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 2025, we have recorded over 60 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. 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.  More recently, the Turbulence Orchestra and Sub-Units project has been performing twice a year in Brattleboro VT.

I add the “Orchestra” Suffix to the ensemble name when the ensemble size reaches 8. As I see it, an ensemble is structurally an orchestra when it is large enough to contain multiple members each of multiple sections of like timbre. 8 players seems to always qualify here at Evil Clown Headquarters.  Originally this set was scheduled for 11 players – 9 horns plus bass and percussion – which is about the largest ensemble we can handle at ECH. However, as almost always happens with such a large ensemble we lost a few at the last moment (1 to illness and 1 to a schedule snafu) and ended up with merely 7 horns. 

Molecular Diffusion’s horn lineup ended up on 7 players, PEK with a combination of some long-time regulars in the brass (Bob, Eric & Duane) with some relative newcomers in the reeds (Hilary, Cliff and Kelsey). Hilary, who generally plays conga as well as tenor sax and flute and who also brought soprano for the first time for this set, appears for his sixth Evil Clown set since early 2024. He is busy and a bit tricky to schedule, but he is an excellent horn player with a voice a bit more jazz-leaning than most of the Evil Clown horn players, and also a strong percussionist.  Cliff made his first appearance at the Turbulence Orchestra & Sub-Units Tempestuous Hubbub show in Brattleboro (11/9/24) and has been a busy little bee since – now appearing on his 10 Evil Clown session.  Cliff brought flute for the first time to this set along with his usual alto and tenor saxes.  Kelsey is a great young clarinet player who was brought to the last Brattleboro TO&SU show by tenor sax regular Bonnie Kane.  She makes her fourth Evil Clown appearance here.

The rhythm section is comprised of regulars Scott Samenfeld on bass and Michael Knoblach on percussion.  Scott sometimes brings an electric flute, but this time he brought his newly acquired wind controller instead, becoming a eighth horn electronically for sections of the work. On other Turbulence Orchestra sets I have had Mike play traps instead of his usual percussion from his seat on the floor. Scott leans a bit jazz on the bass and having the drum set makes this unit kind of a jazz band with a small rhythm a section and a big horn front line.  But this time I decided to have him stay with the percussion rig and it really suited the session.

For Orchestra performances, sometimes I make some frames to control the development of the opening of the piece. Here I did that and I also prepared some for a section in the middle. We had a little strategy meeting right before the hit about how to apportion improvisation time during the performance. The ensemble really did a good job of spending an appropriate amount of time away from their principal instruments on the other available sounds in the space. As a consequence, Molecular Diffusion is a strong example of a very well-balanced broad palate improvisation with steady transformation through distinct sonorities over the duration of the performance.

I really like this set, and I bet you will too…

PEK 12/7/2025