Turbulence Orchestra
Cyclonic Streams
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… I’m super happy with this session. The regulars and the newer arrivals really played extremely well together, listening intently and exercising admirable restraint. Generally speaking, as ensemble size increases, so increases the difficulty of making music which is well-formed and tight. I’m very interested in the aesthetic problems of larger group pure improvisations. My Broad Palate concept is a solution to this problem which works by introducing many different possible sonorities. Over the duration of the work, the combination of instruments undergoes tremendous variation, leading to a sequence of very different movements. …”
Cyclonic Streams:
Turbulence Orchestra
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA – 27 August 2022
1) Cyclonic Streams – 1:10:46
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto, tenor & bass saxophones, bass flute, tarota, bass tromboon, melodica, bass ocarinas, bass recorder, goat horn, fog horns, triple slide whistle, [d]ronin, 17-string bass, novation peak, moog subsequent, prophet, Linnstrument controllers, chime rod boxes, spring boxes, gongs, plate gong, crotales, Tibetan bell, crank siren, brontosaurus & tank bells, log drums, wood blocks, almglocken, chimes, voice
David Welans – flute, piccolo, dizi-boehm flute, Englephone, log drums, wood blocks, temple blocks, cymbells
Dennis Livingston – flute, recorders, ocarinas, assorted bottles, cymbells, log drums, Englephone
Michael Caglianone – soprano, alto & tenor saxophones. water bottle, tiny slide whistle, cow bells, gongs, plate gong, almglocken, 17-string bass, chime rod boxes, spring boxes
Bob Moores – trumpet, flugelhorn, pocket trumpet, shofar, wind siren, gongs, almglocken, balafon, chimes, Tibetan bowls, 17-string bass, Englephone, glockenspiel, log drums, brontosaurus bell, orchestral anvils, voice, laughter
Eric Dahlman – trumpet, pocket trumpet, throat singing, recorder, whistle, Tibetan bowls, balafon, glockenspiel, bell, prophet, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers
Duane Reed – baritone horn, throat singing, crotales, wind siren, maracas, Englephone, wind siren
Kat Dobbins – trombone, voice, Tibetan bowls, almglocken, balafon, orchestral anvils
Joel Simches – Live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing
Liner Notes by PEK
I formed Turbulence in 2015 as I started to assemble players for the Leap of Faith Orchestra. Turbulence, the extended horn section for the Orchestra (along with guests on other instruments), also records and performs as an independent unit. As if this writing in 2021, we have recorded over 30 albums on Evil Clown with greatly varied ensembles. All the smaller Evil Clown bands are really more about a general approach, rather than a specific set of musicians. A session gets credited to Turbulence when it is mostly horn players and the only musician on all of them is me. A session gets crediting to Turbulence Orchestra when the size of the band reaches 8 or more performers. The sessions range from an early duet with Steve Norton and me (Vortex Generation Mechanisms) to a 5-horn band with bass and two percussionists (Encryption Schemes) to four albums by the side project Turbulence Doom Choir which feature myself, multiple tubas, percussion, electronics, and signal processing and many other configurations.
Currently, the Evil Clown Roster has about 20 horn players. When I schedule Turbulence sets, I put one on the weekend and one on a weeknight since some players can only do one or the other. This is the second session of the third cycle of Turbulence sets since vaccines became available and I started having YouTube LiveStreaming sets at Evil Clown Headquarters. Since so many players are available, I’m working on the problem of large ensemble improvisation with big groups of Evil Clown regulars mixed with some relative newbies…
The ensemble ended up numbering 8, including two trumpets, two lower brass and four reeds. This blend of 4 brass and 4 reeds is ideal, allowing the sonority to shift from brass-only sections to reeds only sections to sections that are mixed. Of course, everyone is also doubling percussion and the other instruments spread out around the space. The brass section includes Bob Moores and Eric Dahlman (long-time Evil Clown regulars), low brass is handled by regular Duane Reed on baritone horn and the fabulous return of trombonist Kat Dobbins who has been missing since the beginning of the pandemic. The reeds are me and saxophonist Michael Caglianone and two flute players, David Welans and Dennis Livingston.
I’m super happy with this session. The regulars and the newer arrivals really played extremely well together, listening intently and exercising admirable restraint. Generally speaking, as ensemble size increases, so increases the difficulty of making music which is well-formed and tight. I’m very interested in the aesthetic problems of larger group pure improvisations. My Broad Palate concept is a solution to this problem which works by introducing many different possible sonorities. Over the duration of the work, the combination of instruments undergoes tremendous variation, leading to a sequence of very different movements.
Anyway, I like this set and I bet you will too…
PEK – 8/28/2022
Video Screen Grabs
