On Metal Chaos Ensemble: "... using unique strategies to yield densely active and eerily surreal music, an incredible excursion through experimental improvisation." - Squidco website staff
Evil Clown
On Leap of Faith: "Alien yet familiar, bizarre yet completely fascinating. Expanding, contracting, erupting, settling down, always as one force..." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
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Evil Clown ensembles are highly modular, with different players and instrumental resources for different sessions. Some of the bands have core units which are always present along with different guests. Some of the bands have had recurring configurations over several albums. Leap of Faith dates back to the early 1990s as a collaboration between PEK and Glynis Lomon. There have been a number of core configurations over the years. PEK took a long hiatus through the 00's and then rebooted Leap of Faith and Evil Clown in 2015. The period following 2015 is the Contemporary Period and before 2002 is the Archival Period. Following are the core line-ups and frequent guests of the Contemporary Period Ensembles, the Contemporary Period Roster, and the Archival Period Roster along with hyperlinks to the performer bio pages.
Evil Clown Bios
PEK & his Grand Aesthetic Challenge
PEK Artist Profile on JazzRightNow.com
Current and Former
Leap of Faith Core Members
As of 2023, the Core Unit of the Leap of Faith Orchestra is a
duet comprised of PEK and Glynis Lomon - LOF is highly modular
and has played in dozens of configurations from duet to orchestra
with many guests
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, flutes, percussion, electronics
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Former core members of Leap of Faith
Yuri Zbitnov, Steve Norton, Mark McGrain, Craig Schildhauer,
Yedidyah Syd Smart, James Coleman
Metal Chaos Ensemble
Metal Chaos Ensemble started as the extended percussion section of the
Leap of Faith Orchestra which uses the percussion equipment along
with many guests and instruments of kinds to make highly varied long form
improvisations. Gradually it evolved into the most rock oriented Evil Clown
Ensemble with deep grooves from the electric bass and drums along with horns,
percussion & electronics. The current sextet lineup is:
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, flutes, percussion, electronics, voice
Bob Moores - space trumpet, guitar, electronics
Michael Caglianone - saxophones
Eric Woods - analog synthesis
Mike Gruen - electric bass
Steve Niemitz - drums, percussion
Joel Simches - real time mix and signal processing
Frequent guests of Metal Chaos Ensemble
Yuri Zbitnov (founding member), Andria Nicodemou, Kevin Dacey,
Reverend Grant Beale, Joe Hartigan, Albey onBass
Turbulence
Turbulence is the extend horn section of the Leap of Faith Orhcestra.
PEK is the only player on all of the Turbulence sessions, but there have been
several configurations with multiple sessions and a number of frequent guests
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal, voice
Frequent guests of Turbulence
Steve Norton, Charlie Kohlhase, Dan O'Brien, Zach Bartolomei ,
Bob Moores , David Harris, John Baylies, Steve Proviser,
Eric Dahlman, Jim Warshauer, Michael Caglianone, Duane Reed,
Melanie Howell-Brooks, Kat Dobbins, Yuri Zbitnov, Jared Holiday,
Vance Provey, Ellwood Epps, Dennis Livingston, John Fugarino
Expanse
Expanse is the quiet dynamic Evil Clown project. The core duet is
PEK and Michael Knoblach. Like the other ensembles, the sets feature
different guests including a mash up set with Mike's ensemble, the JMDE
quartet.
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, flutes, percussion, electronics
Michael Knoblach - percussion, objects
Guests of Expanse
Michael Caglianone, Jimmy Zhao, Eric Dahlman, David Welans, DNA GIrl,
Simulacrum
Simulacrum is a spinoff of Metal Chaos Ensemble with horns plus even more
electronics and without the bass and drums. This is the newest Evil Clown
ensemble, with the first sessions starting in the summer of 2021.
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, flutes, percussion, electronics
Bob Moores - space trumpet, guitar, electronics
Eric Woods - analog synthesizer
William Middlemiss Jr - guitar, synthesizers, electronics
Reverend Grant Beale - guitar, synthesizers, electronics
Albey onBass - bass
Axioms
Axioms is the duet Zen Beats with special guests PEK and Glynis Lomon. Free improvisation with poetry from Jane SpokenWord.
