In this show we sample new improvised music from Japan and North America, new composed music from Europe, and a few odds and ends to fill in the gaps. We preview trumpeter Steph Richards' new intermedia project Talk Show, which was just premiered in Seattle, and look back at the unlikely power trio of Keiji Haino, Bill Laswell and Rashied Ali via an archival recording that captures them live in 2005. Meanwhile, Satoko Fujii discovers strings, Michael Bisio assembles a quartet with viola and English horn, and the Ben Monder/Phil Haynes duo take Coltrane outside. Maddie Ashman makes her Flotation Device debut channeling Harry Partch, while Didier Rotella and the Nimikry duo do likewise using hybrid instruments. Francisco Coll and Thomas Larcher have new portrait albums to explore, and we close the program with another installment in our ongoing Sofia Gubaidulina tribute that focuses on her craggy religious music. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell.
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Flotation Device 2025-04-20: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Talk Show [0:00]
1. [1:39] Purple Trap: The Stone, Part I. From The Stone (Karlrecords, 2025) with Keiji Haino (voice, guitar), Bill Laswell (bass), Rashied Ali (drums), James Dellatacoma (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live December 2005 at The Stone, New York
2. [7:02] Maddie Ashman: Dark. From Otherworld (Bandcamp, 2025) with Maddie Ashman (voice, microtonal guitar), Gus White (recording engineer)
3. [10:07] Michael Bisio: Broken Waltz. From NuMBq (Mahakala, 2025) with Marianne Osiel (English horn), Melanie Dyer (viola), Michael Bisio (bass), Jay Rosen (percussion), Jim Clouse (recording engineer, Parkwest Studios)
4. [15:48] Steph Richards: Gong (Part II). From Fullmoon (Relative Pitch, 2018) with Stephanie Richards (trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion), Dino J.A. Deane (sampler), Andrew Munsey (recording engineer)
5. [17:38] Steph Richards: Snare. From Fullmoon (credits as above)
6. [22:02] Voice break with Steph Richards, Qasim Naqvi: Thyroid
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SET 2: Water and air [25:26]
1. [26:02] Steph Richards: Matter Is Water. From Supersense (Northern Spy, 2020) with Steph Richards (trumpet, flugelhorn, resonating drums/water), Jason Moran (piano), Stomu Takeishi (bass), Kenny Wollesen (drums, Wollesonics), Andrew Munsey (Wollesonics), David Stoller (recording engineer, Samurai Hotel)
2. [29:36] Satoko Fujii: Morning Sun. From Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra, 2025) with Yuriko Mukoujima, Ayako Kato (violins), Atsuko Hatano (viola, electronics), Hiroshi Yoshino (bass), Satoko Fujii (piano), Akira Horikoshi (drums), Takanori Terabe (recording engineer, Koendori Classics)
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SET 3: From overseas [41:19]
1. [43:33] Michael Ranta: Seven Pieces For Three Percussionists - 1. From Transits, Volume 1 (Imprec/Important Records, 2024) with Bard College Percussion Ensemble: Jonathan Collazo, Esteban Ganem, Arnav Shirodkar (percussion), Sarah Hennies (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1977, premiere recording
2. [47:45] Michael Ranta: Seven Pieces For Three Percussionists - 2. From Transits, Volume 1 (credits as above)
3. [50:33] Francisco Coll: …de voz aceitunada - 4. From Francisco Coll: A Portrait (Challenge Classics, 2025) with New European Ensemble: Felicia van den End (flute), Emlyn Stam (viola), Jacob Kellermann (guitar), Karel Bruggeman (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2010, premiere recording
4. [52:53] Didier Rotella: Catharsis - Variation 2. From Zone Grise (Kairos, 2025) with Ensemble Links: Laurent Durupt, Trami Nguyen (pianos), Stanislas Delannoy, Rémi Durupt (percussion), Pierre Favrez (recording engineer, Bmedia). NOTE: Composed 2017–18, premiere recording
5. [56:39] Outro with Michael Ranta: Mharuva (Sarah Hennies)
6. [59:27] Phil Haynes, Ben Monder: Transition. From Transition[s] (Corner Store Jazz, 2025) with Ben Monder (guitar), Phil Haynes (drums), Jon Rosenberg (recording engineer, Scholes Street Studio). NOTE: Composition by John Coltrane
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SET 4: New from Europe [1:04:49]
1. [1:05:49] Nimikry: Narcomancy (excerpts). From Bird of Paradise (Kairos, 2025) with Nimikry: Alessandro Baticci (flute, live electronics), Rafał Zalech (viola, live electronics)
2. [1:16:46] Jordina Millà, Barry Guy: Part V. From Live in Munich (ECM, 2024) with Jordina Millà (piano), Barry Guy (double bass), Zoro Babel (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live February 2022 at Schwere Reiter, Munich
3. [1:20:15] Thomas Larcher: Unerzählt - 11. Zuletzt werden bloß soviel überbleiben. From The Living Mountain (ECM, 2023) with Andrè Schuen (baritone), Daniel Heide (piano)
4. [1:24:00] Thomas Larcher: The Living Mountain - 5. Once on a night of such clear silence. From The Living Mountain (as above) with Sarah Aristidou (soprano), Luka Juhart (accordion), Aaron Pilsan (piano), Münchener Kammerorchester, Clemens Schuldt (conductor)
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SET 5: Sofia Gubaidulina (1931–2025) [1:28:09]
1. [1:31:36] Sofia Gubaidulina: Jubilatio. From Anthology of Music for Percussion (Otdelenie VYHOD, 2010) with Pekarsky Percussion Project. NOTE: Composed 1979
2. [1:39:37] Sofia Gubaidulina: The Canticle of the Sun by Saint Francis of Assisi (excerpts). From The Canticle of the Sun/Hommage à Marina Tsvetaeva (Chandos, 2003) with David Geringas (cello), Marianne Lund (soprano), Jane Bertelsen (alto), Poul Emborg (tenor), Rune Stensvold (bass), Gert Sørensen, Tom Nybye (percussion), Alice Nørregaard (celesta), Danish National Choir/DR, Stefan Parkman (conductor), Jørn Damgaard Jacobsen (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1997
3. [1:56:28] Outro with Sofia Gubaidulina: Concerto for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band
Photo credits: Maddie Ashman with microtonal guitar via the artist, Steph Richards by Chris Weiss, Michael Ranta via Sarah Hennies, Nimikry (Alessandro Baticci and Rafal Zalech) by Svetlana Seleznev, Satoko Fujii by Bryan Murray, Purple Trap (Keiji Haino, Bill Laswell, Rashied Ali) via the artists, Sofia Gubaidulina via Alchetron, Jordina Millà and Barry Guy via Crossover Media, Thomas Larcher by Richard Haughton, Phil Haynes by Pierre Rene Allain, Michael Bisio by Marek Lazarski