Christmas music you won't be embarrassed to play in January! Our special Xmas Eve show, now in podcast format, features Sun Ra, John Zorn, Miles Davis, John Cage, The Residents, the Flecktones, Leonard Bernstein (who's been in the spotlight lately), James Brown, some Tuvan throat singers and many others in an eclectic, cringe-free medley of alternative holiday classics, perfect for people who don’t particularly like Christmas music.
Annotated playlist and photo credits with Comments. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell, Sunday nights 10pm to Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS HD1 Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
Tracklist
Playing tracks by The Residents, John Cage, John Zorn, John Baker, Béla Fleck and more.
Comments
Flotation Device 2023-12-24: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Merry Christmas from Tuva and the North Pole [0:00]
1. [1:19] The Residents: Fire AKA Santa Dog '72. From Santa Dog (Ralph, 1972, reissued 2022 by Secret Records in Santa Dog 50th Anniversary Collection)
2. [3:02] The Residents: Santa Dog 2022. From Santa Dog 2022 (single, New Ralph Too/Cherry Red, 2022) with The Residents, Sivan Lioncub (additional vocals)
3. [7:22] John Cage: Five Songs for contralto - 2. little Christmas tree. From As it is (ECM, 2012) with Natalia Pschenitschnikova (voice). Alexei Lubimov (piano). NOTE: Composed 1938, premiere recording
3. [10:58] John Zorn: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. From A Dreamers Christmas (Tzadik, 2011) with Marc Ribot (guitars), Jamie Saft (keyboards), Kenny Wollesen (vibes, chimes, glockenspiel), Trevor Dunn (bass guitar, double bass), Joey Baron (drums), Cyro Baptista (percussion). NOTE: Song by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie, arranged by John Zorn
4. [17:25] John Baker: Christmas Commercial. From BBC Radiophonic Music (Silva Screen/BBC Records, 2020) with John Baker (cash register playing O Come All Ye Faithful)
5. [18:08] Béla Fleck: Jingle Bells. From Jingle All The Way (Rounder, 2008) with Alash Ensemble: Bady-Dorzhu Ondar (igil, Tuvan throat singing), Mai-Ool Sedip (byzaanchy, Tuvan throat singing), Ayan-Ool Sam (doshpuluur, Tuvan throat singing), Ayan Shirizhik (kengirge, shynggyrash, Tuvan throat singing), Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: Jeff Coffin (flute), Béla Fleck (banjo), Roy "Future Man" Wooten (Synth-Axe Drumitar), Victor Wooten (electric bass guitar). NOTE: Composed by James Lord Pierpont
6. [21:37] Sun Ra: Astro Black. From Concert for the Comet Kohoutek (ESP, 2020) with Sun Ra and the Intergalactic Space Research Arkestra: June Tyson (Space Ethnic Voice), Sun Ra (synthesizer, organ, declamation), Eloe Omoe (bass clarinet, percussion), James Jacson (bassoon, flute, Ancient Egyptian Infinity drum), Danny Davis (alto saxophone, flute, percussion), Marshall Allen (alto saxophone, oboe, flute, percussion), John Gilmore (tenor saxophone, percussion, vocals), Danny Ray Thompson (baritone saxophone, flute, percussion), Kwame Hadi (trumpet), Akh Tal Ebah (trumpet, flugelhorn, melodica, vocals), Dick Griffin or Charles Stephens (trombone), Alzo Wright (violin, cello, drums), Ronnie Boykins (bass), Thomas "Bugs" Hunter (drums). NOTE: Recorded live December 22, 1973 at the Concert for the Comet Kohoutek, Town Hall, New York
⠀
SET 2: Sonny sends his holidays wishes [23:34]
1. [26:45] Sun Ra, Alton Abraham: It’s Christmas Time. From Singles (Strut, 2016) with The Qualities (unidentified male vocal quartet), Sun Ra (harmonium), unidentified musicians (guitar, bells, wood blocks). NOTE: Recorded c.1956
2. [29:28] Santa has technical difficulties
3. [30:17] The Dollyrots: Santa Baby (2020). From A Dollyrots Christmas EP (Bandcamp, 2020) with Kelly Ogden, Luis Cabezas
4. [32:23] Daniel Johnston: Christmas in the Loony Bin. From Merry Christmas (Stress, 1988) with Daniel Johnston (voice, guitar)
⠀
SET 3: Merry thought-provoking Christmas [35:16]
1. [37:42] Tansy Davies: Christmas Eve. From Nova! Nova! Contemporary carols from St Catharine's College (Resonus, 2015) with The Choirs of St Catharine's College Cambridge, Edward Wickham (conductor), Adam Binks (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2011, text by Christina Rossetti
2. [44:00] The Campbell Playhouse presents A Christmas Carol (1938, excerpt) with Joseph Cotton (narrator), Orson Welles (director)
3. [44:27] King Missile: Jesus Was Way Cool. From Mystical Shit (Shimmy Disc, 1990) with John S. Hall (words), Chris Xefos (piano)
4. [46:36] The Residents: Seasoned Greetings. From Meet the Residents (Ralph, 1974, reissued 2018 as Meet the Residents pREServed Edition)
