Evil Clown 9439
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

Paul Brennan - camera

Raffi – video mix

----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


1) Matter Self Organizes

2) Between the Constituent Parts

Evil Clown 9440
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
29 September 2025

1) Currents – 1:09:58
2) Killer – 5:14

PEK – clarinet, basset horn, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, glissophone, piccolo oboe, shenai, alto flute, sheng, melodica, slide whistle, goat horn, penny whistle, whistling, taxi horn, brontosaurus & tank bells, spring & chime rod boxes, 17 string bass, [d]ronin, theremin with moogerfooger, spiny Norman, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, syntrx, gongs, plate gong, crotales, glockenspiel, wood & temple blocks, log drums, Englephone, danmo, Tibentan bowls & bells, tiny cymbals, flex-a-tone, orchestral castanets, ratchets, seed pod rattles, balafon, xylophone, triangle & orchestral chimes, rubber chicken

John Fugarino – trumpets, flugelhorn, trombone, valve trombone, French horn, melodica, slide whistle, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, prophet, nord stage 3, noise tower, orchestral castanets, wood & temple blocks, triangle chimes, flex-a-tones, gongs, cymbals, arraay mbira, spring & chime rod boxes, talking drum

Miacheal Caglianone – soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet & bass clarinet, flute, melodica, slide whistle, wind siren, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, orchestral castanets, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, elephant bell, gongs, plate gong, crotales, glockenspiel, water bottle

Scott Samenfeld – bass, Tibetan bowls

Joel Simches – Live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing

----Liner Notes by PEK

This set was originally scheduled to be Metal Chaos Ensemble – Studying the Pattern, which would have been a very different set.  MCE works with recited text and has a more rock flavor than typical in Evil Clown sessions.  We are in a bit of a flux at the moment, since Bob Moores moved to Maine, but we have Mike Gruen who is a rock style bassist and Eric Woods on the analog synthesis as regulars, and various others as guests.  Michael Caglianone and John Fugarino are frequently the other horn players on MCE sessions, and we planned to have the great drummer Jared Seabrook and a frequent synth guest Cyrus…

A few days prior to the session, I started to lose ensemble members…  Cyrus was out of town on business…  Mike Gruen has young children and had babysitter issues… I got Scott Samenfeld to sub on the bass chair and told him to bring his bass guitar instead of his electric upright which he usually brings.  Late on the day of the show, I heard from Jared and then from Eric that they would not be able to make it either…  I tried to get a sub for drums, but the time was too tight…
One huge advantage of doing improvised music is that last second changes (even drastic ones like these) do not really cause a problem like they would in an ensemble performing repertoire.  However, we did not have enough elements of the Metal Chaos Ensemble aesthetic problem to call the unit Metal Chaos Ensemble and perform the text that I had prepared, so I postponed that performance for a later time, snuck downstairs and whipped up a poster for Turbulence – Currents.

The quartet for Turbulence – Currents is basically a slightly larger version of the trio for the last several Perturbations performances.  Perturbations is the Evil Clown Ensemble that features over the top signal processing from Joel in Real time – I keep the unit small (3 instrumentalists or less) to emphasize Joel’s role.  PEK, Michael Caglianone, and John Fugarino have done 3 Perturbation sets together and, also dozens of sets within larger Evil Clown units.  We are very tight now as a horn section, and this session proved to be an interesting variation with the added bass following up on those Perturbation performances.  
I really like this set, and I bet you will too…
-	PEK 9/30/2025


1) currents

2) undertow

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


.
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

Evil Clown 9442
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
20 November 2025

bandcamp:  https://leapoffaith1.bandcamp.com/album/spatial-and-temporal-aspects
YouTube:  https://youtu.be/McHpjcZeKnA
Evil Clown album page:  https://evilclown.rocks/lofcr-spatial-and-temporal-aspects/
Evil Clown Facebook site:  https://www.facebook.com/GiantEvilClown/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C9AuL2MiUjg/

Leap of Faith
1) Spatial and Temporal Aspects – 1:10:15
2) Space-Time Cubes – 5:36

PEK - clarinet, basset horn, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, glissophone, piccolo oboe, contrabassoon, shenai, sheng, melodica, lfo percolator, lfo violin, spring & chime rod boxes, array mbira, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, syntrx, ms-20, prophet, nord stage 3, gozilla harp, 17-string  bass, [d]ronin, drones, almglocken, orchestral chimes, cow bells, chimes, brontosaurus & tank bells, Tibetan bells, aquasonic, electric chimes, wood & temple blocks, gongs, crotales, glockenspiel, plate gozng, Englephone, danmo, seed pod rattle, ratchet, kalimba, array mbira

Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice

John Fugarino - trumpets, flugelhorn, trombone, French horn, slide whistle, crank siren, balafon, xylophone, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, nord stage 3, prophet, spring & chime rod boxes, shakers, array mbira, kalimba, gongs, almglocken, temple bells, ratchet, wood blocks, Englephone, danmo, clown hammer 

Michael Caglianone - soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet & bass clarinet, flute, melodica, slide whistle, gongs, bell tree, glockenspiel, crotales, orchestral chimes, Englephone, danmo, log drums, brontosaurus bell, cow bells, wood & temple blocks, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, temple bells, orchestral anvils, Tibetan bowls, noise tower, plate gong, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers

Jonathan LaMaster - violin, effects, spring violin, erhu, hulusi, bowed metal, shenai, spring & chime rod boxes, bells, Tibetan chimes, orchestral castanets, voice

Michael Knoblach - bodran, doira, basket of rocks, meditation bells, slinky, mortar & pestle, communion bells, sleigh bells. African rattles, seed pod rattles, axatse, copper bow, fisher price toys, wooden robot, sistum, vibratones, flex-a-tones, the farmer sings toy, marbles, metal chop sticks, meinl helix bowls, ratchet, boxing clown, devil chasers, abacus, lp udder

Joel Simches - live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing

Paul Brennan - camera

Raffi – video mix


1) Spatial and Temporal Aspects

2) Space-Time Cubes

bandcamp:  https://turbulence2.bandcamp.com/album/molecular-diffusion
YouTube:   https://youtu.be/nKx6Dw8usII
Evil Clown album page:  https://evilclown.rocks/turbor-molecular-diffusion/
Evil Clown Facebook site:  https://www.facebook.com/GiantEvilClown/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C9AuL2MiUjg/

Evil Clown 9443
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
6 December 2025

1) Molecular Diffusion – 1:11:02
2) Random Thermal Motion of Particles – 5:32

PEK - clarinet, basset horn, contralto & contrabass clarinets, sopranino alto & tenor saxophones, slide whistle, goat horn, melodica, brontosaurus & tank bells, spring & chime rod boxes, 17 string bass, [d]ronin, Godzilla harp, lfo violin, lfo percolator, drones, theremin with moogerfooger, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, prophet, gongs, plate gong, wood & temple blocks, log drums, Englephone, danmo, triangle chimes, Tibentan bells & chimes, almglocken, array mbira, orchestral castanets, ratchets, seed pod rattles, triangle chimes, clave, rubber chicken

Hilary Noble - soprano & tenor saxophones, flute, balafon, xylophone, almglocken, temple bells, talking drum, seed pod rattles, ratchet, Tibetan bowls & chimes, wood & temple blocks, cow bells, chimes, log drums, cymbals, orchestral anvils

Cliff White - alto & tenor saxophones, flute, mouthpiece, ratchet, wood blocks, Tibetan bowls, gongs 

Kelsey Gallagher - clarinet, clarinet barrel, log drums, hand chimes, talking drum, nord stage 3, claps & snaps, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, snazzy shoes

Bob Moores - space trumpet, space pocket trumpet, pocket trumpet, psychic babbling, Englephone, danmo,
triangle chimes, wood & temple blocks, log drums, crotales, glockenspiel, seed pod rattle, shaker, orchestral chimes, nord stage 3, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, gongs, plate gong, wind siren, rubber chicken

Eric Dahlman - trumpet, overtone voice, ratchet, gongs, Tibetan bells, hand chimes, orchestral chimes, 
17 string bass, crank siren, duck call, recorder

Duane Reed - double belled euphonium, overtone voice, wood blocks, moog subsequent, novation peak, 
Linnstrument controllers, guero, wind siren, Englephone, ratchet

Scott Samenfeld - bass, wind controller, hand chimes

Michael Knoblach - African slit drums, Indian festival drum, bodran, doira, basket of rocks, meditation bells, slinky, mortar & pestle, communion bells, sleigh bells. African rattles, seed pod rattles, axatse, copper bow, fisher price toys, wooden robot, sistum, vibratones, flex-a-tones, the farmer sings toy, marbles, 
metal chop sticks, meinl helix bowls, ratchet, boxing clown, dewvil chasers, abacus, lp udder

Joel Simches – Live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing


1) Molecular Diffusion

2) Random Thermal Motion of Particles

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 #Pure improvisation