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Flotation Device spans six countries, three continents, and a healthy range of composed, improvised and fixed-media works in this podcast. Prominent in the mix is Wadada Leo Smith’s new 7-CD box set of string quartets, distilled into a representative 13-minute medley. We also say farewell to the late Hans-Joachim Hespos, and happy (40th) birthday to Caroline Shaw, and we honor the 50th anniversary of a pair of French acousmatic classics. We’ve got new albums from Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda, Germany’s Eckard Koltermann, Poland’s Anna Gadt, and the Northwest’s native electroacoustician Steve Layton, plus newfangled harpsichord music from Francesco Filidei, old-time banjo music (of a sort) from Weston Olencki, and a brand-new avant-fusion alloy from the all-stars of Lyon’s Dur et Doux collective.
Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell. Photo credits and annotated playlist with comments.
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Flotation Device 2022-07-31: annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Secret experiences [0:00]
1. [1:19] Les Secrètes Sessions: Harissa et Lexomil. From Secrete session Dur et Doux (Dur et Doux, 2022) with Anthony Béard (drums), Cynthia Caubisens (piano, machines, vocals), Pierre Chanel (flutes), Stéphane Giner (bass), Guillaume Lagache (alto saxophone)
2. [8:55] Joe Fonda, Satoko Fujii: Haru. From Thread of Light (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2022) with Satoko Fujii (piano), Joe Fonda (bass), Greg DiCrosta (recording engineer for Fonda)
3. [13:24] François Bayle: L'Expérience Acoustique - III. La Preuve par le sens: 8. La Langue inconnue. From 50 ans d'acousmatique (INA-GRM, 2012). NOTE: Realized April–July 1971, premiered August 3, 1972 at Festival d’Avignon, Avignon, France⠀
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SET 2: Caroline Shaw at 40 [23:41]
1. [27:44] Caroline Shaw: Partita for 8 Voices - 2. Sarabande. From Partita for 8 Voices (New Amsterdam Records, 2016) with Roomful of Teeth: Martha Cluver, Estelí Gomez (sopranos), Caroline Shaw, Virginia Warnken (altos), Eric Dudley (tenor), Avery Griffin (baritone), Dashon Burton (bass-baritone), Cameron Beauchamp (bass), Jesse Lewis (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2009–12, premiered 2013
2. [32:32] Joe Fonda, Satoko Fujii: Fallen Leaves Dance. From Thread of Light (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2022) with Satoko Fujii (piano), Joe Fonda (bass), Greg DiCrosta (recording engineer for Fonda)
3. [36:40] Eckard Koltermann: Alle Bilder sind schon da - Part Three. From Bonus Music (NOM, 2021) with Eckard Koltermann (overdubbed bass clarinet)
4. [40:56] Weston Olencki: a vine that grew over the city and no one noticed (excerpts). From Old Time Music (Tripticks Tapes, 2022) with Weston Olencki (two electro-mechanically controlled banjos, homemade magnetic resonators, solenoid motors, AM radio transmitters, vintage transistor and tube radios, railroad spikes, mason jars, carriage bolts, South Carolina red clay distortion unit, 60Hz ground hum, field recordings, and neural net re-synthesis of seminal old-time repertoire and Markov-driven Scruggs-style banjo picking)
5. [53:28] Outro with Caroline Shaw: Partita for 8 Voices - 1. Allemande
6. [59:00] Steve Layton: TaikoGaya. From Counting Backwards (Pandemic 11) (NiwoSound, 2022) with Steve Layton (Reason 12, Audacity)⠀
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SET 3: Music for three and four [1:04:27]
1. [1:05:30] Anna Gadt: Dolora, Renaissance Live (excerpts). From Renaissance Gesualdo (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2021) with Anna Stępniewska AKA Anna Gadt (voice), Zbigniew Chojnacki (accordion, live electronics), Krzysztof Gradziuk (drums), Jan Smoczyński (recording engineer)
2. [1:16:53] Wadada Leo Smith: String Quartet No. 11, No. 6, No. 4, No. 11 (excerpts). 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). In No. 6 with Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), Anthony Davis (piano), Lynn Vartan (percussion), Stuart Fox (guitar) and Lorenz Gamma in place of Mona Thian. In No. 4 with Alison Bjorkedal (harp). NOTE: Composed 1975–2019⠀
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SET 4: Hans-Joachim Hespos (1938–2022) [1:29:37]
1. [1:32:37] Francesco Filidei: Preludio. From Italian Contemporary Music for Harpsichord (Brilliant Classics, 2021) with Luca Quintavalle (harpsichord), Anton Langer (recording engineer)
2. [1:35:08] Hans-Joachim Hespos: Luftschattengelichte (Interpretation II). From Bach and Hespos: Organ Works (Rondeau, 2012) with Oliver Kluge (organ). NOTE: Composed 2011
3. [1:46:09] Bernard Parmegiani: Pour en finir avec le pouvoir d’Orphée - Faire, Défaire. From L'œuvre musicale (INA-GRM, 2008). NOTE: Realized 1972–74, premiered August 3, 1972 at Festival d’Avignon, Avignon, France
4. [1:55:12] Outro with Hans-Joachim Hespos: Tightrope Dance
Photo credits: Krzysztof Gradziuk/Anna Gadt/Zbigniew Chojnacki by Marlena Faerber, Wadada Leo Smith and Andrew McIntosh by Kat Nockels, Caroline Shaw by Kait Moreno, Francesco Filidei by Kyoko Nagashima, Bernard Parmegiani by Claudeanne37, Hans-Joachim Hespos by Wolfgang Osterheld, Satoko Fujii via the artist, Steve Layton via the artist, Luca Quintavalle by Hanna Witte, Eckard Koltermann via the artist, Joe Fonda via the artist.