In this podcast we showcase avant-rock from Spinifex, East-meets-West from DoYeon Kim and Brandon Lopez, new works for solo strings by Bryce Dessner and Yu-Hui Chang, avant-electronica from Unexplained Sounds, and a 60th birthday tribute to Gabriela Ortiz with help from the LA Phil. Our "50 years ago in the avant-garde" feature revisits late gems from Britten and Shostakovich that were premiered in December 1974, marking the tail end of the era of great 20th century modernists. We contrast those with contemporaneous works by four American mavericks with four very different approaches to musicalizing the human voice. A cherishing Northwest farewell to the great Zakir Hussain rounds out the playlist. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, originally broadcast December 22, 2024. Photo credits and annotated playlist with comments.
Global chart history
Top position held by this upload
Comments
Flotation Device 2024-12-22: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Zakir Hussain (1951–2024) [0:00]
1. [1:21] Spinifex: Tatiana. From Undrilling the Hole (TryTone, 2024) with Spinifex: Tobias Klein (alto saxophone), John Dikeman (tenor saxophone), Bart Maris (trumpet), Jasper Stadhouders (guitar), Gonçalo Almeida (bass guitar), Philipp Moser (drums), Vincent de Bast (recording engineer, Werkplaats Walter)
2. [13:42] Irving Paul Pereira: Geometry Problems. From 10th Annual Report - Anniversary Edition (Unexplained Sounds, 2024)
3. [17:26] Zakir Hussain: Tabla solo in the rhythmic cycle of Jhaptal (10-beat cycle). From Virtuoso From Afghanistan (Smithsonian Folkways, 2002) with Zakir Hussain (tabla, voice), Ustad Mohammad Omar (rebab). NOTE: Recorded November 18, 1974 at University of Washington, Seattle
⠀
SET 2: Cross-cultural music [25:13]
1. [27:52] DoYeon Kim, Brandon Lopez: Syzygy I. From Syzygy, Vol. 1 (577, 2024) with DoYeon Kim (gayageum), Brandon Lopez (bass), Jeremy Loucas (recording engineer, Sear Sound)
2. [33:01] Yu-Hui Chang: Alter Ego - 3. methodical. From Mind Like Water (New Focus, 2024) with Rhonda Rider (cello), Joel Gordon (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2019
3. [39:26] Gabriela Ortiz: Altar de cuerda - 2. Canto abierto. From Revolución diamantina (Platoon, 2024) with Maria Dueñas (violin), Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel (conductor), Dmitriy Lipay, Alexander Lipay (recording engineers)
4. [53:42] Outro with Gabriela Ortiz: Magna Sin (with Aldo Aranda)
5. [1:00:55] Bryce Dessner: Ornament and Crime III. From Solos (Sony, 2024) with Pekka Kuusisto (violin)
6. [1:07:22] Bryce Dessner: Song for Ainola. From Solos (as above) with Anastasia Kobekina (cello)
⠀
SET 3: 50 years ago: Britten and the cello [1:08:38]
1. [1:11:06] Benjamin Britten: Cello Suite No. 3, Op. 87. From Cello Suites (Virgin/EMI, 2000) with Truls Mørk (cello), Arne Akselberg (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1971, premiered December 21, 1974 by Mstislav Rostropovich at Snape Maltings, UK
⠀
SET 4: The many voices of 1974 [1:34:34]
1. [1:36:38] Gertrude Stein reads from The Making of Americans
2. [1:39:04] Charles Amirkhanian: She She and She (excerpt). From Lexical Music (1750 Arch, 1979, reissued 2017 by Other Minds) with Charles Amirkhanian, Han Reiziger, Piet Koremans (voices), Bert Vervoorn, Piet Koremans (recording engineers, VPRO Radio Hilversum). NOTE: Composed 1974
3. [1:41:32] Charles Dodge: The Story of Our Lives - 5. If Only There Were A Perfect Moment in the Book. From Synthesized Voices (CRI, 1976, reissued 2010 by New World). NOTE: Realized 1974 at Columbia University Center for Computing Activities and Nevis Laboratories. Text by Mark Strand
4. [1:44:48] Dmitri Shostakovich: Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Op. 145 - 5. Anger. From Complete Songs Volume 5 (Delos, 2005) with Fyodor Kuznetsov (bass), Yuri Serov (piano), Victor Dinov (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1974, premiered December 23, 1974 in Leningrad
5. [1:46:21] Joan La Barbara: Voice Piece: One-Note Internal Resonance Investigation (excerpts). From Voice Is The Original Instrument (Wizard, 1976, reissued 2016 by Arc Light Editions) with Joan La Barbara (amplified voice), Pat Kelley (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1974, premiered December 9. 1974 by La Barbara at St. Mark's Church, New York
6. [1:48:12] Charles Dodge: The Story of Our Lives - 7. The Book Will Not Survive. From Synthesized Voices (as above)
7. [1:50:34] Dmitri Shostakovich: Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Op. 145a - 11. Immortality. From Orchestral Songs, Vol. 2 (Deutsche Grammophon, 1995) with Sergei Leiferkus (baritone), Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (conductor), Torbjörn Samuelsson (recording engineer)
8. [1:53:52] Outro with Kenneth Gaburo: The Flow of [u]
Photo credits: Gertrude Stein by Carl Van Vechten, Kenneth Gaburo in Michael Schell: Just Words, Zakir Hussain via the artist, Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten in 1966 by RIA Novosti, Joan La Barbara by Roberto Massoti, Irving Paul Pereira via the artist, Spinifex (Tobias Klein, John Dikeman, Bart Maris, Gonçalo Almeida, Philipp Moser, Jasper Stadhouders) by Michel Mees, Bryce Dessner by Jens Koch, Yu-Hui Chang by Sharona Jacobs, DoYeon Kim via the artist, Gabriela Ortiz by Mara Arteaga, Charles Amirkhanian by Michael Karibian