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A Day at the Circus!

by The Perihelion Quartet

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1.
Overture 07:04
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2.
Tag Team 1 03:35
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3.
A Horse Of A Different Color 04:29
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4.
Pyrotechnic Dreams 04:15
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5.
Freaks Of Nature 06:20
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6.
Tag Team 2 03:59
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7.
Funtasm In The Round 09:20
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8.
Bulls-eye! 04:26
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9.
Tag Team 3 03:58
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10.
Dangerous Turns 07:33
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11.
Above The Net 03:36
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12.
The Lion's Share 03:46
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about

"top-quality improvisations....putting technical expertise at the service of all-enclosing instants of creativity, Perihelion emancipate the consenting listener in new ways....punching the solar plexus of mental occlusion."

MASSIMO RICCI. TOUCHING EXTREMES.
JUNE 26, 2017


A celebratory cycle of free improvisations deriving and departing from the euro-classical avant-garde. Piano, percussion, reeds & cello are voices from the depths of uncivilized dreams proclaiming a fantastic bestiary, a surreal circus.

While The Perihelion Quartet's brand of free improvisation is a high-wire act without a net, don't expect "circus music". As with any improvisational music that really works there is intense empathy and acute listening amongst the foursome. While various voices stand out at various times there are no "leads"; this is collective improvisation. The degree of intuitive communication is so high the music often sounds written. But it is thoroughly a circus in the sense that these musicians are having fun. The music ranges from raucous celebration to sonic sleight of hand, at times dry and understated but always shot thru with subtle wit. And never is it self-deprecating like so many avant-garde attempts at humor. The music delights in surprises and we are fortunate indeed to be invited along when The Perihelion Quartet spends a A Day at the Circus!

Co-founded nearly two years ago by pianist Greg Mills and cellist Tracy Andreotti, Perihelion's first release, Triopolis was a trio production with sax and clarinet player Dave Stone. With the addition of percussionist Henry Claude The Perihilion Quartet became a regular performing group often heard at St. Louis' Tavern of the Fine Arts. On occasion the Quartet expanded to perform as the 6 or 8 piece Perihelion Ensemble. The quartet's unique sound reflects an approach to free improv owing more to classical music and the euro-classical avant-garde than to jazz or free jazz. A Day at the Circus! on St. Louis' Freedonia Music label is their first Cd as a quartet.

Tracy Andreotti is currently principal cellist in both of St. Louis' opera companies and has over the years played with numerous string quartets, ensembles and orchestras. She is also a seasoned improviser, co-founding the ongoing Experimental Art Night series, and more recently leading her own group, The Vernacular String Trio. Henry Claude has been a regularly engaged percussionist with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra for thirty years. He founded and was director for twenty-five years of the the Nuclear Percussion Ensemble. Reed-man Dave Stone is a working Jazz musician whose award winning trio is in its twentieth year of performance. He devotes equal time to various free improv/free jazz groups, most notably The Dave Stone Ensemble. Trained as a classical pianist, Mills' decades-spanning performance history has been devoted exclusively to improvised music and while emphasizing solo piano has also included such seminal groups as The Human Arts Ensemble and Exiles.

credits

released December 15, 2016

Recorded live at Clayton Studio, March 11 & May 6, 2015
Engineer: Tazu Marshall
Mix: Tazu Marshall & Jay Zelenka
Mastering: Tazu Marshall
Produced by Jay Zelenka/Freedonia Music
Cover Art: with kind permission of Sue Kment
Photo and tent card created by Sue Kment
Original card design by Jennifer Wambach © 2016

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Freedonia Music St. Louis, Missouri

Freedonia Music was born in 2006 to promote Creative Improvised Music.
Offering a
catalog of archival performances and contemporary recordings of New Music from the heart of the heartlands. Music to wake up your ears!

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