{"id":8695,"date":"2024-06-22T21:42:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T02:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=8695"},"modified":"2024-06-23T09:58:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T14:58:46","slug":"weaving-janel-leppin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/weaving-janel-leppin\/","title":{"rendered":"Weaving: A Conversation with Janel Leppin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As an art form, weaving requires different threads to combine into one to create a sturdier whole cloth. How the threads are combined affects the characteristics of the end product. It is appropriate that cellist Janel Leppin is also a weaver by trade, as one can hear a direct application of the concepts from her textile work into her music. This is particularly evident in her two newest recordings. The first, New Moon in the Evil Age<\/em> (Cuneiform, 2024), out under the name Janel and Anthony, a collaboration with her consistent musical partner (and husband), guitarist Anthony Pirog<\/a>. It also features Devin Hoff on bass and Dr. Ali Analouei on daf  – a Middle Eastern frame drum – and tombak – an Iranian goblet drum. The second, Ensemble Volcanic Ash’s To March is to Love<\/em> (Cuneiform, 2024), presents a larger ensemble with Leppin, Pirog, drummer Larry Ferguson, bassist Luke Stewart, and saxophonists Sarah Hughes and Brian Settles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the significantly different instrumentation between the two ensembles, shared threads emerge. One can hear Leppin’s background as a classically trained artist in how New Moon<\/em>‘s “Slight Sense” and To March’s <\/em>“Sateatime” draw direct inspiration from the proto-minimalism of Erik Satie’s furniture music. Her affinity for the music of different cultures is also evident. With Anthony, it takes the form of Middle Eastern percussion and Leppin’s use of the Japanese koto. With Ensemble Volcanic Ash, influence is derived directly from the lineage of Black American music, specifically jazz, with a nod to the late great Abdul Wadud. Hues of more popular music also appear, from the 80s synth-pop vibe of “Evil Age” to the punkishness of “Union Art.” But rather than letting these strands stay insulated, they are intertwined into new patterns. From these patterns, both albums provide fascinatingly rich tapestries of Leppin’s musical ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leppin is hardly a stranger to combining diverse thoughts. A central figure in Washington D.C.’s music scene for over two decades, her other works have ranged from solo cello to singer-songwriter. Her sideperson work has covered psych-rock, experimental music, art-punk, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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