WOODWINDS, PERCUSSION AND....SELTZER BOTTLES? Can a Bunch of Clowns Breathe New Life Into Classical Music?

One of the most unusual musical groups in the world, the prime-time sublime Community Orchestra is on a mission to reinvigorate modern classical music with computer sampling and incorporating diverse musical elements such as hip hop, techno, jazz, world music and even the sounds of garbage trucks. And they tend to dress up like clowns when they perform.

The French Horn player looks like Elvis, the violinist is in full clown regalia, and the conductor just may be making musical history.

Its the prime-time sublime Community Orchestra, one of the oddest, most intriguing groups of performers to arrive on the modern music scene in years. Combining skilled professional musicians, enthusiastic amateurs and a bank of computers, prime-time sublime brings an entirely new sensibility to the often pretentious world of modern music.

Im every bit as influenced by Beck or Moby as John Cage or Phillip Glass," says Paul Minotto, founder of the prime time sublime Community Orchestra and the composer of all the groups original works. Hip hop and techno artists have demonstrated that, by piecing together wildly eclectic sounds, one can create bracing and fully modern music. It seems perfectly natural to me that we should take the same approach to modern classical music."

That may be a matter for debate to some. Minottos willingness to incorporate cartoon themes, bluegrass, rock, dance and even entirely non-musical elements (such as garbage trucks and a Ginsu knife commercial under water) into his compositions has met resistance from the more traditional corners of the modern music community but, Minotto says, younger and more adventurous listeners take to his approach instantly. Todays music lover is quite a different breed. They think nothing of listening to punk or trip-hop and then putting on Mozart. And theyre used to hearing music that was created on a computer. As a result, they 'get prime-time sublime right off the bat. Someone who has a rigid doctrine about what is and isnt classical music, though, well...."

But Why The Clown Suits?

A performance by the prime-time sublime Community Orchestra is a riot of color and whimsy.
Performance attire is the traditional black dress or tuxedo but everyone wears a mask, usually clown makeup, though Bill Clinton or Bart Simpson might be found in the violin section. Were planning on doing an arrangement of Elvis Presley songs where everyone including the women will wear Elvis wigs with thick, lamb chop side burns and shiny, Elvis sunglasses," said Minotto.

Were not just doing it to be silly," Minotto says. Were making a point about the nature of the performance. This isnt meant to be a stuffy event in which everyone sits quietly and intellectualizes the music. Its meant to be a celebration of music. The costumes are a symbol of the joy we feel in creating this music and an invitation to our audience to lighten up and enjoy."

The CD That Shall Remain Nameless

Capturing prime-time sublimes spirit on a studio" CD has been Minottos project for the past year. His work is finally completed and, in classic prime-time sublime fashion, hes christened the disk "(                 )"

Why name it? The music as a whole cannot be labeled," he says.

The CD, available on the Corporate Blob Records label, ranges from Jazz, Rock, various world music idioms, Hip-Hop, Country, Spaghetti Western and other film music genres, Space Age Bachelor Pad to various 20th Century Classical and Avant-Garde styles. The orchestra fuses these sounds so that the result is something between a pop song, film score, Jazz improvisation, cartoon soundtrack and an orchestral suite.

After recording parts of the orchestra, overdubs were added and the entire record was mixed in my home studio on an Apple computer," Minotto explained. Mastering is the last stage in the recording process that has to do with balancing and polishing the sound. Scott Hull, a well known mastering engineer who has worked with Miles Davis, Steely Dan and major symphony orchestras, mastered the record at Classic Sound Studios in NYC. An accomplished abstract painter as well as a composer, Minotto designed the artwork for the CD.

The "(                 )" CD is available on-line at www.primetimesublime.com and at Amazon.com. The prime-time sublime web site features free, streaming excerpts from the new CD, absurd, Monty Python-like animations and other entertaining nonsense" designed to stretch the imagination.

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Would you like to receive a review copy of "(                 )" or speak with Paul? Just call 413-691-0667 or
paul@primetimesublime.com and well make it happen!