Flotation Device presents music of many places and sensibilities, led by Ukraine's leading contemporary composer, Valentin Silvestrov and his Violin Concerto, whose soloist is often dominated by uncontrollable forces. We contrast it with Nastasia Khrushcheva’s pre-war Russian Dead Ends, which seems prophetic in its own cynical way. Another theme is music for acoustic instruments and live electronics, spearheaded by the first recording of Saariaho’s Fall in its tumbling harpsichord version. Aquaserge, Crazy Doberman, Dan Weiss and Christopher Hoffman advance the praxis of improvised music, as does Tomas Fujiwara's new quartet which mixes Western and Asian percussion instruments. We celebrate the 55th birthday of Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy with help from painter Bridget Riley, and we hear Tim Berne performed by his trio and by Gregg Belisle-Chi. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, originally broadcast August 17.
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Flotation Device 2025-08-17: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Quartets and solos [0:00]
1. [2:00] Tim Berne: Yikes. From Yikes Too (Screwgun/Out of Your Head, 2025) with Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Gregg Belisle-Chi (guitar), Tom Rainey (drums), Greg DiCrosta (recording engineer, Firehouse 12)
2. [8:42] Gregg Belisle-Chi: Yikes. From Slow Crawl: Performing the Music of Tim Berne (Intakt, 2025) with Gregg Belisle-Chi (acoustic guitar), Ken Rich (recording engineer, Grand Street Recording)
3. [14:26] Tomas Fujiwara: Ritual Pace. From Dream Up (Out of Your Head, 2025) with Kaoru Watanabe (o-jimedaiko, uchiwadaiko, shimedaiko, and shinobue), Tim Keiper (donso ngoni, kamale ngoni, calabash, temple blocks, timbale, djembe, castanets, balafon, found objects), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Nick Lloyd (recording engineer)
4. [16:39] Donnacha Dennehy: Bridget. From A Way a Lone a Last (Diatribe, 2020) with Lina Andonovska (flutes), Adrian Hart (recording engineer, Hellfire Studios)
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SET 2: Instruments with electronics [25:58]
1. [29:04] Christopher Hoffman's Multifariam: Shadow Man. From Baker's Dozen: Apéritif (Cantaloupe, 2025) with Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Aaron Kruziki (flutes, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone), Jeremiah Cymerman (clarinet, loops), Christopher Hoffman (cello, bass, Taurus, Moog, loops), Ari Chersky (guitar), Frank LoCrasto (synthesizers, piano), Michael Bailey (Buchla loops), Gerald Cleaver, Craig Weinrib (drums), Aaron Nevezie, Christopher Hoffman (recording engineers, The Bunker Studio, 20Linden)
2. [31:50] Johannes Kalitzke: Zeitkapsel - Movement 4. From Musica Viva #46: Johannes Kalitzke and Luc Ferrari (BR-Klassik, 2025) with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Johannes Kalitzke (conductor), Sebastian Schottke (sound direction), Christiane Voitz (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2022–23
3. [36:32] Mesías Maiguashca: The Spirit Catcher for cello and electronics. From Cello in My Life (Buh, 2025) with Gaby Schumacher (cello), Mesías Maiguashca (electronics). NOTE: Composed 1993, premiere recording
4. [47:04] Kaija Saariaho: Fall for harpsichord and electronics. From Touches (Ondine, 2024) with Tuija Hakkila (harpsichord), Matti Heinonen (recording engineer). NOTE: Originally composed 1991 for harp and electronics, premiere recording of the 1995 version for harpsichord and electrionics
5. [54:03] Outro with Nastasia Khrushcheva: Russian Dead-Ends-3
6. [58:58] Dan Weiss Quartet: Mansions of Madness. From Unclassified Affections (Pi, 2025) with Peter Evans (trumpet), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Miles Okazaki (guitar), Dan Weiss (drums), Marc Urselli (recording engineer, EastSide Sound)
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SET 3: Introspection [1:04:15]
1. [1:05:29] Aquaserge: Nuit Altérée (à György Ligeti). From The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge (Crammed Discs, 2021) with Marina Tantanozi (flutes), Manon Glibert (clarinets), Robin Fincker (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Olivier Kelchtermans (baritone saxophone), Benjamin Glibert (guitar), Audrey Ginestet (bass), Camille Emaille (percussion), Julien Chamla (drums), Bénédicte Schmitt (recording engineer, Labomatic Studios)
2. [1:08:02] Crazy Doberman: "everyone is rolling down a hill" (excerpts). From "everyone is rolling down a hill" or "the journey to the center of some arcane mystery and the engtanglements of the vines and veins of the cosmic and unwieldy miliue encountered in the midst of that endeavor" [sic] (Astral Spirits, 2021) with Drew Davis, Tim Gick, Jordan Allen, Jason Filer, Zach Rowden, Kyle Flanagan, Casey Flanagan, Josh Russell, Jon K., Paul Baldwin, Casey Synesael, Eric Ficken, Hector Castro, Brett Green, Jason Hodges, Zeno Benamotz, Bradley Fantuzzi. NOTE: Recorded October 2020 in Richmond, VA
3. [1:21:04] Nastasia Khrushcheva: The Book of Grief and Joy (excerpts). From Normal Music (Melodiya, 2021) with Nastasia Khrushcheva (Настасья Хрущёва) (piano), Alyona Zinovieva, Ivan Naborshchikov (solo violins), OpensoundOrchestra, Stanislav Malyshev (conductor), Mikhail Spassky (recording engineer)
4. [1:26:14] Nastasia Khrushcheva: Trio in Memory of a Non-Great Artist. From Normal Music (Melodiya, 2021) with Nastasia Khrushcheva (piano), Stanislav Malyshev (violin), Olga Kalinova (cello), Mikhail Spassky (recording engineer)
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SET 4: Bleak and post-Soviet [1:30:20]
1. [1:34:29] Valentin Silvestrov: Violin Concerto. From Symphony No. 8, Violin Concerto (Naxos, 2025) with Janusz Wawrowski (violin), Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee (conductor), Vilius Keras, Donatas Kielius, Aleksandra Kerienė (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 2016, premiered 2018 in Weimar. First recording
2. [1:54:07] Outro with Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa
Photo credits: Valentin Silvestrov by Marco Caselli, Mesías Maiguashca at WDR Köln Studio für Elektronische Musik 1973, Fall (Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Kaija Saariaho, Tuija Hakkila in 1983) by Pirkko Tanttu, Tim Berne Trio (Gregg Belisle-Chi, Tom Rainey, TB) by Sarah Berne, Tomas Fujiwara by Peter Gannushkin, Bridget Riley and Firebird (1971), Crazy Doberman via the artists, Donnacha Dennehy by Iarla, Nastasia Khrushcheva via Melodiya, Dan Weiss Quartet (Dan Weiss, Patricia Brennan, Miles Okazaki, Peter Evans) via Firehouse 12, Christopher Hoffman via the artist.