A collection of three improvisations done on the 8th of october 2025

Improv 1

Improv 2

Improv 3

Improv 4

Evil Clown 9441
Livestreamed to YouTube
Evil Clown Headquarters - Waltham MA – 11 November 2025

1)	Studying the Pattern - 1:11:09
2)	I Stared into the Sun- 6:19

PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, piccolo oboe, bass flute, ocarina, Godzilla Harp, electro drones, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, prophet, lfo percolator, spring & chime rod boxes, Englephone, danmo, orchestral castanets, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, Tibetan bells & bowls, gongs, plate gong, crotales, Tibetan chimes, trine, orchestral chimes, almglocken, brontosaurus & tank bells, log drums, wood & temple blocks, cow bells, seed pod rattles, balafon, xylopohne, narration

Michael Caglianone - soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet & bass clarinet, flute, slide whistle, ocarina, crank siren, Tibetan bells, array mbira, spring & chime rod boxes, electro drones, flex-a-tone, orchestral castanets, seed pod rattles, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers

John Fugarino – trumpet, flugelhorn, french horn, trombone, melodica, ocarina, Kalimba, array mbira, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, brontosaurus & tank bells, log drums, wood & temple blocks, triangle chimes,  cow bells, gongs, seed pod rattles, spring & chime rod boxes, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers

Eric Woods - analog synthesis, Nord stage 3, crotales, glockenspiel, gongs, wood & temple blocks, brontosaurus & tank bells

Cyrus Shauoul - Korg synth, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, seed pod rattles, xylophone, gongs, ratchet, vuvuzela

Scott Samenfeld – electric bass, electric flute

Joel Simches - real time signal processing and live to 2-track mix

Paul Brennan – camera

Raffi – video mix


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Liner Notes by PEK

Ordinarily, MCE is a rock-oriented ensemble which includes a drummer.  Ephemeral, another recent MCE set, also did not include a drummer.  It was a bit strange to mine this aesthetic territory with a drummerless ensemble, but the other elements of Metal Chaos Ensemble were still evident: lots of electronics, lots of percussion, and spoken word narration. 

Jared had a last second conflict and did not make it to play drums, but Cyrus, who is running a company and is frequently on the road, showed up despite not being expected.  So several last second personnel changes changed the character of the ensemble at the final hour. One thing about pure improvisation as compared to other styles of music is that it is much more tolerant of changes in personnel.  An improvisation is a solution to an aesthetic problem posed by the performers and the resources available, so a change in these inputs changes the problem, but that only means a different solution is achieved.  The only question here is, do these changes take us far enough away from the aesthetic intent of Metal Chaos Ensemble that a change of the ensemble name is appropriate for this performance?  

This set definitely qualifies: It has an electronic chamber vibe and is more restrained than many of the higher energy MCE performances, but the ensemble made of 3 horn players, two electronics specialists, and electric bass, with nearly all of us doubling a lot of instruments on top of our primary axes, created a dynamic improvisation which transformed through a broad range of sonorities over the duration of the work.

It will be interesting to see how our solutions to this aesthetic problem evolve over time as we adjust to a different group of performers, and whether I end up with a stable unit again or it works more like the other Evil Clown Ensembles which have a core unit and various guests for different sessions.

I’m super happy with this album and I bet you like it too…

PEK – 11/11/2025


1) Studying the Pattern

2) Staring at the Sun

Violin from Session on 26062025

I am a free improviser on multiple instruments . I love exploring rhythm in its many forms. My tracks will be very diverse — hope you find something you like…

Improviser on Woodwinds, Percussion and Electronics.  CEO of Evil Clown, Leader of Evil Clown projects:  Leap of Faith Orchestra, Leap of Faith, String Theory, Metal Chaos Ensemble and Turbulence

New tracks tagged #Free improvisation