Jane SpokenWord - poetry, spoken word
PEK - saxophones, clarinets, double reeds, flutes, percussion, electronics
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Albey onBass - electric upright bass, gongs
Joel Simches - live to 2 track recording, real time signal processing
Perturbations
Perturbations is the studio project with the most emphasis on real-time signal
processing from Joel Simches. The instrumental ensemble varies from PEK
solo to trio with guests and Joel's electronic Perturbations elevated to a
musical role well beyond documentarian.
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal, electronics
Joel Simches - recording, real-time signal processing (perturbations)
Michael Caglianone - saxophones
Albey onBass - bass
Mekaniks (inactive)
Mekaniks is a studio project to explore electronic and real-time
signal processing in a long form improv setting. Has more of a
rock-improvisation feel than most Evil Clown ensembles.
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal, electronics
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, electronics
Greg Grinell - electronics, trumpet, bass
Bob Moores - trumpet, guitar, electronics
Plus guests
String Theory (inactive)
String Theory is the Extended String Section of the Leap of Faith Orchestra.
PEK and Glynis are the core with many guests on various orchestral strings
and guitar. Since Yuri has retired from Evil Clown, future sessions featuring
the strings will be Leap of Faith.
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, daxophone
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Frequent guests of String Theory
Mimi Rabson, Tony Leva, Silvain Castellano, Elinor Speirs, Matt Schuchfield, Lucasz Pavlikovsky
Chicxulub (inactive)
Chicxulub is the Space Rock branch of the Evil Clown Universe.
Featuring the powerful bass and drums of Yuri and Jason Adams who
play together in Catherine Capozzi's power trio Axmunkee
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal, electronics
Jason Adams - electric bass, electric cello, Interstellar grain clouds
Yuri Zbitnov - drums, metal, wood
Leap of Faith Orchestra /
the Contemporary Evil Clown Roster
The LOFO is the large improvisation orchestra made up of all of the
Sub-Units listed above and many others. The Contemporary Evil
Clown Period starts in early 2015 after a long haitus. A list of players in the
current Evil Clown Roster who have played with the orchestra or been
a guest of one or more of the above ensembles follows:
Strings
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Tom Swafford - violin
Mimi Rabson - violin, electronics, metal
Elinor Speirs - violin
Clara Kebabian - violin, viola, electronics, metal
Mat Ward - violin
Matt Scutchfield - violin
Jonathan LaMaster - violin
Rob Flax - violin
Sue Buzzard - violin
Abigale Reisman - violin
Jane Wang - cello, space plates
Lucasz Pavlikovsky - cello
Albey onBass - electric bass, electric upright bass
Steve Skop - bass
Nate McBride - bass
Zachary Lavine - bass
Tony Leva - bass
Silvain Castellano - bass
Damon Smith - bass
Adrienne Schoenfeld - bass
Kirsten Lamb - bass
Kit Demos - bass
Mike Gruen - bass
Scott Samenfeld - electric upright bass
Steve Skop - bass
Horns
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal, voice
Steve Norton - clarinets, saxophones, metal
Michael Caglionone - saxophones +
Charlie Kohlhase - saxophones
Matt Samolis - flute, flax, game calls, bowed metal, metal
Dan O'Brien - flutes, clarinets and saxophones
Zach Bartolomei - clarinets and saxophones
Bob Moores - trumpet, electronics
David Harris - trombone, tuba, electronics
John Baylies - tuba, electronics
Duane Reed - baritone horn, bass trombone
Kat Dobbins - trombone
Steve Proviser - trumpet, baritone horn, voice, percussion
Zack Grass - tuba, bass trombone
Eric Goode - tuba, euphonium
Eric Dahlman - trumpet
Jim Warshauer - saxophones, clarinets
Duane Reed - baritone horn
Forbes Graham - trumpet
Steve Swell - trombone
Thomas Heberer - trumpet
Todd Brunel - clarinets, saxophones
Greg Burbank - Tuba
Devin Lomon - harmonica
Ellwood Epps - trumpet
Bonnie Kane - tenor sax, flute
Melanie Howell-Brooks - clarinets, saxophones, flutes
David Welans - flutes
Jared Holiday - saxophones, clarinets, flutes
Dennis Livingston - flutes
John Fugarino - trumpet, slide trumpet, trombone
Vance Provey - trumpet
Michael Caglianone - saxophones
Keiichi Hashimoto - trumpet, trombone
Percussion
Yuri Zbitnov - percussion, metal, voice
Jared Seabrook - drums
Andria Nicodemou - vibraphone, metal
Yedidyah Syd Smart - drums, percussion
Eric Rosenthal - drums, percussion
Steve Niemitz - drums, percussion
Kevin Dacey - drums, percussion, metal
Joe Hartigan - drums, percussion
Tamora Gooding - drums, percussion, metal
Moouse Traore - djembe, talking drum
John Loggia - drums
Michael Knoblach - percussion
Chinese Instruments
Jimmy Zhao - erhu, chinese flutes, etc.
