A Wayne Horvitz interview and a Louis Andriessen premiere, what more could you want? Maybe a brief history of conduction, a Seattle Symphony preview, plus a helping of Braxton, Frey, Webber and Courvoisier? We've got it all in this podcast as Wayne joins us to talk about What’s Going On: Conduction, Improvisation, and the Culture of Structure, a series of concerts co-presented by Earshot Jazz Festival and dedicated to the music of Sun Ra, Julius Hemphill and Butch Morris. Andriessen is represented by his final composition in its first recording, which reveals the composer's evolution from brash minimalism to nostalgic neoclassicism. We also check out Bent Sørensen’s disorienting Trumpet Concerto preparatory to its US premiere, enjoy Quatuor Bozzini's traversal of a new string quartet by Jürg Frey, revisit a unique trio recording by Anthony Braxton with Wadada Leo Smith and Richard Teitelbaum, and compare the latter to Anna Webber’s simple trio and Sylvie Courvoisier’s solo piano.
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Flotation Device 2024-10-13: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Conduction through the years [0:00]
1. [1:50] Butch Morris: LES Gardens. From Nublu Orchestra conducted by Butch Morris (Nublu, 2006) with Butch Morris (conduction), Nublu Orchestra: Sabina Sciubba, Sylvia Gordon, Chantal Ughi (vocals), Jonathon Haffner (alto saxophone), Doug Wieselman (bass clarinet), Eddie Henderson, Kirk Knuffke (trumpets), Graham Haynes (cornet), Zeke Zima (guitar), Didi Gutman (keyboards), Derek Nievergelt, Jesse Murphy, Michael Kiaer (basses), Aaron Johnston, Daniel Jodocy, Kenny Wollesen (drums), Mauro Refosco (percussion), Gus Oberg (recording engineer)
2. [6:01] Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra: The Magic City (excerpts). From The Magic City (El Saturn, 1966, reissued 2017 by Cosmic Myth) with Sun Ra (clavioline, piano), Marshall Allen (alto saxophone, flute, piccolo), Danny Davis (alto saxophone, flute), Harry Spencer (alto saxophone), John Gilmore (tenor saxophone), Pat Patrick (baritone saxophone), Robert Cummings (bass clarinet), Walter Miller (trumpet), Ali Hassan (trombone), Ronnie Boykins (bass), Roger Blank (drums), James Jacson (percussion). NOTE: Recorded September 1965, New York
3. [14:31] Wayne Horvitz: First Light. From At The Reception (Songlines, 2014) with Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble: Beth Fleenor (clarinet), Kate Olson (soprano saxophone), Ivan Arteaga (alto saxophone), Skerik (tenor saxophone), Greg Sinibaldi (baritone saxophone), Al Keith, Samantha Boshnack, Steve O'Brien (trumpets), Naomi Siegel, Jacob Herring, Willem de Koch (trombones), Ryan Burns (piano), Geoff Harper (bass), Eric Eagle (drums), Wayne Horvitz (conductor), Andy Meyer (recording engineer)
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SET 2: What's Going On [21:30]
1. [23:36] Wayne Horvitz in conversation with Michael Schell. NOTE: Video of the interview is at https://tinyurl.com/HorvitzInterview
2. [45:18] Butch Morris: The Bartok Comprovisation. From Dust To Dust (New World, 1991) with John Purcell (oboe), Marty Ehrlich (clarinet), Janet Grice (bassoon), Vicki Bodner (English horn), J.A. Deane (trombone, electronics), Jason Hwang (violin), Jean-Paul Bourelly (guitar), Myra Melford (piano), Wayne Horvitz (keyboards, electronics), Zeena Parkins (harp), Bryan Carrott (vibraphone), Andrew Cyrille (drums), Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris (conductor), James Farber (recording engineer, Skyline Studios)
3. [52:25] Sun Ra: Beyond the Purple Star Zone. From Beyond the Purple Star Zone (El Saturn, 1981, reissued 2015 by Enterplanetary Koncepts) with Sun Ra (organ, electronic keyboards), Vincent Chancey (French horn), Samari Celestial AKA Eric Walker (drums). NOTE: Recorded December 1980 at Detroit Jazz Center
4. [57:47] Outro with Wayne Horvitz: 188 Sullivan: Varèse meets Bird
5. [1:01:07] Sylvie Courvoisier: Twirling (for Ned Rothenberg). From To Be Other-Wise (Intakt, 2024) with Sylvie Courvoisier (piano), Manfred Seiler, Manuel Braun (recording engineers)
6. [1:03:47] Sylvie Courvoisier: Chilling (for my 3 cats). From To Be Other-Wise (credits as above)
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SET 3: Louis Andriessen (1939–2021) [1:07:11]
1. [1:09:14] Louis Andriessen: May. From Tales of song and sadness (Pentatone, 2024) with Cappella Amsterdam, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Daniel Reuss (conductor), Jochem Geene (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2019, premiere recording
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SET 4: Gently into the night [1:28:38]
1. [1:31:46] Bent Sørensen: Trumpet Concerto - Movement 3. From Concertos (Dacapo, 2020) with Tine Thing Helseth (trumpet), Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Per Kristian Skalstad (conductor), Jan Oldrup, Mikkel Nymand (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 2011–12
2. [1:35:38] Jürg Frey: String Quartet No. 4 - IV. From String Quartet No. 4 (Collection QB, 2023) with Bozzini Quartet: Alissa Cheung, Clemens Merkel (violins), Stéphanie Bozzini (viola), Isabelle Bozzini (cello)
3. [1:42:08] Anthony Braxton: Composition 36: HM 421 (RTS) 47. From Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974, reissued 2015 by Delmark) with Anthony Braxton (clarinet, bass drum), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet, percussion, small instruments), Richard Teitelbaum (Moog synthesizer, percussion), Phil Sheridan (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded October 8, 1974 at Thunder Sound, Toronto
4. [1:46:32] Anna Webber: Foray. From simpletrio2000 (Intakt, 2024) with Anna Webber Simple Trio: Anna Webber (flute), Matt Mitchell (piano), John Hollenbeck (drums), Chris Benham (recording editor, Big Orange Sheep)
5. [1:55:03] Outro with Jürg Frey: String Quartet No. 4 - II
Photo credits: Simple Trio (John Hollenbeck, Anna Webber, Matt Mitchell) by Des White, Butch Morris by Luciano Rossetti, Sun Ra and Vincent Chancey by Leni Sinclair, Anthony Braxton and Richard Teitelbaum by Peter Gannushkin, Jürg Frey via Le Vivier, Sylvie Courvoisier by Christian Ducasse, Louis Andriessen by Marco Borggreve, Wayne Horvitz with Seattle Modern Orchestra by Daniel Sheehan/Earshot Jazz, Tine Thing Helseth by Anna-Julia Granberg.