Janel Leppin

Janel Leppin (born 1981)[1] is an American cellist and multi-instrumentalist. Her work has been shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts[2] and at many international festivals worldwide including the High Zero Festival, the Swedish Women in Jazz Festival and the Washington Women in Jazz Festival. She has acted as curator for works shown at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the ISSUE Project Room.[3]

Janel Leppin
Ensemble Volcanic Ash performing at the Bohemian Caverns, led by Janel Leppin
Born1981
Vienna, Virginia
OccupationMusician and Composer
Musical career
GenresExperimental, Avant-Garde, Modal Jazz, Free Jazz, Classical, Ambient and Rock
InstrumentsCello, Electronics, Vocals, Loop Pedal
LabelsWedderburn Records
Websitejanelleppin.com
Cover artwork for Mellow Diamond, released 2012 is Leppin's first solo recording.
Janel Leppin, photographed by Shervin Lainez in 2016 in Brooklyn, NY.

Leppin has released three solo recordings, Mellow Diamond (2016), Songs for Voice and Mellotron (2016), and American God (2017), on her record label Wedderburn Records. She collaborates as part of Janel and Anthony with her husband, American guitar player Anthony Pirog.[4] Recordings of her work as a composer and side musician appear on Touch, Tzadik, Sub Pop, Editions Mego, Ideologic Organ and Cuneiform Records. Her work uses experimental, avant-garde, modal jazz, free jazz, classical, ambient and rock influences.[5]

Janel and Anthony

Leppin recorded two albums with Anthony Pirog as "Janel and Anthony": one self-titled and self-released recording in 2007, and Where is Home, released by Cuneiform Records, in 2012. A Fifth Anniversary Collectors Edition LP was released of the duo, recorded in 2010. In March 2016, they released the single "Sweet and Sour," and announced their forthcoming album, Glover Park.[6]

In February 2016, Leppin started a label called Wedderburn Records which releases "music which has a magical or mystical essence."[7] The label's first release was "Sweet and Sour" by Janel and Anthony, followed by Leppin's first two solo albums, Mellow Diamond and Songs for Voice and Mellotron. Leppin plans to release solo work by female artists[8] including American pedal steel guitar legend Susan Alcorn and DC avant pop vocalist Adriana Lucia-Cotes.

Songs for Voice and Mellotron by multi-instrumentalist and composer, Janel Leppin at the Wilderness Bureau in 2016.

Solo Recordings
Leppin performing live on the M4000D.

In April 2016, Leppin released two solo recordings. For the first album titled, Mellow Diamond, Leppin drew from far and wide, from avant-garde pop to ambient style. She recorded analog synthesizers, a harpsichord, pedal steel, a cello, mellotron, found sound samples, and radio frequencies. Several political messages are found in the work, notably in "Belly of the Beast" which is about living in Washington D.C.,[9] as well as in "No Treaty" and "Cast in Gold."

The second album, originally titled Songs of the One-Armed Woman, Songs for Voice and Mellotron, was written in 2015, when Leppin injured her right elbow and was unable to perform solo concerts on her primary instrument, the cello.[10] The EP-length recording includes politically-charged music, such as "Paris," which calls for people to remember all victims from terrorist attacks after the deaths in Paris in 2015 and brings attention to the possible effects of American drone strikes. The second track, "In A Dream," is about global warming. Most tracks were recorded live with Leppin singing and playing the M4000D (mellotron) simultaneously, with very little overdubbing.[11]

Leppin's most recent album, American God, was released in April 2017. This album continues with political themes, as Leppin put it together with the 2016 Presidential Election in mind.[12]

Jazz Works

Leppin leads Ensemble Volcanic Ash, an avant-jazz chamber group, including harp, bassoon, cello, and alto saxophone. The group was premiered before a sold-out crowd at the legendary Bohemian Caverns in Washington D.C. to rave reviews, being called "Aaah-vant Garde [sic] at its finest."[13] The ensemble includes Sarah Hughes, Mary Lattimore, Amy Bormet, Amy Frasier, Jacqueline Poullaf, Betsy Wright, Jaimie Branch.

Artist Albums Instrumentation Label Year
Janel and Anthony Janel and Anthony Cello, Electronics, Voice, Loops Self Released, Cricket Cemetery 2007
Janel and Anthony Where is Home Cello, Electronics, Voice, Voice, Mellotron, Harpsichord, Bowed and Struck Vibraphone, Prophet Five Synthesizer, Piano Cuneiform Records 2012
Mellow Diamond Mellow Diamond Vocals, Cello, Koto, Pedal Steel, Arp 2600, Prophet 5 Synthesizer, Korg MS-20, Modular Synthesizer, Optigan, Mellotron, Mini Moog, Grand Piano, Upright Piano, Harpsichord, Bowed and Struck Vibraphone, Electronics, Drums, Bass, Guitar, Radio Frequencies, Footsteps, Record Collage, Struck Pan Lids, Tape Loops Wedderburn Records 2016
Mellow Diamond Songs for Voice and Mellotron Voice, Mellotron M4000D, Vibraphone, Electronics, Prophet 5 Synthesizer, Modular Synthesizer Wedderburn Records 2016
Mellow Diamond American God Voice, Cello, Electronics, Prophet 5 Synthesizer, Baby Grand CP70, Mellotron, Bass Drum Wedderburn Records 2017

Also Appears On
Artist Album Label Year
Oren Ambarchi Audience of One Touch Records (UK) 2012
Eyvind Kang Visible Breath Ideologic Organ / Editions Mego (FR) 2012
Anthony Pirog Trio/Sextet Sonic Mass Records (DC) 2012
Orion Rigel Dommisse Omicron What a Mess! Records (FR) 2014
Rose Windows The Sun Dogs Sub Pop (WA) 2013
Marissa Nadler Remembering Mountains: Unheard Songs by Karen Dalton;

plays cello on "So Long and Far Away"

 Tompkins Square Label (SF) 2014
Skysaw Great Civilizations Dangerbird Records (LA) 2009
Ignorant American Ignorant American Sonic Mass Records 2009
Eyvind Kang Grass Tzadik Records 2012
Priests Nothing Feels Natural Sister Polygon Records 2017
The Messthetics The Messthetics "The Weaver" Dischord Records 2018
Marissa Nadler For My Crimes Bella Union (UK), Sacred Bones (NY) 2018
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References
  1. Richards, Chris. "Poised and prolific, Janel Leppin is just getting started". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  2. "Janel and Anthony". www.kennedy-center.org. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  3. "Susan Alcorn in Residence | ISSUE Project Room". issueprojectroom.org. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  4. Cohan, Brad. "Q&A: Janel And Anthony On D.C.'s Experimental Music Scene And Their New Record, Where is Home". Village Voice. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  5. Leppin. "Leppin Website". www.janelleppin.com. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  6. "Janel and Anthony". www.janelandanthony.com. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  7. "About". Wedderburn Records. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  8. Julia. "Episode 6: Signing the Ladies". Femchord. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  9. "One Track Mind: Mellow Diamond, 'Belly of the Beast'". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  10. "With One Textured Album And An EP Born From Pain, Janel Leppin Pushes On | Bandwidth". bandwidth.wamu.org. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  11. "After A Four-Year Wait, Janel Leppin Debuts Two New Albums At Songbyrd". DCist. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  12. Gotrich, Lars. "Cellist Janel Leppin Desperately Seeks Healing In Mellow Diamond's 'Ashes To Breathe'". NPR Music. NPR. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  13. "Live review | Janel Leppin's Ensemble Volcanic Ash: 'Ahhh-vant garde' revelations -". CapitalBop. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
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