Cross-cultural music takes the spotlight as we celebrate the 70th birthday of Chinese-born American composer Bright Sheng with a sampling of his works for Western and Chinese instruments. We also celebrate the American-born Australian composer and turntablist David Shea's 60th birthday with a look at his Thousand Buddha Caves project. Theresa Wong and the Lao Dan/Vasco Trilla duo offer their own borderland perspectives, while a Lou Harrison symphony premiered 50 years ago illustrates how his musical evolution went in the reverse direction of Sheng’s. Also turning 50 are a Keith Jarrett Quartet recording that offers a last glimpse of his early avant-garde dalliances, and a landmark album by the Revolutionary Ensemble that helped shape the direction of 1970s creative music. A pair of new releases by a pair of eminent New York octogenarians—Meredith Monk and Amina Claudine Myers—rounds out the proceedings. Read host Michael Schell's review of Monk's Cellular Songs at Sequenza21.com.
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Flotation Device 2025-12-07: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART 1
1. [0:00] Intro and SET 1: Cross-cultural music
2. [1:50] Revolutionary Ensemble: New York, Ponderous Planets (excerpt). From The People's Republic (Horizon, 1976) with Leroy Jenkins (violin, small gong, claves), Sirone (bass, large gong), Jerome Cooper (drums, bugle, timpani), Baker Bigsby (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded December 4–6, 1975 at Kendun Recorders, Burbank
3. [10:08] Lou Harrison: Symphony No. 2 "Elegiac" - 1. Tears of the Angel Israfel. From Hovhaness: Mysterious Mountain, Lousadzak, Harrison: Symphony No. 2 (Musicmasters, 1989) with American Composers Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies (composer), Gregory K. Squires (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1942–74, premiered December 7, 1975 in Oakland
4. [16:18] Bright Sheng: Tibetan Dance (excerpts). From Spring Dreams (Naxos, 2009) with Erin Svaboda (clarinet), Cho-Liang Lin (violin), Bright Sheng (piano), Steven Epstein (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2000
5. [22:09] Bright Sheng: Flute Moon - 1. Chi Lin's Dance. From Chinese Recorder Concertos: East Meets West (OUR, 2010) with Michala Petri (recorder), Copenhagen Philharmonic, Lan Shui (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1999 for solo flute/piccolo
SET 2: Bright Sheng at 70 [28:10]
1. [33:21] Bright Sheng: The Singing Gobi Desert. From The Singing Gobi Desert (Innova, 2014) with Prism Quartet: Timothy McAllister (soprano saxophone), Zachary Shemon (alto saxophone), Matthew Levy (tenor saxophone), Taimur Sullivan (baritone saxophone), Music From China: Wang Guowei (erhu), Chen Yihan (pipa), Helen Yee (yangqin), Frank Cassara (percussion), Hu Jianbing (sheng), Bright Sheng (conductor). NOTE: Composed 2012
2. [53:54] Outro with Bright Sheng: H'un (Lacerations) In Memoriam 1966–1976 (with Seattle Symphony)
3. [58:59] Keith Jarrett: Flame. From Mysteries (Impulse, 1976) with Dewey Redman (suona, percussion), Keith Jarrett (wood flute, Osi drum), Charlie Haden (bass), Paul Motian (drums, percussion), Guilherme Franco (percussion), Tony May (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded December 10–12, 1975 at Generation Sound Studios, New York
Flotation Device 2025-12-07: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART 2
SET 3: Two octogenarians [1:05:08]
1. [1:06:36] Meredith Monk: Passing. From Cellular Songs (ECM, 2025) with Meredith Monk, Joanna Lynn-Jacobs, Allison Sniffin, Katie Geissinger, Ellen Fisher (voices), Kevin Killen, Eli Walker (recording engineers)
2. [1:12:33] Meredith Monk: Breathstream. From Cellular Songs (as above) with Meredith Monk (voice), Kevin Killen, Eli Walker (recording engineers)
3. [1:14:31] Amina Claudine Myers: Sensuous. From Solace of the Mind (Red Hook, 2025) with Amina Claudine Myers (piano), Chris Allen, Rick Kwan (recording engineers, Sear Sound)
SET 4: Back to East Asia [1:19:48]
1. [1:24:03.662 Theresa Wong: Light in the Grotto. From Journey to the Cave of Guanyin (Room40, 2025) with Theresa Wong (cello)
2. [1:28:44] Lao Dan, Vasco Trilla: New Species 2. From New Species (No Business, 2025) with Lao Dan (tenor saxophone), Vasco Trilla (drums, percussion), Zeng Jun, Luo Lvye (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded live October 29, 2024 at Old Heaven Books, Shenzhen, China
3. [1:33:58] David Shea: The Thousand Buddha Caves (excerpts). From The Thousand Buddha Caves (Room 40, 2021) with Mindy Meng Wang (guzheng, voice), Speak Percussion: Eugene Ughetti, Matthias Schack-Arnott (percussion), David Shea (electronics, piano, singing bowls, vocal overtone and multiphonic singing, sample collage, field recordings), Guest Musicians: Tamara Kohler (flute, alto flute), from samples of Rituals: Oren Ambarchi (electric guitar), Joe Talia (drums), Girish Makwana (tablas), Ictus Ensemble (excerpts from Chamber Symphony #1)
4. [1:56:18] Outro with David Shea: Shock Corridor
Photo credits: Amina Claudine Myers via KCCK-FM, Bright Sheng via the artist, Lou Harrison via Chronogram, David Shea via the artist, Lao Dan via Family Vineyard Records, Bright Sheng: The Singing Gobi Desert via G. Schirmer, Revolutionary Ensemble (Leroy Jenkins, Sirone, Jerome Cooper) by Harry Mittman, Theresa Wong by Peter Gannushkin, Meredith Monk in Monk In Pieces, Keith Jarrett Quartet (Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, KJ, Charlie Haden) via Uncle Paul's Jazz Closet, Vasco Trilla via the artist.
Flotation Device features creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, Sunday nights 10pm–Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS-FM Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma. Visit us online at https://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice