Join Flotation Device as we honor Rolf Riehm, Philippe Manoury and Du Yun for their 85th, 70th and 45th birthdays, enlisting the latter’s help to explore the esoteric topic of operas about cockroaches. We also observe George Walker’s centenary with help from Steve Beck and the new Wadada Leo Smith box set. Plus we mark the 50th anniversary of a noteworthy electroacoustic work by Pierre Henry, identifying its legacy in newer works by Mesías Maiguashca (an intriguing Ecuadorian composer based in Germany) and Edward Sol (a leading figure in Ukraine’s besieged live-electronic scene). New recordings by César Camarero, Dorothee Eberhardt, Daniel Carter with Telepathic Band, and the quartet of Kyoko Kitamura, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomeka Reid and Joe Morris combine with a post-birthday instrumental duet between Laurie Anderson and Fred Frith to round out the playlist.
Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell, originally aired June 19, 2022. Annotated playlist with Comments.
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Flotation Device 2022-06-19: annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: New and improvised [0:00]
1. [1:41] Telepathic Band: Exitdreamly. From Telepatica (577, 2022) with Daniel Carter (saxophones, clarinet, trumpet), Patrick Holmes (clarinet), Matthew Putman (piano, Rhodes), Hilliard Greene (bass), Federico Ughi (drums), Jeremy Loucas (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live December 7, 2018 at Forward Festival 2018, ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn, NY
2. [6:53] Kyoko Kitamura, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomeka Reid, Joe Morris: The Earth Laughs, Then Brushes Her Teeth. From Geometry of Trees (Relative Pitch, 2022) with Kyoko Kitamura (voice), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), Tomeka Reid (cello), Joe Morris (guitar), Nick Lloyd (recording engineer)
3. [11:56] Laurie Anderson, Fred Frith: Of Finest Silver. From All Is Always Now (Fred Frith Live at the Stone) (Intakt, 2019) with Laurie Anderson (violin, keyboards, electronics), Fred Frith (electric guitar), Jeremiah Cymerman (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live August 27, 2013 at The Stone, New York⠀
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SET 2: 37 ways of looking at a glass of water [15:27]
1. [18:06] César Camarero: 37 maneras de mirar un vaso de agua. From A Liquid Theater (IBS Classical, 2021) with Zahir Ensemble, Juan García Rodríguez (conductor), Cheluis Salmerón (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2011⠀
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SET 3: The cockroach as poet [30:54]
1. [32:41] Du Yun: A Cockroach's Tarantella. From A Cockroach's Tarantella 跳塔郎泰拉舞的某蟑螂 (Modern Sky Records, 2020) with Du Yun 杜韻 (voice), JACK String Quartet
2. [51:32] Outro with Archy and Mehitabel: a back-alley opera (starring Eddie Bracken and Carol Channing)
3. [1:01:00] Philippe Manoury: Le Livre des Claviers - 1. Six Thai gongs, two marimbas. From The Book of Keyboards (New Focus, 2017) with Third Coast Percussion: David Skidmore, Gregory Beyer, Owen Clayton Condon, Ross Karre (percussion), Dan Nichols (recording engineer)
4. [1:02:19] Philippe Manoury: Pluton (excerpt). From Pluton (Ondine, 1998) with Ilmo Ranta (MIDI piano), Philippe Manoury (sound projection), Frédéric Prin (recording engineer), Miller Puckette (Max). NOTE: Composed 1988–89, recorded 1995 at IRCAM⠀
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SET 4: George Walker (1922–2018) [1:07:19]
1. [1:09:24] Dorothee Eberhardt: Magma for wind quintet - 2. From Magma (Genuin, 2022) with Monet Quintet, Alfredo Lasheras Hakobian (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2020
2. [1:13:03] Rolf Riehm: Die Tode des Orpheus (excerpts). From Ihr, meine und eines ruchlosen Vaters Kinder (Kreuzburg, 2022) with Lawrence Zazzo (countertenor), Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Jonathan Stockhammer (conductor). NOTE: Composed 2016
3. [1:19:51] Wadada Leo Smith: String Quartet No. 11 - 8. Alvin Singleton (excerpt)/String Quartet No. 1 - 4. George Theophilus Walker (excerpt). From String Quartets Nos. 1–12 (Tum, 2022) with RedKoral Quartet: Shalini Vijayan, Mona Thian (violin), Andrew McIntosh (viola), Ashley Walters (cello), Matthew Snyder (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1965–2019
4. [1:24:18] George Walker: Piano Sonata No. 5. From Five Piano Sonatas (1953–2003) (Bridge, 2022) with Steven Beck (piano), Ryan Streber (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2003⠀
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SET 5: War and peace [1:29:01]
1. [1:33:10] Pierre Henry: Deuxième Symphonie - 1. Andante 1. From Polyphonies (Decca, 2017). NOTE: Premiered June 20, 1972, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris
2. [1:40:50] Mesías Maiguashca: Nemos Orgel (excerpts). From Música para cinta magnética (+) instrumentos (1967–1989) (Buh, 2021) with Zsigmond Szathmáry (organ), Mesías Maiguashca (tape). NOTE: Composed 1989, recorded 2000
3. [1:48:15] Edward Sol: Cold Breath. From Cold Breath (Bandcamp, 2022) with Edward Solomykin Едуард Соломикін AKA Edward Sol (tapeloops, samplers)
4. [1:56:06] Outro with Edward Sol: Live at Bouquet Fest 2021
Photo credits: Rolf Riehm by Stefan Forster, Dorothee Eberhardt by Josef Peintner, Mesías Maiguashca via Buh Records, Laurie Anderson and Fred Frith by Ruby Washington/New York Times, Wadada Leo Smith and Andrew McIntosh by Kat Nockels, Telepathic Band (Matthew Putman, Hilliard Greene, Federico Ughi, Patrick Holmes, Daniel Carter) by Tobias Wilner, Edward Sol by repor.to, Archy the cockroach by George Herriman, Philippe Manoury by Pauline de Mitt, Du Yun by Zhen Qin, Kyoko Kitamura by Michael Weintrob, George Walker by Frank Schramm, Tomeka Reid via the artist, Pierre Henry by Jean-Christophe Windland.