Flotation Device celebrates Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians on its 50th anniversary with a medley of seven different recordings of minimalism's first big crossover hit, which represented both the arrival of that genre as a powerful force in new music and the culmination of its classic avant-garde phase. We also welcome maestro Ludovic Morlot back to the show for a conversation about conducting Carmen at Seattle Opera and his new recording of orchestral works by the indefatigable Franco-American composer Betsy Jolas. Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio rounds out the playlist with its latest foray into avant-rock. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell.
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Playing tracks by Gordon Grdina, Betsy Jolas, Coldcut and Steve Reich.
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Flotation Device 2026-04-26: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART ONE
Intro and SET 1: Avant-centenarian [0:00]
1. [1:42] Gordon Grdina: Ash. From Ash (Attaboygirl, 2026) with Nomad Trio: Gordon Grdina (electric guitar), Matt Mitchell (piano), Jim Black (drums), Marc Urselli (recording engineer, Eastside Sound)
2. [9:22] Betsy Jolas: Latest. From Orchestral Works (L'Auditori, 2026) with Orquestra Simfònica De Barcelona i Nacional De Catalunya, Ludovic Morlot (conductor), Mike George, Stephen Rinker (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 2021, premiere recording
SET 2: Morlot, Carmen, Jolas [20:41]
1. [22:38] Ludovic Morlot in conversation with Michael Schell
2. [40:42] Betsy Jolas: B-Day for Symphony Orchestra. From Orchestral Works (credits as above). NOTE: Composed 2006 for the tenth birthday of Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Premiere recording
3. [54:24] Outro with Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: Pastiche, Habanera from Bizet's Carmen
4. [1:00:02] Music for 18 Musicians (Coldcut remix). From Reich: Remixed (Nonesuch, 1999) with Coldcut: Matt Black, Jonathan More, Paul Brook (recording engineer)
SET 3: Music for 18 Musicians at 50 [1:06:07]
1. [1:08:27] Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians. Montage of seven recordings:
a. From Music for 18 Musicians (ECM, 1978) with Steve Reich and Musicians: Elizabeth Arnold, Pamela Fraley, Rebecca Armstrong (voices), Jay Clayton (voice, piano), Richard Cohen, Virgil Blackwell (clarinets), Shem Guibbory (violin), Ken Ishii (cello), Nurit Tilles, Steve Chambers (piano), Larry Karush (piano, maracas), Steve Reich (piano, marimba), James Preiss (vibraphone, piano), Gary Schall (marimba, maracas), Bob Becker, Glen Velez, Russ Hartenberger (marimba, xylophone), David Van Tieghem (marimba, xylophone, piano), Klaus Hiemann (recording engineer)
b. From Music for 18 Musicians (Colin Curie, 2023) with Synergy Vocals: Amanda Morrison, Heather Cairncross (vocals), Caroline Jaya-Ratnam (vocals, piano), Micaela Haslam (vocals, director), Colin Currie Group: Emma Burgess, Timothy Lines (clarinet, bass clarinet), Jonathan Morton (violin), Robin Michael (cello), Philip Moore, Siwan Rhys (piano), Richard Benjafield, Catherine Ring, Dave Maric, James Young (piano, percussion), Owen Gunnell, Adrian Spillett, Sam Walton (percussion), Colin Currie (percussion, director), Daniel Halford (recording engineer, Abbey Road Studios)
c. From Music for 18 Musicians (RCA, 1999) with Micaela Haslam, Olive Simpson, Ruth Holton, Carol Canning (voices), Bob Becker, Russell Hartenberger (percussion), Ensemble Modern: Roland Diry, Wolfgang Stryi (clarinet, bass clarinet), Jagdish Mistry (violin), Eva Böcker (cello), Benjamin Kobler, Daniel Krüerke, Hermann Kretzschmar, Kristi Becker, Philipp Vandré, Ueli Wiget (pianos), Boris Müller, Pascal Pons, Rainer Römer, Rumi Ogawa-Helferich, Yuko Suzuki (percussion), Bradley Lubman (rehearsal director)
Flotation Device 2026-04-26: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART TWO
d. From Music for 18 Musicians (Western Vinyl, 2020) with Erik Hall (prepared piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond M-101 organ, Moog Sub 37 synthesizer, Nord Lead synthesizer, electric guitar, electric bass, Roland CR-68 drum machine, processed voice)
e. From Music for 18 Musicians (Harmonia Mundi, 2015) with Ensemble Signal: Martha Cluver, Caroline Shaw, Mellissa Hughes, Kirsten Sollek (voices), Ken Thomson, Bill Kalinkos (clarinet, bass clarinet), Olivia De Prato (violin), Lauren Radnofsky (cello), David Friend, Lisa Moore, Red Wierenga, Thomas Rosenkranz (pianos), Doug Perkins, Bill Solomon, Brad Lubman, James Deitz, Owen Clayton Condon, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, David Skidmore (percussion), Brad Lubman (director), Steve McLaughlin, Jeff Svatek (recording engineers, EMPAC)
f. From Music for 18 Musicians (Kairos, 2020) with Ensemble Links: Manon Bautian, Sandrine Carpentier, Juliette Demassy, Camille Merckx (voices), Maxime Penard, Coralie Ordulu (clarinets), Elodie Gaudet (violin), Anne Mousserion (cello), Laurent Durupt, Trami Nguyen, Haga Ratovo, Alvise Sinivia (piano), Stan Delannoy, Clément Delmas, Nicolas Didier, Luca Genas, Maxime Guillouet, Guillaume Lantonnet, Vincent Martin (percussion), Rémi Durupt (conductor, vibraphone, piano), Pierre Favrez (recording engineer)
g. From Works 1965–1995 (Nonesuch, 1997) with Steve Reich and Musicians: Cheryl Bensman Rowe, Marion Beckenstein, Rebecca Armstrong (voices), Jay Clayton (voice, piano), Evan Ziporyn, Leslie Scott (clarinets), Elizabeth Lim (violin), Jeanne LeBlanc (cello), Edmund Niemann, Nurit Tilles (piano), Philip Bush (piano, maracas), James Preiss (vibraphone, piano), Garry Kvistad (marima, xylophone, piano), Steve Reich (marimba, piano), Bob Becker, Russell Hartenberger, Tim Ferchen (marimba, xylophone), Thad Wheeler (marimba, maracas), John Kilgore (recording engineer)
NOTE: Composed 1974–76, premiered April 24, 1976 by Steve Reich and Musicians at Town Hall, New York
2. [2:10:25] Outro with Albums But Two Minutes: Music for 18 Musicians
Photo credits: Ludovic Morlot conducting Carmen by May Zircus, Betsy Jolas by Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco, Steve Reich by Landry-Girouard, fate motif from Bizet: Carmen, Music for 18 Musicians in performance, Kaikhosru Sorabji by Joan Muspratt, chords from Music for 18 Musicians, Nomad Trio (Matt Mitchell, Jim Black, Gordon Grdina) by Jon Benjamin.
Flotation Device features creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, Sunday nights 10pm–Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS-FM Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma. Visit us online at https://linktr.ee/MichaelSchell