John Luther Adams joins us to talk about his new album Arctic Dreams (with Synergy Vocals). We’ll learn about the project's inputs (both old and new), what Alaska and Barry Lopez (still) mean to him, and what's been keeping him busy during his past year’s sequestration in the Chihuahuan Desert (hint: we may have a couple surprises in store in the near future).
Plus, we honor Alvin Lucier with a 90th birthday mini-retrospective, probe for common themes in musical projects by Britten, Circle and Archie Shepp that all turned 50 together, celebrate musical artificial intelligence pioneer David Cope on his 80th birthday, and sample new albums featuring two trios (Courvoisier/Rothenberg/Sartorius and Haino/O'Rourke/Ambarchi), the percussion music of Rolf Wallin, and the Columbian avant-rock sextet MULA. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell.
Photo credits and annotated playlist in Comments.
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Flotation Device 2021-05-16: annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: New and revisited
1. [1:31] Rolf Wallin: Frap. From TWINE (Nonclassical, 2021) with SISU Percussion Ensemble. NOTE: Composed 1998
2. [6:58] Sylvie Courvoisier, Ned Rothenberg, Julian Sartorius: Outlander. From Lockdown (Clean Feed, 2021) with Sylvie Courvoisier (piano), Ned Rothenberg (alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, shakuhachi), Julian Sartorius (drums, percussion), Wolfgang Zwiauer, Felix Wolf (recording engineers)
3. [19:46] John Luther Adams: Earth and the Great Weather - Pointed Mountains Scattered All Around. From Earth and the Great Weather: A Sonic Geography of the Arctic (New World, 1994) with James Nageak, Doreen Simmonds (Inupiat performers), Lincoln Tritt, Adeline Peter Raboff (Gwich’in performers), Dave Hunsaker (Latin voice), Robin Lorentz (violin), Ron Lawrence (viola), Michael Finckel (cello, conductor), Robert Black (doublebass), John Luther Adams (conductor). NOTE: Recorded 1993⠀
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SET 2: John Luther Adams takes it to 11 [26:51]
1. [29:35] John Luther Adams interviewed by Michael Schell
2. [45:50] John Luther Adams: Arctic Dreams - Pointed Mountains Scattered All Around. From Arctic Dreams (Cold Blue, 2021) with Synergy Vocals, Robin Lorentz (violin), Ron Lawrence (viola), Michael Finckel (cello), Robert Black (double bass). NOTE: String parts originally from Earth and the Great Weather (1993)
3. [53:02] John Luther Adams: Arctic Dreams - River with No Willows. From Arctic Dreams (Cold Blue, 2021) with Synergy Vocals, Robin Lorentz (violin), Ron Lawrence (viola), Michael Finckel (cello), Robert Black (double bass). NOTE: String parts originally from Earth and the Great Weather (1993)⠀
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SET 3: Things Have Got to Change at 50 [59:27]
1. [1:01:50] Mula: Siete. From Resiliente (Dur et Doux, 2021) with Juan Ignacio Arbaiza (tenor sax), Camilo Bartelsman (drums), Santiago Botero (bass), Diego Herrera (laptop and synths), Enrique “Kike” Mendoza (guitar), María “Mange” Valencia (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax), Daniel Bustos (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded 2016. Composed by Santiago Botero
2. [1:05:06] Emily Howell AKA David Cope: Shadow Worlds - 1. From From Darkness, Light (Centaur, 2010) with Emily Howell (computer composition software), William Coulter (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2003
3. [1:11:25] Archie Shepp: Money Blues. From Things Have Got to Change (Impulse!, 1971) with Archie Shepp (tenor and soprano saxophone), James Spaulding (alto saxophone, piccolo), Roy Burrows, Ted Daniel (trumpet), Charles Greenlee, Grachan Moncur III (trombone), Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone), Dave Burrell (electric piano), Billy Butler, David Spinozza (guitar), Roland Wilson (electric bass), Beaver Harris (drums), Ollie Anderson, Hetty "Bunchy" Fox, Calo Scott, Juma Sultan (percussion), Joe Lee Wilson (lead vocal), Rudy Van Gelder (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded May 17, 1971, Englewood Cliffs, NJ⠀
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Voice break with David Cope: Suite after Rachmaninov and Benjamin Britten: Owen Wingrave. SET 4: Lucier at 90, Circle at 50 [1:29:34]
1. [1:34:08] Alvin Lucier montage with excerpts from I am Sitting in a Room, August Moon (with Nicolee Kuester, Charles Curtis, Anthony Burr), Nothing Is Real (with Matthias Kaul) and Group Tapper (with Quatuor Bozzini)
2. [1:39:25] Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke, Oren Ambarchi: Part II. From Each side has a depth of 5 seconds/A polka dot pattern in horizontal array/A flickering that moves vertically (Black Truffle, 2021) with Keiji Haino (electronics, drum machine, suona), Jim O'Rourke (synthesizer), Oren Ambarchi (pedal steel, electronics). NOTE: Recorded live February, 2017, Tokyo
3. [1:46:27] Chick Corea: Gathering. From Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony, 1971) with Chick Corea (piano, bamboo flute), Anthony Braxton (flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, percussion), Dave Holland (bass, cello, guitar), Barry Altschul (drums, percussion, finger piano). NOTE: Recorded March 17, 1971, New York⠀
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Outro with Alvin Lucier: Music for Solo Performer [1:56:24]
Photo credits: Alvin Lucier by Kris Serafin, John Luther Adams by Madeline Cass, Keiji Haino by Michael Hoefner, Rolf Wallin via the artist, Oren Ambarchi by Andy Newcombe, Sylvie Courvoisier by Christian Ducasse, David Cope via UC Santa Cruz, Archie Shepp by Martin Sarrazac, Mula by Nancy Siderola, Circle (barry altschul, Anthony Braxton, Chick Corea, Dave Holland) via Pinterest.