Axioms - Hypotheses by PEK (CEO of Evil Clown)

Evil Clown 9279
Evil Clown Headquarters - Waltham MA
17 July 2021

. Jane SpokenWord - poetry, spoken word . PEK - clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, bass flute, piccolo oboe, bass tromboon, sheng, [d]ronin, electric chimes, chime rod boxes, telstar, spring boxes, gongs, Tibetan bowls & bells, glockenspiel, crotales, orchestral chimes. looper, voice . Glynis Lomon - cello, aquasonic, voice . Albey onBass - electric upright bass . Steve Niemitz - drums, gongs, plate gongs, brontosaurus & tank bells, cow bells, almgocken, chimes, log dums,wood blocks, temple blocks . Joel Simches - live to 2 track recording

Liner Notes by PEK

Albey onBass and Jane SpokenWord were associated with Cecil Taylor's final period. Following Cecil's passing they were in Boston for about a year in 1998 and the beginning of 1999 and Albey performed a dozen or so times with Leap of Faith, Metal Chaos Ensemble and Turbulence. In November 1998, Albey and I had been discussing doing a duet, but we decided to include Jane’s poetry as a trio. This new Evil Clown Ensemble we called Axioms, which to me is an apt name for a band which features words - something that most Evil Clown sessions do not.
There are two definitions:
1) a statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true
2) a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure is based (mathematics)
These two meanings bridge the distance between poetic discussion of truths and abstract musical structures.

A few months later, about a year before the virus, Albey and Jane moved to New Orleans, so this original session, Manifestations, has been our only recording to date.

That was an excellent set which you can check out at bandcamp:
bandcamp: https://axioms1.bandcamp.com/album/manifestations

As usual, the full performance is up on YouTube:
YouTube (full performance): https://youtu.be/1GIZ7ZhEtV0

Jane also made some great MTV style video excerpts:
I Caught You Dreaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PGYDmzSFws&t=210s
Flux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPo3hF1k9Iw&t=19s
Art of Poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdtjZIIuYc8&t=14s
Anthrax and Bombs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaNOJifv-2o&t=14s

Albey reached out a few days back (7/21/21) to let me know that he and Jane would be in our area for a few weeks. I immediately went to work to raise a band for an Axioms follow-up. The original Axioms set was a trio with Joel managing the recording. This set is a bit of a Leap of Faith crossover with the addition of Glynis on the cello and master drummer Steve Niemitz.

Three days later this current performance, Hypotheses, was LIVESTREAMED to YouTube from Evil Clown Headquarters. Janes new poems really ring out, and with Leap of Faith as the backup band with Albey’s amazing electric upright bass holding down the bottom end, this is a very special session and a suitable follow up to Manifestations… Albey and Jane have recently moved back to New York. Being much closer than NOLA and with old Boston ties, I expect we’ll see them more often and be able to record more Axioms albums. So stay tuned!!
PEK – 26 July 2021