Flotation Device celebrates the 80th birthdays of two very different composers born on the same date: Gavin Bryars and Brian Ferneyhough, Britain's most prominent exponents of minimalism and maximalism respectively. We also honor Gérard Pesson's 65th birthday with an unusual work of his that manages to channel Brahms and Sciarrino simultaneously.
Plus, Oxbow and Peter Brötzmann perform together for the very first time, as do Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey and Dave Liebman. Sana Nagano and Ben LaMar Gay contribute their own fresh improvised tracks, while the influence of Ferneyhough’s school presents in the algorithm-driven compositions of Ryan Carter. A high-altitude piece by Thomas Adès and a pair of fixed-media projects by The Residents and the Indonesian duo Senyawa (with friends) round out the program.
Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell. Originally aired January 15, 2023. Annotated playlist and photo credits in Comments.
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Flotation Device 2023-01-15: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Triple trios [0:00]
1. [1:33] Sana Nagano: Timeless Eyes. From Anime Mundi (577, 2022) with Sana Nagano (violin, effects), Karl Berger (piano, vibraphone), Billy Martin (drums, percussion), Chris Bittner (recording engineer)
2. [7:01] The Residents: Let Caution Be Your Cry. From Triple Trouble, The Original Soundtrack Recording (Cherry Red Records/MVD Audio, 2022) with The Residents, Eric Drew Feldman (keyboards)
3. [12:55] Dave Liebman, Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey: New Now - Part 6 and 5. From New Now (Meta, 2022) with Dave Liebman (soprano sax, piano, wooden flute), Tyshawn Sorey (drum set, piano), Adam Rudolph (handrumset, percussion, live electronic processing), Kengchakaj Kengkarnka, Zacchae'us Paul (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded live September 30, 2021 at The Jazz Gallery, New York City
4. [23:09] Dave Liebman, Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey: New Now - Part 5. From New Now (credits as above)⠀
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SET 2: Bryars at 80 [28:14]
1. [32:41] Gavin Bryars: After the Requiem (excerpts). From After the Requiem (ECM, 1991) with Bill Frisell (electric guitar), Alexander Balanescu, Kate Musker (violas), Tony Hinnigan (cello). NOTE: Composed 1990
2. [41:43] Gavin Bryars: One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing (excerpts). From Farewell to Philosophy (Point Music, 1996, reissued 2003 by Philips in Gavin Bryars: A Portrait) with Nexus: Bill Cahn, Bob Becker, John Wyre, Robin Engelman, Russ Hartenberger (percussion). NOTE: Composed 1994
3. [55:38] Outro with Gavin Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
4. [1:00:30] Senyawa et al: Perburuan (The Hunt). From The Prey And The Ruler (Room 40, 2022) with Helen Svoboda (double bass, voice), Peter Knight (trumpet, Revox B77 reel-to-reel tape machine), Joe Talia (drums), Aviva Endean (clarinets, harmonic flute), Lawrence English (organ, electronics), Senyawa: Wukir Suryadi (Industrial Mutant instrument), Rully Shabara (voice)
5. [1:04:30] Oxbow, Peter Brötzmann: Skin (excerpts). From An Eternal Reminder of Not Today/Live at Moers (Trost/Sleeping Giant Glossolalia, 2022) with Peter Brötzmann (saxophone), Oxbow: Eugene Robinson (voice), Niko Wenner (guitar, piano), Dan Adams (bass), Greg Davis (drums). NOTE: Recorded live May 2018 at Moers Festival, ENNI Eventhalle, Moers, Germany⠀
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SET 3: Ferneyhough at 80 [1:08:09]
1. [1:10:28] Brian Ferneyhough: Missa brevis - Hosanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei. From La terre est un homme (NMC, 2018) with Exaudi Vocal Ensemble, James Weeks (conductor), Tim Archer, Tom Parnell (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 1966–9, recorded live June 10, 2006 at Aldeburgh Festival, Orford Church, Suffolk, UK
2. [1:16:02] Brian Ferneyhough: Cassandra's Dream Song. From Music for Flute (Bridge, 2002) with Kolbeinn Bjarnason (flute). NOTE: Composed 1970
3. [1:25:39] Brian Ferneyhough: Carceri d'invenzione III (excerpt). From Prometheus et al (Accord/Universal Music France, 1996) with Ensemble Contrechamps, Emilio Pomàrico (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1986⠀
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SET 4: Pesson at 65 [1:27:21]
1. [1:29:58] Ryan Carter: Competing Demands. From On a Better Filtering Algorithm (Kairos, 2022) with John Orfe (piano). NOTE: Composed 2011
2. [1:34:06] Thomas Adès: Lieux retrouvés - 2. La montagne. From Märchentänze et al (Ondine, 2022) with Tomas Nuñez (cello), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Collon (conductor), Anna-Kaisa Kemppi, Enno Mäemets (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 2016
3. [1:38:22] Ben LaMar Gay: Água Futurism (excerpt). From Certain Reveries (International Anthem, 2022) with Ben LaMar Gay (cornet, synth, voice), Tommaso Moretti (drums), Neil Strauch (recording engineer)
4. [1:46:08] Gérard Pesson: Nebenstück. From Mes béatitudes (æon/Outhere Music, 2001) with Ensemble Recherche: Shizuyo Oka (clarinet), Félix Borel, Melise Mellinger (violins), Barbara Maurer (viola), Lucas Fels (cello). NOTE: Composed 1998. "Filtrage de la Ballade, Op. 10, No. 4 de Brahms"
5. [1:54:09] Outro with Johannes Brahms: Ballade in B major
Photo credits: Sana Nagano by Luke Marantz, Gavin Bryars at Queen Elizabeth Hall by Vicky Hallam, Brian Ferneyhough by Charlotte Oswald, Gérard Pesson via C. Daguet/Editions Henry Lemoine, Tyshawn Sorey by Steven Pisano, The Residents via the artists, Helen Svoboda via the artist, Thomas Adès by Marco Borggreve, Bill Frisell by Monica Frisell, Wukir Suryadi via Room40, Oxbow's Eugene Robinson and Greg Davis with Peter Brötzmann by Geert Vandepoele, Ben LaMar Gay via the artist, Ryan Carter by Dominica Eriksen.