BRATTLEBORO-118 Elliot and Sparkles, the Giant Evil Clown, present "Smear Out the Difficulties," performed by The Turbulence Orchestra & Sub Units on Saturday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m.
The Turbulence Orchestra is a large improvisational ensemble featuring more than a dozen musicians. The performance will begin with four improvisations by smaller groups. An hour-long improvisation follows with the full ensemble. This performance is part of 118 Elliot's dedication to nurturing nontraditional and experimental music that brings together local musicians with "outstanding masters of experimental music," say organizers.
The Turbulence Orchestra is led by multi-instrumentalist Dave Peck (PEK) and his alter ego Sparkles, The Evil Clown. The roster of musicians includes Peck (reeds, percussion), Bob Moores (trumpet, electronics), Michael Caglianone (reeds), Eric Dahlman (trumpet), Duane Reed (reeds, electronics), Bonnie Kane (saxophone, electronics), Vance Provey (trumpet), John Fugarino (trumpet), Scott Samenfeld (double bass), Eric Zinman (piano), Victor Signore (saxophone), The vision of the overall Evil Clown project is to create "an extremely broad universe of sound" and to realize music that "transforms into widely different sonorities within a single performance. The large ensemble size and extended improvisations will take us on a sonic journey that evolves through the spontaneous interplay of the musicians," says Peck. Since the pandemic, the Turbulence Orchestra has livestreamed to YouTube eight times from Evil Clown Headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, with the ensemble size between 8 and 10 musicians - the largest unit that can easily fit in the Evil Clown Live Streaming Studio Space. These performances are posted on the Evil Clown YouTube channel and released on CD/download available at bandcamp (turbulence2.bandcamp.com) and other locations, including an album page on the Evil Clown webpage (evilclown.rocks/turb-orchestra). This is only the second live performance of the Turbulence Orchestra & Sub Units and is the largest ensemble yet for this project. Another Evil Clown ensemble is The Leap of Faith Orchestra, which performed before the pandemic 13 times in three years at the Third Life Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts. The entire run of performances has been released on download/CD and is available both as a 25-CD set and individual double CD sets of each performance. 118 Elliot is a gallery and modern, multipurpose environment for the creative arts, educational talks, and personal events for up to 220 people. It is a fully ADA-accessible space in the heart of downtown Brattleboro. Learn more at 118Elliot.com. This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.