Leap of Faith (2015 to Present)
Taxonomic Dilemma
Looking to configure The Leap of Faith ensemble with a 3-horn front line, Boston wind & reed player and Evil Clown label leader David Peck recruited John Fugarino to perform on trumpet, slide trumpet & trombone, and surprisingly, Japanese pianist Keiichi Hashimoto, who also performs on trumpet, cornet & flugelhorn, with cellist Gylnis Lomon filling out the band for this dynamic, extended set.
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… This is the second performance at Evil Clown Headquarters since the new studio space has been completed. The combination of very old and very new musical relationships led to an excellent recording with all the players deeply connected to the ensemble sound…”
Taxonomic Dilemma:
Leap of Faith
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA – 2/11/2023
1) Taxonomic Dilemma – 1:10:22
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, tarota, piccolo oboe, goat horn, bass flute, sheng, accordion, tiny slide whistle, novation peak, moog subsequent, syntrx, arp odyssey, korg ms-20, Linnstrument controllers, nord keyboard, theremin with moogerfooger, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, nagoya, spring & chime rod boxes, electric chimes, crotales, orchestral chimes, glockenspiel, chimes, wood blocks, brontosaurus & tank bells, gongs, plate gong, temple blocks, log drums, cow bells, Englephone, bowed cymbal, danmo, crank siren, voice .
Glynis Lomon – cello, aquasonic, voice
John Fugarino – trumpet, slide trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, brontosaurus & tank bells, log drum, chimes,gongs, nord & prophet keyboards, wood blocks, Tibetan bells, 17 string bass, Englephone, chime rod & spring boxes
Keiichi Hashimoto – piccolo trumpet, modified cornet, flugelhorn, trombone, spring & chime rod boxes, novation peak, moog subsequent, nord keyboard, arp odyssey, korg ms-20, Linnstrument controllers, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, orchestral chimes, gongs, wood blocks, temple blocks, danmo, log drums, xylophone, balafon, almglocken, bottle, nagoya, Englephone, danmo, crotales, glockenspeil, table, hand claps, movement
Michael Knoblach – frame drum, busy box drum, tank drum, enamel bowls, devil chasers axatse, abacuses, African rattles, Fischer Price toys, sheep shears, slinky, wooden billiards triangle, tit-fer, bells, antique child rattles, sand blocks, horses-ass-a-phone, basket of rocks, spooky world noise makers, spinning toy, acme siren whistle, mortar & pestle, lobster pot, meditation bells, cast iron skillet, whirly tubes
Joel Simches – Live to 2-track mix, real-time signal processing
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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, double reeds & 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 (now over 150) feature the various 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.
Over the years there have been recurring lineups for Leap of Faith where we do a series of performances with the same guests. There have also been recurring ensemble formations, for example, Glynis & me with drums and two additional horns. We had a number of these 3 horn sets when the core unit included Yuri.
The pandemic threw a wrench into the roster here at Evil Clown. People underwent a lot of change during those couple of years and many moved or made different lifestyle choices… So, some of my regulars are no longer available, which caused me to seek out new players, even more than usual. The ensemble for Leap of Faith – Taxonomic Dilemma shares several of these stories.
Michael Knoblach is a percussionist who performs mostly on a very unusual set of very unusual instruments (see the list above). He showed up right before the pandemic on the recommendation of Eric Dahlman – A regular on trumpet for some time now. Michael and I have done a number of sets as Expanse, both as a duet and a larger group with guests. Last year we did a few sessions with Glynis and with the relatively new trumpeter Vance Provey. I met Vance at a session of Eric Zinman with other notable performers. Vance has appeared on multiple sessions with Leap of Faith and with Turbulence. So, one recurring Leap of Faith Line up recently has been the quartet with me, Glynis, Vance and Michael.
Another recurring line up is a trio with me. Glynis and trumpeter John Fugarino. Glynis and I played with John in the Masashi Harada Sextet in the early 90s. When that band dissolved, Glynis and I lost track of John even though he was still in the Boston area. Early last year, I ran into John on facebook. He is currently teaching music at the Elementary School level, and also performs regularly, although not much free improvisation. I encouraged him to come and join in on Evil Clown Livestreaming performances and he has appeared since with both Turbulence and Leap of Faith.
I wanted to do Taxonomic Dilemma as a 3 horn LOF set with Michael on the weird percussion and both John and Vance – basically smushing the two recuring units into a larger ensemble. A couple days before the set, Vance reached out saying that he had been sick and would not make it for the set. I sent out invitations to other horn players in the roster and Michael recommended Keishi Hashimoto, also a trumpet player. Keishi was excellent on this show – he immediately got the broad palate concept, and was like a kid in the candy store, playing almost all of the percussion and electronic instruments arranged in the updated studio space.
This is the second performance at Evil Clown Headquarters since the new studio space has been completed. The combination of very old and very new musical relationships led to an excellent recording with all the players deeply connected to the ensemble sound.
I like this set and I bet you will too…
PEK out 2/12/2023
Paul Brennan Photos
