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Coherence Disturbed

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Coherence Disturbed --- 2021-09-29

Evil Clown 9285 LIVESTREAMED to YouTube Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA 29 September 2021 Coherence Disturbed - 1:10:47 . PEK - clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, tenor, alto & bass saxophones, bass flute, piccolo oboe, English horn, bass ocarinas, gongs, xylophone, balafon, Tibetan bowls, chimes, orchestral chimes, electric chimes, [d[ronin, chime rod & spring boxes, telstar, aquasonic . Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice . Melanie Howell-Brooks - contrabass clarinet, alto saxophone, flute, piccolo, crotales, glockenspiel, wood blocks, temple blocks, log drums, chimes, cow bells, almglocken, brontosaurus & tank bells, Englephone, xylophone, balafon, Tibetan bowls . Todd Brunel - clarinet & bass clarinet, tenor sax, brontosaurus & tank bells, wood blocks, temple blocks, log drums, chimes, Tibetan bowls, cymbells ----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 PEK and Lomon and we are regularly presenting LIVESTREAMs to YouTube from Evil Clown Headquarters with other guest performers. This is the first Leap of Faith set with this quartet lineup. There have been some changes to the Evil Clown roster over the pandemic. While many of the regulars are still around and have been participating in the LIVESTREAMING shows from Evil Clown Headquarters, some have changed up in one way or another and are no longer available. Likewise, I have some new players, and I have some that participated in the past and are now rejoining us. Melanie is new, this is her second Evil Clown session, the first being with Turbulence a few months back. I met her during the pandemic when she bought my old contrabass clarinet, and of course, I recruited her. Todd did a few sessions with Leap of Faith and the Leap of Faith Orchestra maybe four years back and then withdrew due to scheduling issues. Outside of the Evil Clown umbrella, Todd and Glynis have played together in the past and Todd and Melanie have played together in the past. I love to bring in skilled players like these who have pre-existing experience with each other: The combination of reacting to the completely new and the existing connections between the various sub-groups creates an interesting and exciting dynamic. Another interesting dynamic at work here is the contrast between the dirty and chaotic sounds that typically dominate my improvisations with Glynis and the clean, precisely articulated sounds that typically dominate both Todd and Melanie’s expression. I discovered long ago that it is not necessary for all the players in an improvisation to share the same backgrounds and musical languages: for example, we’ve played with a number of players who come from the world of classical performance and others who are much more jazz than we tend to be. The pull between different approaches often produces a sound space which would not occur but for these contrasts. When the players are all as strong as those in this quartet and skilled at listening/reacting/predicting, extraordinary performances are the natural result. This is a strong set as I expected, since everyone is still very excited to be able to play music again with others. Stay tuned for a steady stream of new sets over the next few months from Leap of Faith and all the other active Evil Clown ensembles. - PEK 9/30/21