The Grateful Dead make an unusual appearance on Flotation Device with an unusually outside fantasy on Blues for Allah in honor of its 50th anniversary, and we revisit concerts by Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley and the Quebecois avant-rock band Miriodor thanks to new archival releases. Sofia Gubaidulina returns with the premiere recording of her Introitus piano concerto in its final version. We contrast it to Shostakovich’s final composition, the bleak and monumental Viola Sonata, in honor of the 50th anniversary of his death in 1975. We remember composer Robert Linn for his 100th birthday while marveling at the avant-garde side of his contemporary Ennio Morricone (expressed in a spasmodic piece for solo harpsichord). Djuro Zivkovic makes brass quintets sound interesting again, while Jacopo Baboni Schilingi saves money on manuscript paper by composing on nude models instead. And new improvisational perspectives by Joe McPhee, Steve Swell, Sylvain Kassap and Chad Taylor round out the playlist.
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Photo credits: Sylvain Kassap by Schorle, Grateful Dead in 1975 (Jerry Garcia, Bobby Weir, Phil Lesh, Donna Godchaux), Miriodor (Bernard Falaise, Pascal Globensky, Rémi Leclerc) by Marc Tessier, Robert Linn via Roger Linn, Dmitri Shostakovich via National Portrait Gallery London, Ennio Morricone by Georges Biard, Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley by Heinrich Brinkmöller-Becker, young Sofia Gubaidulina, Djuro Zivkovic via the artist, Joe McPhee by Bernd Scholkemper, Agathe Vidal in Jacopo Baboni Schilingi: Scarlet K141.
Flotation Device 2025-08-10: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: New and archival [0:00]
1. [1:41] Steve Swell, Sylvain Kassap: Edges. From Edges (RogueArt, 2025) with Sylvain Kassap (clarinets), Steve Swell (trombone), Benjamin Duboc (double bass), Chad Taylor (drums), Maïkôl Seminatore (recording engineer, Studio Sextan La Fonderie). NOTE: Composition by Sylvain Kassap
2. [5:13] Miriodor: La Dresseur de Chenilles. From Live 97 (Cuneiform, 2025) with Miriodor: Stéphanie Simard (violin), Bernard Falaise (guitar), Pascal Globensky (keyboard), Nicolas Masino (bass, keyboards), Rémi Leclerc (drums, percussion). NOTE: Recorded live January 17, 1997 in Quebec City, Canada. Compositions from the 1996 album Elastic Juggling
3. [9:54] Miriodor: Igor L'ours à moto, 34 + 9 (excerpts). From Live 97 (credits as above)
4. [12:39] Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley: Flashing Spirits (excerpts). From Flashing Spirits (Burning Ambulance, 2025) with Cecil Taylor (piano), Tony Oxley (drums). NOTE: Recorded live September 3, 1988 at Outside In Festival, Crawley, UK
5. [21:39] Djuro Zivkovic: Quintet Byzantine (excerpts). From Open (Genuin, 2024) with Stockholm Chamber Brass: Tom Poulson (trumpet L channel), Urban Agnas (trumpet R channel), Annamia Larsson (horn), Jonas Bylund (trombone), Dirk Hirthe (tuba), Gabriel Lundh (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2016, premiere recording
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SET 2: Robert Linn (1925–1999) [28:38]
1. [32:15] Robert Linn: Dithyramb for eight celli. From Introducing I Cellisti (Orion, 1970) with I Cellisti: Frances Steiner, Fred Slatkin, Jan Kelley, Jesse Ehrlich, Lucille Greco, Mary Louise Zeyen, Raymond Kelly, Selene Hurford (cellos), Jerome Kessler (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1965
2. [41:23] Grateful Dead: Blues for Allah. From One from the Vault (Grateful Dead, 1991) with Grateful Dead: Donna Godchaux (vocals), Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia (guitars, vocals), Keith Godchaux (keyboards, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), Bill Kreutzmann (drums, percussion), Mickey Hart (percussion, crickets), Don Pearson, Jeffery Norman, Rob Taylor (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded live August 13, 1975 at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
3. [56:50] Outro with Grateful Dead: King Solomon's Marbles
4. [59:46] Jacopo Baboni Schilingi: Scarlet K141 (after D. Scarlatti's Sonata in D minor, K.141/L.422/P.27). From Italian Contemporary Music for Harpsichord (Brilliant Classics, 2021) with Luca Quintavalle (harpsichord), Anton Langer (recording engineer). NOTE: Video at https://youtu.be/BF5i4rf3sQ0 and https://youtu.be/a0M9UebPQ4s
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SET 3: Ennio's trills [1:07:16]
1. [1:09:09] Ennio Morricone: Mordenti. From Italian Contemporary Music for Harpsichord (Brilliant Classics, 2021) with Luca Quintavalle (harpsichord), Anton Langer (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1988. First recording
2. [1:16:05] Joe McPhee, Flow Trio: Accretion (excerpt). From Winter Garden (ESP Disk', 2021) with Joe McPhee (tenor saxophone), Flow Trio: Louie Belogenis (tenor and soprano saxophones), Joe Morris (bass), Charles Downs (drums), Jim Clouse (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded January 11, 2020 in Brooklyn, NY
3. [1:20:11] Voice break with Ennio Morricone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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SET 4: Bleak and Soviet
1. [1:23:44] Sofia Gubaidulina: Introitus concerto for piano and chamber orchestra. From Figures of Time (Naxos, 2025) with Alice Di Piazza (piano), Basel Sinfonietta, Titus Engel (conductor), Thomas Wegner (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1978, first recording of the 2016 revised version
2. [1:46:16] Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 - 1. Moderato. From Shostakovich, Chihara, Bouchard (ECM, 1991) with Kim Kashkashian (viola), Robert Levin (piano), Peter Laenger (recording engineer). NOTE: Completed July 5, 1975, one month before Shostakovich's death on August 9. It was premiered privately on September 24 at his apartment and publicly on October 1 at the Moscow Conservatory
3. [1:55:21] Outro with Dmitri Shostakovich: Viola Sonata - 3. Adagio