5. [50:24] Leonard Bernstein: A Quiet Place - Act 1: Finale, Merry Christmas to you too asshole. From A Quiet Place (Deutsche Grammophon, 1987) with Old Sam: Chester Ludgin, Junior: John Brandsetter, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (conductor), Ernst Koehler, Jobst Eberhardt (recording engineers)
6. [52:55] Outro with Leonard Bernstein: A Quiet Place, Postlude to Act I (Victoria Ruggiero and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano)
7. [58:17] Bob Dorough: Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern). From Jingle Bell Jazz (Columbia, 1962, reissued 2009 in Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection, No. 17) with Bob Dorough (voice, piano), Miles Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Frank Rehak (trombone), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Willie Bobo (bongos), Gil Evans (arrangement)
⠀
SET 4: The boy [1:00:59]
1. [1:02:08] Bach: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 - 41. Ich will nur zu Ehren leben. From Jingle All The Way (Rounder, 2008) with Edgar Meyer (double bass), Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: Jeff Coffin (saxophone), Béla Fleck (banjo), Roy "Future Man" Wooten (percussion), Victor Wooten (bass guitar)
2. [1:06:31] John Adams: El Niño - Part 1: The Babe Leaped in Her Womb. From El Niño (Nonesuch, 2001) with Dawn Upshaw (soprano), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (mezzo-soprano), Willard White (baritone), Theatre of Voices, London Voices, Deutsches Symphonie-orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano (conductor)
3. [1:09:59] John Adams: El Niño - Part 2: And When They Were Departed. From El Niño (credits as above)
4. [1:11:08] John Adams: El Niño - Part 2: Dawn Air. From El Niño (credits as above)
5. [1:15:30] TriBeCaStan: Good King What's His Name? From Coal, Again! (Evergreene, 2014) with Claire Daly (flute, baritone sax), Premik Russell Tubbs (alto sax, flutes, lap steel guitar), John Turner (trumpet), Chris Morrow (trombone), Kenny Margolis (accordion, organ), Ray Peterson (bass), John Kruth (mandolin, mandocello, flutes, banjo, Portuguese guitar, harmonica, sitar), Jeff Green (yayli tambur, ukulele, marimba, double flutes), Boris Kinberg (percussion, drums), Jim Clouse (recording engineer). NOTE: Arranged by John Kruth and Jeff Greene
6. [1:18:43] Julian Koster: Frosty the Snowman. From The Singing Saw at Christmastime (Merge, 2008) with Julian Koster (singing saw), Nesey Gallons (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson
7. [1:20:04] The Residents: The Replacement - Dumbo the Clown. From Subterrainian Modern (Ralph, 1979) with Fred Frith (guitar), The Residents
8. [1:22:12] Léonin: Viderunt omnes. From Music of the Gothic Era (Archiv, 1976) with James Bowman (countertenor), David Corkhill, Gillian Reid (bells), The Early Music Consort of London, David Munrow (conductor), Hans-Peter Schweigmann, Klaus Hiemann (recording engineers). NOTE: Notre Dame Period (c.1170). Per Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, Munrow's interpretation is "based on an edition whose strict 6/8 rhythms many scholars now reject"
9. [1:31:20] Voice break with Thea Musgrave: A Christmas Carol
⠀
SET 5: Merry Christmas from the Bayards and the Browns
1. [1:36:28] Paul Hindemith: Das lange Weihnachtsmahl/The Long Christmas Dinner (excerpts from both the German and English versions). From Das lange Weihnachtsmahl (Wergo, 2005) with Ruth Ziesak (soprano), Ursula Hesse Von Den Steinen (alto), Herman Wallén (baritone), Michaela Kaune (soprano), Rundfunk-sinfonieorchester Berlin, Marek Janowski (conductor) and from The Long Christmas Dinner (Bridge, 2015) with Camille Zamora (soprano), Sara Murphy (mezzo-soprano), Jarrett Ott (baritone), Glenn Seven Allen (tenor), Catherine Martin (mezzo-soprano), Kathryn Guthrie (soprano), American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1960–61
2. [1:54:08] James Brown: Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto. From A Soulful Christmas (King, 1968) with James Brown (voice), uncredited band, Ron Lenhoff (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed by Charles Bobbit, Hank Ballard and Pee Wee Ellis
3. [1:57:09] Outro with James Brown: Soulful Christmas
Photo credits: The Dollyrots (Kelly Ogden, Luis Cabezas) via the artists, John Zorn by David Garland, Santa Dog by The Residents, Daniel Johnston via the artist, John Cage by Ann Keyvan, TriBeCaStan via the artists, Bradley Cooper as Lenny, James Brown via the artist, June Tyson and Sun Ra in Space Is the Place, John Adams by Christine Alicino, Paul Hindemith by Rudolf Heinisch, Alash Ensemble (Ayan-ool Sam, Bady-Dorzhu Ondar, Ayan Shirizhik) by Matthew Yake, Tansy Davies by Rikard Osterlund