Metal Chaos Ensemble - Room 217 (Final Audio)

Evil Clown 9410
Livestreamed to TH-cam
Evil Clown Headquarters - Waltham MA - 27 January 2025
1) Room 217 - 1:10:54
2) All Work and No Play Makes PEK a Dull Boy - 5:17
PEK - clarinet, basset horn, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, glissophone, bass tromboon, tiny slide whistle, melodica, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, syntrx, lfo violin, noise tower, gravichord, daxophone, gravichord, theremin with moogerfooger, flex-a-tone, cuica, Tibetan bowls, gongs, plate gong, almglocken, chimes, orchestral chimes & anvils, Englephone, danmo, brontosaurus & tank bells, log drums, wood & temple blocks, balafon, xylophone, rubber chicken, recitation
Michael Caglianone - soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet, flute, game calls, melodica, xylophone, balafon, almglocken, Tibetan bowls & bells, orchestral anvils, gravichord, novation peak, Linnstruments, water bottle, crank siren, clown hammer
John Fugarino - trumpets, flugelhorn, trombone, French horn, melodica, lfo violin, shaker, Tibetan bells & bowls, spring & chime rod boxes, orchestral anvils & castanets, seed pod rattles, log drums, wood & temple blocks, Englephone, gongs, novation peak, moog subsequent, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20
Gabe Boyarin - guitar, guitar preparations, lfo percolator, crotales, glockenspiel, Englephone, chimes
Cyrus Shauoul - korg synth, nord stage 3, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, log drums, gongs, chimes, Tibetan bowls, wood & temple blocks, guiro, ratchet, flex-a-tone, ms-20, gravichord, vuvuzela, voice
Lonnie Sutherland - Chapman stick
Steve Niemitz - drums, log drums, brontosaurus & tank bells
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
Over time MCE morphed into been a recurring sextet unit with most of the sessions having the same six performers. With drums and electric bass and electronics, this unit contains the most rock elements of any of the Evil Clown ensembles. This format of the band produced 20 or so albums featuring spoken word recitations along with horns, spacey electronics, metal percussion instruments and rock leaning drums and bass. The spoken word element provides an entry point for audience who might otherwise not find one in such abstract music.
We are now moving into a new transition. Bob Moores, who has been a regular of this format since it started, and who plays space trumpet, guitar and electronics has moved to Maine, about 3 hours away. He will still join some Evil Clown sets, but not likely MCE since he will come down on weekends, and we do MCE on Mondays. Steve Niemitz, who took over the drum chair from Yuri for the last 3 or 4 years, is going to be training to be an EMT this year and will withdraw at least for a while. He makes his last MCE appearance on this set. Eric Woods on analog electronics will still be a regular MCE contributor, but he could not make Room 217 since his mother-in-law, who babysits for him when he performs, has been in Europe for a few months.
For Room 217, I invited John Fugarino to come play his brass instruments, relative newbie Gabe Boyarin to come play guitar, and first timers Cyrus Shauoul on Synth and Lonnie Sutherland on Chapman stick. With oldtimers me and Michael Caglianone on horns and Steve one last time we have an ensemble that has many of the resources of the ongoing sextet unit. Mike Gruen missed the set unfortunately due to a house full of sick children…
For Room 217, MCE is a septet with a strong horn section, percussion and electronics and the spoken word element. So, despite the significant differences between the regular working unit for the last 4 years or so and the line up for Room 217, the resources are similar, the aesthetic problem is the same, and the solution falls comfortably within the bounds of classic MCE performances.
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.
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 - 1/27/2025