Philip Glass and Cecil Taylor take the spotlight in this episode of Flotation Device. We celebrate the 50th anniversary of a landmark Glass composition that took four hours to traverse at its June 1974 premiere, encapsulating it in 30 minutes of highlights drawn from three different performances by The Philip Glass Ensemble recorded over three decades. Cecil Taylor comes to us a new archival album that showcases his sextet as it sounded in 1980. We’ll compare his vigorous atonal piano style to classic Messiaen and brand-new Manoury, while contrasting it to the mellower sound world of the new Philip Glass Solo album. Meanwhile Roger Reynolds combines a chamber orchestra with live and computer-processed flutes, while Osmo Tapio Räihälä runs a violin and a Finnish kantele through effects pedals. A quartet of Polish avant-garde chanteuses, a trans-Atlantic trio with sax, bass and pedal steel, and the new Seattle band WASNT round out the playlist.
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Flotation Device 2024-06-02: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: From the Northwest and around the world [0:00]
1. [1:38] WASNT: Atbash. From Wasnt (Bandcamp, 2024) with Julie Baldridge (violin), Cameron Elliot (guitar), Dave Abramson (bass, keyboard), Gregg Keplinger (drums, keyboard)
2. [6:12] Anna Gadt et al: VoiceACT - Part 1. From VoiceACT (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2024) with Anna Gadt, Marta Grzywacz, Natalia Kordiak, Gosia Zagajewska (voices), Michał Kupicz (recording engineer)
3. [9:26] Susan Alcorn, José Lencastre, Hernâni Faustino: The Poet. From Manifesto (Clean Feed, 2023) with Susan Alcorn (pedal steel guitar), José Lencastre (alto saxophone), Hernâni Faustino (electric bass), Joaquim Monte (recording engineer)
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SET 2: Music in Twelve Parts at 50 [20:00]
1. [22:01] Philip Glass on Boulez and the New York new music scene c.1974 (Other Minds Archives, 1985)
2. [25:31] Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts - Part 11. From Music in Twelve Parts (Orange Mountain, 2007) with Philip Glass Ensemble: Lisa Bielawa (vocals), Jon Gibson, Richard Peck, Andrew Sterman (woodwinds), Philip Glass, Mick Rossi (keyboards), Michael Riesman (keyboards, music director), Dan Dryden (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live April 8, 2006 in Rovereto, Italy
3. [38:52] Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts - Part 11–12. From Music In Twelve Parts (Nonesuch, 1996) with Philip Glass Ensemble: Lisa Bielawa (voice), Jon Gibson, Andrew Sterman (flutes, soprano saxophones), Richard Peck (alto and tenor saxophone), Philip Glass, Martin Goldray (keyboards), Michael Riesman (keyboards, musical director), James Law, Dante DeSole (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded March–June 1993 in New York
4. [46:57] Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts - Part 12. From Music in Twelve Parts: Concert à Paris, 1975 (Transversales Disques, 2019) with Philip Glass Ensemble: Joan La Barbara (vocals, organ), Dickie Landry, Richard Peck (alto saxophones), Michael Riesman, Philip Glass (electric organs), Jon Gibson (flute, organ). NOTE: Recorded November 26, 1975 at la Maison de la Radio, Paris
5. [54:11] Outro with Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach
6. [59:00] Philip Glass: Opening. From Philip Glass Solo (Orange Mountain, 2024) with Philip Glass (piano), Alex Gray (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded 2021
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SET 3: Relentless music [1:04:58]
1. [1:06:59] Osmo Tapio Räihälä: Seurat. From Zensolence (Kairos, 2024) with Eija Kankaanranta (kantele), Maria Puusaari (violin), Anders Pohjola (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2012
2. [1:19:40] Cecil Taylor: February 9, 1980 II (excerpt). From Live At Fat Tuesday's, February 9, 1980 First Visit (Ezz-thetics/Hat Hut, 2024) with Cecil Taylor Unit: Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone), Ramsey Ameen (violin), Cecil Taylor (piano), Alan Silva (double bass, cello), Jerome Cooper (drums, balaphone), Sunny Murray (drums), Werner X. Uehlinger (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live February 9, 1980 at Fat Tuesday's, New York. See https://classicalking.org/article/remembering-cecil-taylor-1929-2018 for more on Cecil Taylor
3. [1:26:29] Cecil Taylor: February 9, 1980 III (excerpt). From Live At Fat Tuesday's, February 9, 1980 First Visit (credits as above)
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SET 4: Piano sources [1:32:12]
1. [1:35:47] Philippe Manoury: Deuxième livre d'étude - Réseaux. From Images… (B Records, 2023) with Lorenzo Soulès (piano). NOTE: Composed 2021
2. [1:41:29] Roger Reynolds: Transfigured Wind III - 4. Flute. From Wind Concertos (Ekkozone/Divine Art, 2024) with Kerstin Thiele (flute), Harvey Sollberger (composer-processed flute sounds), Esbjerg Ensemble, Mathias Reumert (conductor), Sebastian Vinther Olsen (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1984
3. [1:46:33] Roger Reynolds: Transfigured Wind III - 4. Ensemble. From Wind Concertos (credits as above)
4. [1:53:07] Outro with Olivier Messiaen: L'alouette Calandrelle (with Lorenzo Soulès, piano)
Photo credits: Osmo Tapio Räihälä by Stella Reismaa, VoiceACT (Anna Gadt, Natalia Kordiak, Marta Grzywacz, Gosia Zagajewska) by Urszula Las, Philip Glass Ensemble (Joan La Barbara, Richard Peck, Dickie Landry, Jon Gibson) in 1975 by Museum of Modern Art, Roger Reynolds via the artist, Philippe Manoury by Pauline de Mitt, Philip Glass by Luis Álvarez Roure (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution), Cecil Taylor by Peter Yates, Manifesto (José Lencastre, Susan Alcorn, Hernâni Faustino) via Clean Feed Records