Flotation Device celebrates Terry Riley for his 90th birthday with a look at two works that deserve to be brought out of the long shadow cast by his minimalist landmark In C. We also examine new miniatures by the master of small forms (and fellow nonagenarian) György Kurtág. We mark the 80th birthday of electroacoustic guru Barry Schrader, and bid farewell to trumpeter Rob Henke with a retrospective of his long tenure with Doctor Nerve. Ikue Mori, Keith Jarrett, Fazıl Say, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Francisco Coll, Anna Webber, Broken Thoughts, Northwesterner Mara Winter and John Zorn’s Painkiller trio add further spice to this highly variegated program. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, originally broadcast June 22, 2025. From KBCS-FM Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
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Flotation Device 2025-06-22: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: RIP Rob Henke [0:00]
1. [1:42] Doctor Nerve: Painting With Bullets. From LOUD (Punos, 2020) with Nick Didkovsky (electric guitar), Yves Duboin (soprano sax), Michael Lytle (bass clarinet), Rob Henke (trumpet), Benjamin Herrington (trombone), Kathleen Supové (piano), Jesse Krakow (electric bass), Leo Ciesa (drums), Paul Geluso (recording engineer). NOTE: Composition by Nick Didkovsky
2. [6:03] Barry Schrader: Bestiary - Return & Exit. From Lost Analog (Ex Machina, 2022). NOTE: Realized 1972–74
3. [11:28] Nick Didkovsky: Ereia - For Being Nice To the Wrong People, The Thorn Piercing His Coat (excerpts). From Ereia (Cuneiform, 2000) with Doctor Nerve: Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Yves Duboin (soprano sax, flute), Michael Lytle (bass clarinet), Rob Henke (trumpet), Kathleen Supové (piano), Greg Anderson (bass guitar), Leo Ciesa (drums), Sirius String Quartet: Joyce Hammann, Mary Whitaker, Todd Reynolds, Liz Knowles (violins), Ron Lawrence (viola), Tomas Ulrich, Mary Wooten (cello), Chris Howard, Michael Larivière, Denis Leclerc (recording engineers)
4. [18:17] Ikue Mori: Story of Aoyagi the Green Willow. From Of Ghosts and Goblins (Tzadik, 2025) with Ikue Mori (electronics)
5. [23:16] Keith Jarrett: New Vienna, Part III. From New Vienna (ECM, 2025) with Keith Jarrett (piano), Martin Pearson (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live July 9, 2016 at Goldener Saal, Musikverein, Vienna
6. [28:36] Doctor Nerve: Sister Cancer Brother Dollar. From Every Screaming Ear (Cuneiform, 1997) with Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Yves Duboin (soprano sax), Michael Lytle (bass clarinet), Rob Henke (trumpet), Dave Douglas (baritone thing), Marc Wagnon (vibraphone), Greg Anderson (bass guitar), Leo Ciesa (drums), Volker Brzezinski (recording engineer). NOTE: Composition by Nick Didkovsky. Recorded live October 18, 1992 at Studenten Haus, Mainz, Germany
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SET 2: Terry Riley at 90 [31:06]
1. [34:27] Voice break with Terry Riley: In C (Shanghai Film Orchestra)
2. [35:40] Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain (excerpts). From Cadenza on the Night Plain and other string quartets (Gramavision, 1985) with Kronos Quartet: David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola), Joan Jeanrenaud (cello), Tim Martyn (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed and recorded in 1984
3. [56:39] Outro with Terry Riley: Pulsefield 3
4. [59:22] Terry Riley: Across the Lake of the Ancient World. From Shri Camel (Columbia, 1980) with Terry Riley (Yamaha YC-45D combo organ tuned in just intonation with studio delay), Don Cody (recording engineer)
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SET 3: Broken idiom [1:06:50]
1. [1:08:20] Anna Webber: Idiom III. From Idiom (Pi, 2021) with Anna Webber Simple Trio: Anna Webber (tenor saxophone), Matt Mitchell (piano), John Hollenbeck (drums), Greg DiCrosta (recording engineer, Firehouse 12)
2. [1:18:19] Francisco Coll: Iberian Miniature No. 3. From Violin Concerto et al (Pentatone, 2021) with Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gustavo Gimeno (conductor), Kees de Visser (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2014
3. [1:22:06] Clara de Asís, Mara Winter: Repetition of the Same Dream. From Repetition of the Same Dream (Another Timbre, 2020) with Clara de Asís (bowed objects, percussion, electronics), Mara Winter (medieval and Renaissance flutes)
4. [1:24:34] Broken Thoughts: vaguely remembered. From Anthology of Experimental Music from China (Unexplained Sounds, 2021) with Keju Luo 罗可居 AKA Broken Thoughts
5. [1:26:58] Anna Webber explains saxophone multiphonics
6. [1:28:17] Anna Webber: Idiom VI - Movement I. From Idiom (as above) with Anna Webber Large Ensemble: Anna Webber (tenor saxophone, flute, bass flute), Nathaniel Morgan (alto saxophone), Yuma Uesaka (tenor saxophone, clarinet, contra-alto clarinet), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), David Byrd-Marrow (horn), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Erica Dicker (violin), Joanna Mattrey (viola), Mariel Roberts (cello), Liz Kosack (synthesizer), Nick Dunston (bass), Satoshi Takeishi (drums), Eric Wubbels (conductor), Aaron Nevezie (recording engineer, The Bunker Studio)
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SET 4: Modern myths [1:36:57]
1. [1:41:27] György Kurtág: Die Zeit. From Lines of life: Schubert & Kurtág (Alpha, 2025) with Benjamin Appl (baritone), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano). NOTE: Composed 1996, revised 2024. Text by Friedrich Hölderlin
2. [1:42:41] György Kurtág: Nun versteh‘ ich…. From Lines of life: Schubert & Kurtág (as above) with Benjamin Appl (baritone). NOTE: Composed 2001, revised 2022. Text by Ulrike Schuster
3. [1:43:08] György Kurtág: Der Rosen. From Lines of life: Schubert & Kurtág (as above) with Benjamin Appl (baritone), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano). NOTE: Composed 2023. Text by Ulrike Schuster
4. [1:43:48] Fazıl Say: Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 92c (In memoriam Ruşen Güneş) - 1. Largo espressivo. From Violin Concerto No. 2 et al (Naxos, 2025) with Friedemann Eichhorn (violin), Joachim Müller (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2020
5. [1:49:15] Painkiller: Ercildoune, Secret Sins (excerpts). From The Great God Pan (Tzadik, 2025) with John Zorn (alto saxophone), Bill Laswell (electric bass), Mick Harris (live drums, electronics), James Dellatacoma (recording engineer)
6. [1:55:56] Outro with György Kurtág: Stele
Tune in live to Flotation Device every Sunday night 10pm–Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma, streaming worldwide at www.kbcs.fm. The Northwest's finest and longest-running radio program devoted to avant-garde music.
Photo credits: Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Francisco Coll by Lukas Fierz, Terry Riley with combo organ via Sony Music Photo Archives, Fazıl Say by Marco Borggreve, Anna Webber by Evan Shay, Barry Schrader with Buchla 200 via the artist, Ikue Mori by Caroline Mardok, Doctor Nerve (Kathleen Supové, Rob Henke, Yves Duboin, Michael Lytle, Nick Didkovsky, Jesse Krakow, Benjamin Herrington, Leo Ciesa) by Scott Friedlander, Keith Jarrett by Rose Anne Colavito, Rob Henke via Jazz Society of Fairfield County, Painkiller (John Zorn, Mick Harris, Bill Laswell) via the artists, György Kurtág by Balint Hrotko