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Enjoy our Sun Ra birthday celebration, showcasing several novelties in his vast discography, plus one classic: a seemingly innocuous track from 1960 that shows just how far ahead of the curve he and his Arkestra really were. We observe his fingerprints on key albums by Anthony Braxton and Weather Report whose 50th anniversaries coincide with his birthday and which exemplify two divergent streams of the post-WW2 avant-garde (which was still expanding). We also locate Sun Ra's influence in newly-released recordings by Yuko Fujiyama, the trio of Tony Malaby, Angelica Sanchez and Tom Rainey, and the Zurich-based group Les Mercenaires de l'Amour Fou.
In hour two we focus on composed and fixed-media music, with a pair of tracks from Unexplained Sounds’ new compilation of postindustrial Italian music, plus a remarkable example of old-meets-new from James Weeks and EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble, and a just-recorded orchestral work by Žibuoklė Martinaitytė where time both passes and stands still.
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Flotation Device 2022-05-22: annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Braxton in '72 [0:00]
1. [1:49] Anthony Braxton: Composition 115. From The Locals Play the Music of Anthony Braxton (Discus Music, 2020) with The Locals: Pat Thomas (piano, melodica), Alex Ward (clarinet), Evan Thomas (electric guitar), Dominic Lash (electric bass), Darren Hasson-Davis (drums). NOTE: Recorded 2006 at Konfrontationen Nickelsdorf
2. [7:27] Anthony Braxton Quintet: Composition 6 P II. From Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972 reissued 1992 by hatART as "Town Hall (Trio & Quintet) 1972") with Jeanne Lee (voice), Anthony Braxton (alto sax, soprano sax, flute, clarinet, E♭ clarinet, contrabass clarinet, percussion), John Stubblefield (tenor sax, flute, bass clarinet, gong, percussion), Dave Holland (double bass), Barry Altschul (percussion, marimba), John Sadler (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live May 22, 1972 at Town Hall, New York
3. [11:58] Anthony Braxton Trio: All the Things You Are. From Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972 reissued 1992 by hatART as "Town Hall (Trio & Quintet) 1972") with Anthony Braxton (alto saxophone), Dave Holland (bass), Philip Wilson (drums), John Sadler (recording engineer). NOTE: Composition by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Recorded live May 22, 1972 at Town Hall, New York⠀
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SET 2: Happy Birthday Mr. Sony'r Ra [24:05]
1. [28:16] Sun Ra: Visitant of the Ninth Ultimate. From Omniverse (Expanded) (Enterplanetary Koncepts, 2022) with Sun Ra (piano), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Hayes Burnett (bass), Eric Walker AKA Samarai Celestial (drums). NOTE: September Recorded 1979 at Variety Recording Studios, New York, originally released on Omniverse (Saturn, 1979)
2. [37:40] Tony Malaby, Angelica Sanchez, Tom Rainey: Jump Cliff. From Huapango (RogueArt, 2022) with Tony Malaby (soprano saxophone), Angelica Sanchez (piano), Tom Rainey (drums), Andy Taub (recording engineer)
3. [41:25] Sun Ra: Over the Rainbow (piano solo). From Omniverse (Expanded) (Enterplanetary Koncepts, 2022) with Sun Ra (piano). NOTE: Composition by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. Recorded live June 1979 at the Moers Music Festival, Germany. Previously unreleased⠀
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SET 3: Sun Ra and his progeny [44:19]
1. [46:16] Les Mercenaires de l‘Amour Fou: Tabascero. From Flugsalbi (Pekaton, 2021) with Les Mercenaires de l‘Amour Fou: Martin Medimorec (vibraphone), Christian Bucher (drums), Matthias Reinhard-DeRoo (bass)
2. [49:01] Sun Ra: Saturn Research. From Media Dreams (Expanded) (Enterplanetary Koncepts, 2022) with Sun Ra (organ, Crumar Mainman), Luqman Ali (drums). NOTE: Believed to have been recorded January 1978 in Milan, Italy. Originally released on Media Dreams (Saturn, 1978)
3. [51:58] Yuko Fujiyama: Agitato. From Quiet Passion (Intakt, 2022) with Yuko Fujiyama (piano), Graham Haynes, Ikue Mori (electronics), David Stoller (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded December 19, 2019 at Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Queens, NY
4. [53:34] Yuko Fujiyama: Improvisational Suite. From Quiet Passion (credits as above)
5. [57:33] Outro with Sun Ra: Space is the Place
6. [59:58] Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra: Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus. From Interstellar Low Ways (Saturn/Evidence, 1966) with Sun Ra (piano), Phil Cohran (cornet), Nate Pryor (trombone), Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, bells), John Gilmore (tenor sax, percussion), Ronnie Boykins (bass, space gong), Jon Hardy (drums, percussion, gong), ensemble vocals. NOTE: Recorded ca. June 17, 1960 at RCA Studios, Chicago⠀
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SET 4: I Sing the Body Electric at 50 [1:06:12]
1. [1:08:39] Weather Report: Medley: Vertical Invader/T.H./Dr. Honoris Causa. From I Sing the Body Electric (Columbia, 1972) with Josef Zawinul (electric and acoustic piano, ARP 2600 synthesizer), Wayne Shorter (saxophones), Miroslav Vitous (bass), Eric Gravatt (drums), Dom Um Romão (percussion)
2. [1:18:46] Simon Balestrazzi: Dying Embers. From Anthology of Post Industrial and Experimental Music from Italy (Unexplained Sounds Group, 2022) with Simon Balestrazzi (inside piano, VCS3, bulbul tarang, tubular gongs, Borderland granulator)
3. [1:24:11] Sonologyst: sää. From Anthology of Post Industrial and Experimental Music from Italy (Unexplained Sounds Group, 2022) with Raffaele Pezzella AKA Sonologyst⠀
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SET 5: Old meets New [1:27:50]
1. [1:31:15] James Weeks: Libro di fiammelle e ombre (excerpts). From Book of Flames and Shadows (Winter & Winter, 2022) with Exaudi Vocal Ensemble, James Weeks (conductor), Patrick Allen (recording engineer)
2. [1:36:53] Jacques Arcadelt: Poss'io morir di mala morte. From Book of Flames and Shadows (credits as above). NOTE: Published in Il Primo Libro de' Madrigali (1539)
3. [1:38:40] James Weeks: Libro di fiammelle e ombre (excerpts). From Book of Flames and Shadows (credits as above)
4. [1:40:29] Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Nunc fluens, Nunc stans. From Ex Tenebris Lux (Ondine, 2022) with Pavel Giunter (percussion), Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Karolis Vaitkevicius (conductor), Evelina Staniulytė, Aleksandra Kerienė, Vilius Keras (recording engineers)
5. [1:56:31] Outro with Jacques Arcadelt: Occhi miei Llssi
Photo credits: Simon Balestrazzi by Laura Dem, Anthony Braxton and Dave Holland via Qwest TV, Sun Ra in Space Is the Place, SONOLOGYST via Raffaele Pezzella, Les mercenaires de l'amour fou (Christian Bucher, Matthias Reinhard-DeRoo, Martin Medimorec) via the artists, Weather Report (Wayne Shorter, Miroslav Vitous, Josef Zawinul) by Bill Smith/Coda, Tom Rainey/Angelica Sanchez/Tony Malaby by Ingrid Laubrock, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė by Lina Aiduke, James Weeks via the artist, Yuko Fujiyama by Junko Arita.