Yahzi Guo - erhu, chinese flutes, saxophones, etc.
Tao He - erhu
Jiaxin Winky Wan - guzheng
Ziyi Gao - Pipa
Jiangcheng Guan - Chinese percussion
Piano, Guitars, Electric Bass and Electronics
DNA Girl - keyboard, octave mandolin, voice
Count Robot - electronics, voice
Tim Mungenast - guitar, voice
Greg Grinell - electronics, trumpet, bass
Chris Alford - guitar
Jason Adams - electric bass, electric cello, Interstellar grain clouds
Bill T Miller - electronics
Catherine Axmunkee Capozzi - guitar, metal
Chris Florio - Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer
Drew Wesley - guitar, electronics
Eric Woods - Analog Synth
Eric Zinman - piano, percussion
Emilio Gonzalez - piano
Grant Beale - guitar, electronics
Joel Simches - real time electronic processing, recording
Kenny Maurais - bass, metal
Kevin Siegel - bass, loops, electronics
Marc Drinkwater - guitar
Federico Balducci - guitar
Tony Savarino - guitar, metal, iphone apps
Space - guitar, bass
William Middlemiss Jr - guitar, electronics
Robin Amos - analog synthesis
Voice
Dei Xhrist - voice
Maura Lynch - soprano, keyboards, metal
Jane SpokenWord - Poetry, Spoken Word
Audio Engineering
Joel Simches - real time electronic processing, recording
The Archival Period
The Early period of Leap of Faith/Evil Clown included the 90s and the
early 00s. A list of players who participated in the Early projects from
the Archival Period follows:
Strings
Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice
Rob Bethel - cello
Craig Schildhauer - bass
John Voigt - bass
Larry Roland - bass, poetry
Horns
PEK - clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, metal, voice
Mark McGrain - trombone, alphorn
Charlie Kohlhase - saxophones
Matt Samolis - flute, bowed metal
Alec Haavik - saxophones, trombone
B'hob Rainey - soprano sax
Jeff Hudgins - saxophones
George Garzone - tenor sax
Keith Hedger - trumpet
Leslie Ross - bassoon
Raphe Malik- trumpet
Raqib Hassan - saxophones and double reeds
Russell Jewell - trombone
Taylor Ho Bynum - trumpet
Percussion
Yuri Zbitnov - percussion, metal, voice
Yedidyah Syd Smart - drums, percussion
Curt Newton - drums
Dennis Warren - drums
Laurence Cook - drums
Tatsuya Nakatani - percussion, bowed metal
Piano, Guitars, Electric Bass and Electronics
James Coleman - theremin
Core Redonnett - electric zither, electronics
Keith Fullerton Whitman - guitar, electronics
Kate Biggard - bass
Michael Shea - piano, keyboards
Tor Snyder - guitar
Wayne Rodgers - guitar
Multi-Media Partners
Adrienne T Hawkins - dance
Guadulesa - performance painting
Martha Ritchey - piano, fractals