelhorn. Bob also plays the percussion instruments strewn throughout the studio.
I had the idea for this quintet based on the interactions between Bob and Kat at the Probability Clouds show by Leap of Faith Orchestra & Sub-Units. I scheduled our July show at Outpost 186 for this quintet, but that day was blazing hot, nearly 100 degrees and humid. Although I hated to do it, I canceled the performance. Luckily, we were able to make up the show later that week at Evil Clown Headquarters, and now finally a public performance.
We’re doing LIVE STREAMING now for recording sessions at ECH, and the make-up performance for the canceled show marks the debut of the new wall mounted cameras, which provide a much better camera angle and better lighting… For this show we used 7 cameras all fed to Raffi at the video mixer: Live mixed to YouTube!
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As I expected, this quintet comprised of the three horns of PEK, Bob and Kat, with the cello of Glynis and the percussion from Yuri, played a great set to YouTube and now another one at this public performance in December.
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PEK – 12/17/2019
Catherine Hammond Photos
