Flotation Device salutes Miles Davis for his 100th birthday with several of his most unusual and forward-looking (but not always most popular) recordings. We marvel at the range of his half-century career that saw numerous reinventions, evolutions, surprises and derailments, and an unsurpassed impact on the history of jazz, fusion and improvised music from the late 1940s onward. We also sample new albums by Thomas Adès, Kris Davis, Angelika Niescier, Simon Hanes and Zhang Meng (the latter bringing the Chinese sheng into the 21st century). Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell from 91.3 KBCS-FM Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
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Playing tracks by Simon Hanes, Angelika Niescier, Miles Davis, Thomas Adès, Zhang Meng and more.
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Flotation Device 2026-05-24: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART TWO
SET 3: Miles Davis at 100
1. [1:11:19] Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (opening). From The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (Columbia, 1998) with Miles Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone), Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), Joe Zawinul (electric piano left), Chick Corea (electric piano right), John McLaughlin (electric guitar), Dave Holland (bass), Harvey Brooks (electric bass), Lenny White (drum set left), Jack DeJohnette (drum set right), Don Alias (congas), Juma Santos AKA Jim Riley (shaker, congas), Stan Tonkel (recording engineer), Mark Wilder (remix engineer). NOTE: Recorded August 19, 1969 at Columbia Studio B, New York
2. [1:24:08] Miles Davis and Teo Macero: Bitches Brew (rehearsals). From Deep Brew (bootleg, 2005)
3. [1:26:24] Miles Davis: Mr. Freedom X (excerpt). From On the Corner (Columbia, 1972) with Miles Davis (electric trumpet with Wah Wah), Carlos Garnett (soprano and tenor saxophone), Chick Corea (electric piano), Herbie Hancock (electric piano, synthesizer), Harold I. Williams (organ, synthesizer), Lonnie Liston Smith (organ), David Creamer (electric guitar), Michael Henderson (electric bass with Wah Wah), Collin Walcott (electric sitar), Badal Roy (tabla), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Al Foster (drums), Jabali Billy Hart (drums, bongos), Don Alias (percussion), James "Mtume" Foreman (percussion), Paul Buckmaster (cello, arrangements), Teo Macero (producer). NOTE: Recorded June 6, 1972 at Columbia Studios, New York
4. [1:28:26] Miles Davis: Funky Tonk. From The Lost Septet (Sleepy Night, 2020) with Miles Davis (trumpet), Gary Bartz (soprano and alto sax), Keith Jarrett (electric piano), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Ndugu Leon Chancler (drums), James Mtume Foreman, Charles Don Alias (percussion). NOTE: Recorded live November 5, 1971 at Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna
SET 4: More Miles Davis at 100 [1:33:35]
1. [1:37:43] Miles Davis: Kix. From We Want Miles (Columbia, 1982) with Miles Davis (trumpet), Bill Evans (soprano saxophone), Mike Stern (electric guitar), Marcus Miller (Fender bass), Al Foster (drums), Mino Cinelu (percussion), Hank Altman, Ted Brosnan (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded live June 27, 1981 at Kix, Cambridge, MA
2. [1:56:29] Outro with Miles Davis All Stars: Half Nelson
Photo credits: Simon Hanes by Jacob Garchik, Miles Davis by Gilles Larrain, Chicago Tapes (Luke Stewart, Angelika Niescher, Nicole Mitchell, Mike Reed) via Intakt Records, Thomas Adès by Marco Borggreve, Zhang Meng via Dusty Ballz, bass line from Bitches Brew, Three Deuces 1947 (Tommy Potter, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Jordan) by William P. Gottlieb, Eddie Jefferson via Prestige Records, Kris Davis by Peter Gannushkin, Miles Davis Quintet (Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams) in Milan 1964, Miles Davis and Teo Macero by Don Hunstein.
Flotation Device 2026-05-24: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART ONE
Intro and SET 1: Miles' bag [0:00}
1. [1:27] Simon Hanes: Hekla 1970. From Gargantua (Pyroclastic, 2026) with Priya Carlberg, Isa Crespo Pardo, Jolee Gordon (sopranos), Kevin Newton, Noah Fotis, Blair Hamrick (French horns), Jen Baker, Jacob Garchik, Colin Babcock (trombones), Anna Abondolo, Jesse Heasly, Trevor Dunn (electric basses), Jon Starks, Matt Bent, Kevin Murray (drums), Ryan Streber (recording engineer, Oktaven Audio)
2. [5:11] Angelika Niescier: SAMO (bsqt). From Chicago Tapes (Intakt, 2026) with Angelika Niescier (alto saxophone), Nicole Mitchell (flute), Luke Stewart (bass), Mike Reed (drums), Vijay Tellis-Nayak (recording engineer, Transient Sound Studio)
3. [16:21] Miles Davis: Bags' Groove. From Miles Davis All Stars, Vol. 1 (Prestige, 1955) with Miles Davis (trumpet), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Thelonious Monk (piano), Percy Heath (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums), Rudy Van Gelder (recording engineer). NOTE: Composition by Milt Jackson. Recorded December 24, 1954 at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ
4. [27:38] Voice break with Gabriela Lena Frank: El último sueño de Frida y Diego
SET 2: Vocalese
1. [32:59] Thomas Adès: Inferno Suite - Pavan of the Souls in Limbo. From Orchestral Suites (London Philharmonic Orchestra, 2025) with London Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Adès (conductor), Deborah Spanton (recording engineer, K&A Productions)
2. [35:02] Zhang Meng: A Divided Man. From Noising Sheng 噪笙 (Dusty Ballz, 2025) with Zhang Meng 张梦 (sheng, Fostex Multitracker X-26). NOTE: Recorded live February 3, 2024, at Trigger, Shanghai
3. [41:56] Kris Davis: The Known End. From The Solastalgia Suite (Pyroclastic, 2026) with Kris Davis (piano), Lutosławski Quartet: Roksana Kwaśnikowska, Marcin Markowicz (violins), Arur Rozmysłowicz (viola), Maciej Młodawski (cello), John Escobar (recording engineer)
4. [49:10] Thomas Adès: Inferno Suite - Satan, in the lake of ice. From Orchestral Suites (credits as above)
5. [51:57] Eddie Jefferson: So What. From Body and Soul (Prestige, 1968) with Eddie Jefferson (vocals), James Moody (tenor saxophone), Dave Burns (trumpet), Barry Harris (piano), Steve Davis (bass), Bill English (drums), Richard Alderson (recording engineer). NOTE: Composition by Miles Davis, l.yrics by Chris Hall
6. [56:24] Outro with Miles Davis: So What
7. [59:48] Miles Davis: Nefertiti. From Nefertiti (Columbia, 1968) with Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (double bass), Tony Williams (drums), Fred Plaut, Ray Moore (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded June 7, 1967, Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York
8. [1:08:12] Voice break with Nefertiti recorded live July 26, 1969 at Juan-les-Pins, France