Leap of Faith (2015 to Present)
Matter Self Organizes
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… A common configuration in the last few years has been 3 horns, Glynis, bass and drums. There have been a variety of lineups with this configuration, but this is a new one. Newcomer Kelsey Gallagher takes the third horn position on clarinet along with regulars PEK on reeds and John Fugarino on Brass… Glynis of course on cello, aquasonic and voice… and regulars Scott Samenfeld on bass and Michael Knoblach on a variety of Arabic frame drums…”
Leap of Faith
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
27 September 2025
1) Matter Self Organizes – 1:10:01
2) Between the Constituent Parts – 5:27
PEK – clarinet, basset horn, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, glissophone, piccolo oboe, shenai, 5 hole Russian flute, sheng, melodica, lfo percolator, spring & chime rod boxes, array mbira, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, syntrx, ms-20, noise tower, daxophone, 17-string bass, [d]ronin, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, orchestral chimes & anvils, cow bells, chimes, brontosaurus & tank bells, Tibetan bells & bowls, wood & temple blocks, gongs, crotales, glockenspiel, plate gong, Englephone, danmo, seed pod rattle, ratchet
Glynis Lomon – cello, aquasonic, voice
John Fugarino – trumpets, flugelhorn, trombone, valve trombone, French horn, melodica, gravichord, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, nord stage 3, 17-string bass, almglocken, balafon, xylophone, triangle chimes, gongs, plate gong, bell tree, crotales, glockenspiel, Englephone, chimes, wood & temple blocks, log drums, seed pod rattle, Tibetan bowls
Kelsey Gallagher – clarinet, aquasonic, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, nord stage 3, log drums, wood & temple blocks, seed pod rattles, clown hammers, sparkly rubber chicken
Scott Samenfeld – electric upright bass, electric flute
Michael Knoblach – zarb, muzhar, riq, riq with wooden zils, bendir, bodran, daf, doria, rattlesnake drum
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.
A common configuration for Leap of Faith in the last few years has been 3 horns, Glynis, bass and drums. There have been a variety of lineups with this configuration, but this is a new one. Newcomer Kelsey Gallagher takes the third horn position on clarinet along with regulars PEK on reeds and John Fugarino on Brass… Glynis of course on cello, aquasonic and voice… and regulars Scott Samenfeld on bass and Michael Knoblach on a variety of Arabic frame drums…
Kelsey has a strong voice on the clarinet and has demonstrated an immediate deep understanding of the broad palette improvisation concept utilized at Evil Clown where we use lots of instrument changes to transform the work through widely different sonorities over the duration. Michael has mostly been bringing African instruments recently, including some really terrific wooden figure slit drums, so this rig was very different, and it is the first time he brought these instruments. I especially like the amazing sounds he gets with the friction mallet during the opening of the long piece with the 3 aquasonics…
Anyway, I really like this set, and I bet you will too…
PEK 9/28/2025
Paul Brennan Photos
and Video Screen Grabs
