Flotation Device celebrates Kaija Saariaho’s 70th birthday with one famous and one obscure work of hers (the latter found only on a rare, limited-run CD). We also say goodbye to the original Mr. Yoko Ono: Toshi Ichiyanagi, with a composition reflecting the influence of his mentor John Cage as well as Ligeti. We preview Seattle Opera’s production of Tristan und Isolde in an unconventional way with help from Hans Werner Henze, Peter Zinovieff and Igor Levit. And our 50 years ago in the avant-garde feature explores the 1972 Bay area convergence of Sun Ra and The Residents (before they were known as The Residents).
New offerings by David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Thumbscrew, Gordon Grdina, Wukir Suryadi, Dmytro Radzetskyi and the Laubrock/Rainey duo keep us on our toes. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world, with host Michael Schell. Annotated playlist and photo credits with Comments.
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Flotation Device 2022-10-16: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Improvised [0:00]
1. [1:01] Gordon Grdina: Oddly Enough. From Oddly Enough: The Music of Tim Berne (AttaBoyGirl, 2022) with Gordon Grdina (multitracked guitars)
2. [5:27] Thumbscrew: Future Reruns and Nostalgia. From Multicolored Midnight (Cuneiform, 2022) with Mary Halvorson (guitar), Michael Formanek (double bass, electronics), Tomas Fujiwara (drums, vibraphone), Aaron Nevezie (recording engineer). NOTE: Composition by Tomas Fujiwara
3. [13:52] Miles Davis: Minor Ninths, Part 1. From That's What Happened 1982-1985 - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 (Columbia, 2022) with J.J. Johnson (trombone), Miles Davis (keyboards)⠀
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SET 2: Liebestod [17:06]
1. [20:30] Hans Werner Henze: Tristan (excerpts). From Tristan (Sony, 2022) with Igor Levit (piano), Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Franz Welser-Möst (conductor), Peter Zinovieff (tapes). NOTE: Composed and realized 1973⠀
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SET 3: 50 years ago in the avant-garde [36:42]
1. [38:35] Sun Ra: Sea of Sounds. From Space is the Place (Black Thumb, 1973 reissued 2014 by Enterplanetary Koncepts) with Sun Ra and His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: Sun Ra (Farfisa organ), Akh Tal Ebah (flugelhorn), Kwame Hadi AKA Lamont McClamb (trumpet), Marshall Allen (alto saxophone), Danny Davis (alto saxophone), John Gilmore (tenor saxophone), Pat Patrick (baritone saxophone), Lex Humphries (drums), Atakatun AKA Stanley Morgan, Odun AKA Russel Branch (percussion), Baker Bigsby (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded October 19–20, 1972, Streeterville Recording Studio, Chicago, IL
2. [46:18] The Residents: 1-10 (with a Touch of 11) - Side B [excerpts]. From Warning: UNiNC.: Live and Experimental Recordings 1971-1972 (New Ralph Too, 2022)
3. [52:07] Outro with Sun Ra: Space Is the Place
4. [57:16] Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey: Stirred Crazy. From Counterfeit Mars (Relative Pitch, 2022) with Ingrid Laubrock (soprano saxophone), Tom Rainey (drums), Andy Taub (recording engineer)
5. [1:00:26] Wukir Suryadi: Tujuh. From Menolak Tunduk/Refuse to Submit (WV Sorcerer, 2022) with Wukir Suryadi (Kentongan series A and B, guitar, Industrial Mutalt, Solet, Senyawa x Benchlab Pedal series R prototype)⠀
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SET 4: Postminimalism [1:07:16]
1. [1:09:29] David Lang: The Writings - 6. Again (changed return). From The Writings (Pentatone, 2022) with Cappella Amsterdam, Daniel Reuss (conductor), Aki Matusch (recording engineer)
2. [1:15:30] Dmytro Radzetskyi: Guitar and Double Bass Duo. From Live (volume 2: Bands) (Bandcamp, 2021) with Dmytro Radzetskyi Дмитро Радзецький (8 strings MIDI Radz-guitar), Nazarii Stets (double bass)
3. [1:19:31] Caroline Shaw: Thousandth Orange. From The Wheel (Alpha, 2022) with I Giardini: Shuichi Okada (violin), Léa Hennino (viola), Pauline Buet (cello), David Violi (piano), Olivier Rosset (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2018⠀
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SET 5: Ichiyanagi and Saariaho [1:29:53]
1. [1:32:31] Toshi Ichiyanagi: Time Sequence. From Cosmos of Toshi Ichiyanagi II (Camerata, 1985) with Izumi Shimura (piano). NOTE: Composed 1975. NOTE: See https://tinyurl.com/Ichiyanagi for more about this composer
2. [1:40:07] Kaija Saariaho: Graal théâtre - 2. Impetuoso. From Graal théâtre, Château de l'âme, Amers (Sony, 2001) with Gidon Kremer (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1994, recorded 1996
3. [1:50:39] Outro with Kaija Saariaho: Cloud Music
Photo credits: Hans Werner Henze by Rolf Unterberg, Toshi Ichiyanagi/Toshiro Mayuzumi/Yoko Ono via Second Inversion, Kaija Saariaho by Andrew Campbell, Thumbscrew (Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara) by Amy Touchette, Caroline Shaw by Kait Moreno, Gordon Grdina by Genevieve Monro, Marshall Allen by Ringo Zingg, Dmytro Radzetskyi via the artist, The Residents via the artists, David Lang by Peter Serling.