String Theory is the extended string section of the Leap of Faith Orchestra, with David Peck (PEK) on reeds, Glynis Lomon on cello, and in this performance at Outpost 186 in Cambridge, MA, joined by violinist Elinor Speirs and pianist Eric Zinman, the latter also playing inside the piano with mallets, while Peck and Glynis add cymbals and wood & metal instruments.
"In the early Leap of Faith (LOF) period (90s), we did a number of shows with Strings and myself, in fact, for a while the core trio was myself on reeds, Glynis Lomon on cello, and Craig Schildhauer on bass. String Theory is the extended string section of the Leap of Faith Orchestra, and the current incarnation of this early period Leap of Faith ensemble. As well as being the string section of the orchestra, String Theory performs and records independently. Since we rebooted the Leap of Faith project in 2015, we have released over 10 albums of string and woodwind improvisations...
For this set, Glynis and I are joined by one of our favorite violinists, Elinor Speirs, and pianist Eric Zinman from Glynis' other trio New Language Collaborative (NLC). Elinor first did a Leap of Faith session last summer just before joining the LOFO performance of Cosmological Horizons at Killian Hall MIT in July of 2018. She has finished her DMA at New England Conservatory and now splits her time between New York and Boston. Despite her crazy travel schedule, she has managed to make time for more Leap of Faith sets recorded at Evil Clown Headquarters and now this String Theory performance at Outpost 186.
Eric, Glynis and I all go way back, since Eric was on the Boston Free Music scene when I arrived in 1989, and we played back then. During the long Leap of Faith hiatus, Eric played a great deal with Glynis and the brilliant drummer Syd Smart in NLC. In more recent times. Eric has been the regular pianist for the Leap of Faith Orchestra and a frequent guest in smaller Leap of Faith ensembles, Metal Chaos Ensemble, and String Theory.
This performance is a very interesting development in this history, combining long prior history with Eric and recent small format Leap of Faith performances with Elinor. One of the main characteristics of String Theory compared to Leap of Faith is the absence of a drummer. We love Yuri's playing and there are many wonderful performances by LOF with additional strings, but occasionally we do the strings without drum set. String Theory, as a result, has a much more chamber music vibe than Evil Clown albums by the other bands. Although Yuri is absent, there is still percussion, just no drum set; I brought some gongs and a couple bags of wood and metal instruments and Eric included several cymbals in his piano set up, and also played the piano interior with mallets..."-Program Notes by PEK