Charles Ives returns to the spotlight for his sesquicentennial year as we wrest his First Piano Sonata from the long shadow cast by its better known sibling, the Concord Sonata. We also revisit gems by his compatriots Morton Feldman and Roger Reynolds for their 50th anniversaries, and celebrate the 70th birthday of drummer Pheeroan Aklaff with help from Oliver Lake, Anthony Braxton and Michael Gregory Jackson. New tracks by Joe Fonda, Wadada Leo Smith, David Toop and the Marie Krüttli Trio, plus a first look at Benjamin Attahir's evocative music, rounds out the playlist.
Flotation Device brings you creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, every Sunday night 10pm–Midnight on 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma. Annotated playlist and photo credits with Comments.
Global chart history
Top position held by this upload
Comments
Flotation Device 2025-01-26: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Pheeroan akLaff at 70 [0:00]
1. [1:40] Anthony Braxton Sextet: Klactoveedsedstene. From Sextet (Parker) 1993 (New Braxton House, 2018) with Anthony Braxton (alto and soprano saxophone, flute, contrabass clarinet, piano), Ari Brown (tenor and soprano saxophone), Paul Smoker (trumpet, flugelhorn), Misha Mengelberg (piano), Joe Fonda (bass), Pheeroan akLaff (drums), Ansgar Ballhorn, Fanny Pfister, Peter Pfister (recording engineers). NOTE: Tune by Charlie Parker. Recorded live in Cologne, October, 1993
2. [8:18] Michael Gregory Jackson: Frequency Equilibrium Koan (excerpt). From Frequency Equilibrium Koan (Golden, 2021) with Julius Hemphill (alto saxophone), Abdul Wadud (cello), Pheeroan akLaff (drums), Michael Gregory Jackson (guitar, recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live in 1977 at The Ladies Fort, New York
3. [9:27] Michael Gregory Jackson in conversation with Michael Schell
4. [10:36] Oliver Lake Trio: Clicker. From Zaki (Hat Hut, 1979) with Oliver Lake Trio: Oliver Lake (flute, soprano and alto sax), Michael Gregory Jackson (electric guitar), Pheeroan akLaff (drums), Peter Pfister (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live September 1, 1979 at Jazz Festival Willisau, Switzerland
5. [20:43] Bernard Herrmann in conversation with Vivian Perlis
6. [21:46] Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1 - 4a and 4b. Allegro, Presto, Slow. From First Sonata for Piano (Albany, 2024) with John Noel Roberts (piano)
⠀
SET 2: Ives at 150 [27:09]
1. [29:30] Voice break with Ives: Concord Sonata (Gilbert Kalish)
2. [31:49] Charles Ives: Three Harvest Home Chorales - 2. Lord of the Harvest. From Music for Chorus (Columbia, 1966, reissued 2024 by Sony) with Raymond Beegle (organ), Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Orchestra, Gregg Smith (conductor)
3. [35:07] Joe Fonda: Like No Other. From Eyes on the Horizon (Long Song, 2024) with Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), Joe Fonda (bass, flute)
4. [42:40] David Toop, Lawrence English: Mouth Cave. From The Shell That Speaks The Sea (Room40, 2023) with David Toop (voice, digital electronics, Spanish, electric and lapsteel guitars, bowing, whistling, percussion, flutes), Lawrence English (electronics, field recordings, shortwave radio, bass drum, ghost flute, bamboo, stones)
5. [46:58] Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1 - 3. Largo, Allegro, Largo. From Piano Sonata No. 1 (Columbia, 1967, reissued 2024 by Sony Classical in William Masselos: The Complete RCA and Columbia Album Collection) with William Masselos (piano), Richard Gardner (recording engineer)
6. [53:22] Outro with Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1 - 2a and 2b. Allegro moderato, Allegro (Roberts)
7. [1:00:42] Marie Krüttli Trio: My Lovely Brain. From Scoria (Intakt, 2024) with Marie Krüttli (piano), Lukas Traxel (bass), Gautier Garrigue (drums), Michael Brändli (recording engineer, Hardstudios, Winterthur)
⠀
SET 3: Benjamin Attahir [1:04:14]
1. [1:06:11] Benjamin Attahir: Al' Asr (excerpts). From Debussy, Attahir, Ravel (Warner/Erato, 2023) with Quatuor Arod: Jordan Victoria, Alexandre Vu (violins), Tanguy Parisot (viola), Jérémy Garbarg (cello), Ken Yoshida (recording engineer)
2. [1:13:41] Benjamin Attahir: Adh Dhohr. From Valse, Rapsodie Espagnole, Adh-Dhohr (Alpha, 2018) with Patrick Wibart (serpent), Orchestre National de Lille, Alexandre Bloch (conductor), Erdo Groot (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2017
⠀
SET 4: 50 years ago in the avant-garde [1:27:35]
1. [1:31:10] Morton Feldman: String Quartet and Orchestra. From Atlantis (hat[now]ART, 2000) with Pellegrini-Quartet: Antonio Pellegrini, Thomas Hofer (violins), Fabio Marano (viola), Helmut Menzler (cello), Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, Lucas Vis (conductor), Thomas Eschler (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1973, premiered January 26, 1975 by Cleveland String Quartet, Buffalo Philharmonic and Michael Tilson Thomas in Buffalo, NY
2. [1:56:58] Outro with Roger Reynolds: From Behind the Unreasoning Mask
Photo credits: Marie Krüttli Trio (Marie Krüttli, Gautier Garrigue, Lukas Traxel) by Palma Fiacco, Joe Fonda and Wadada Leo Smith by Jamie Saft, Pheeroan akLaff via JazzInfo.org, Patrick Wibart by Bernard Martinez, Benjamin Attahir by Julian Hargreaves, David Toop via the artist, Lord of the Harvest by Charles Ives, Charles Ives via the Charles Ives Society, Morton Feldman by Rob Bogaerts