This drum-centric podcast features Tan Dun's Water Concerto for water percussion and orchestra, and Lukas Foss’s Percussion Concerto from 1974 that's only now received its first recording. We also hear the percussion-loaded trio of Adam Rudolph, Billy Hart and Dave Liebman with an added electroacoustic reflection on their long jazz pedigree. Keith Jarrett’s own long improvisational lineage is noted for his 80th birthday with an unusually “outside” piano solo, while Stefano Gervasoni deploys the resources of IRCAM in service of modern Tenebrae lessons and Philip Glass helps us celebrate World Accordion Day with his latest release. Melia Watras's recent work with the Harry Partch instrumentarium, some fresh improv from Satoko Fujii and Eunhye Jeong, and an Anna Webber composition for the Anzû Quartet round out the proceedings. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, originally broadcast May 4, 2025.
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Flotation Device 2025-05-04: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Light and dark [0:00]
1. [1:42] Satoko Fujii: Early Afternoon. From Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra, 2025) with Yuriko Mukoujima, Ayako Kato (violins), Atsuko Hatano (viola, electronics), Hiroshi Yoshino (bass), Satoko Fujii (piano), Akira Horikoshi (drums), Takanori Terabe (recording engineer, Koendori Classics)
2. [9:26] Anna Webber: Adjust - Part V. From Adjust (Cantaloupe, 2025) with Anzû Quartet: Ken Thomson (clarinet), Olivia De Prato (violin), Ashley Bathgate (cello), Karl Larson (piano), Alex Conroy (recording engineer, The Bunker Studio)
3. [12:03] Stefano Gervasoni: De Tinieblas - ט (TET), י (YOD). From De Tinieblas (Kairos, 2024) with SWR Vokalensemble, IRCAM: Thomas Goepfer, Benoit Meudic (electronics), Claudia Jane Scroccaro (sound and video cueing), Sylvain Cadars (sound diffusion), Yuval Weinberg (conductor), Clément Marie (recording engineer)
4. [19:46] Eunhye Jeong, Jay Rosen: Jaybird. From Morning Bells Whistle Bright (ESP-Disk', 2025) with Eunhye Jeong (piano), Jay Rosen (drums), Jim Clouse (recording engineer, Park West Studios)
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SET 2: Coming soon to Seattle [24:49]
1. [27:25] Melia Watras: 2.5° south (and a little west). From The Almond Tree Duos (Planet M, 2025) with Tekla Cunningham (baroque violin), Melia Watras (viola), David Sabee (recording engineer)
2. [30:02] Melia Watras: Metro gnome. From The Almond Tree Duos (as above) with Michael Jinsoo Lim (violin), Melia Watras (viola), David Sabee (recording engineer)
3. [32:00] Melia Watras: String Masks (excerpt). From String Masks (Planet M, 2022) with Michael Jinsoo Lim (violin/voice), Melia Watras (viola), Charles Corey (Harmonic Canon, Bass Marimba), David Sabee (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2017
4. [37:18] Tan Dun: Act 5 (Heart Sutra). From Buddha Passion (Decca, 2023) with Batubagen (Mongolian throat singing, morin khuur), Tan Weiwei (voice), Orchestre National de Lyon, Tan Dun (conductor)
5. [44:37] Tan Dun: Water Concerto for water percussion and orchestra (excerpts). From Water Concerto (Naxos/Opus Arte, 2009) with David Cossin (solo water percussion), Rika Fujii, Tamao Inano (ensemble water percussion), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Tan Dun (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1998
6. [53:49] Outro with Tan Dun: Nu Shu, The Secret Songs of Women
7. [58:31] Philip Glass: Act I. From Once Within a Time (Orange Mountain, 2025) with Nathan Koci (accordion), Philip Glass Ensemble
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SET 3: 50 years ago in the avant-garde [1:05:46]
1. [1:06:39] Voice break with Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach: Act 1, Scene 1: Train (c.f., Another Look at Harmony)
2. [1:08:40] Adam Rudolph, Dave Liebman, Billy Hart: Mystique. From Beingness (Meta/Defkaz, 2025) with Dave Liebman (soprano saxophone, wood flutes), Billy Hart (drum set), Adam Rudolph (handrumset, thumb pianos, keyboards, gongs, dakha de bello, live electronic processing, percussion), Edward Gavitt (recording engineer), James Dellatacoma (mastering)
3. [1:13:58] Lukas Foss: Concerto for Solo Percussion and Large or Small Orchestra (excerpt). From Night Music for John Lennon (BMOP/sound, 2025) with Robert Schulz (percussion), Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose (conductor), Joel Gordon (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1974, premiered April 9, 1975 by Jan Williams (percussion), New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Jesse Levine (conductor) at Rutgers University. First recording
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SET 4: Jarrett at 80 [1:36:41]
1. [1:41:01.125 Keith Jarrett: Budapest Concert, Part I. From Budapest Concert (ECM, 2020) with Keith Jarrett (piano), Martin Pearson (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live July 3, 2016 at Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest
2. [1:55:20] Outro with Keith Jarrett: Budapest Concert, Part VII
Photo credits: Philip Glass by Chuck Close, Nü Shu by ASO, Concerto for Solo Percussion and Large or Small Orchestra by Lukas Foss, Melia Watras by Michelle Smith-Lewis, Lukas Foss by Jim Tuttle, Tan Dun by Dong Hao, Beingness (Dave Liebman, Adam Rudolph, Billy Hart) by Caris Liebman, Keith Jarrett by Daniela Yohannes, Anzû Quartet (Olivia De Prato, Karl Larson, Ashley Bathgate, Ken Thomson) by Markus Sepperer, Satoko Fujii via the artist, Eunhye Jeong by Hannah Osofsky, Stefano Gervasoni by Olivier Allard