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Flotation Device celebrates Steve Reich for his 90th birthday with a look at one of his minimalist classics plus a lesser-known later work that showcases his interest in speech melody. We're helped by Ensemble Modern, the Mivos Quartet, DJ Spooky and the late Michael Tilson Thomas. And we assess Reich's towering status among American composers (including the other great minimalists) while contrasting his beat-driven music to the sparse pseudo-repetitions of Morton Feldman's Palais de Mari. We also launch our coverage of the 2026 Earshot Jazz Festival with a preview of Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri’s Transylvanian Dance, which takes Bartók’s famous field recordings of Eastern European folk music as its improvisational starting point. Lucian joins us for an exclusive interview detailing his unusual career path from Cluj, Romania to the Downtown New York jazz scene. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell.
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Is there a track list for this amazing set?
Yes, it's now available in the Comments, thanks!
Flotation Device 2026-10-04: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Seattle, New York and Transylvania [0:00]
1. [2:01] Steve Reich: Know what is above you. From First Drop (Cantaloupe, 2017) with Ars Nova Copenhagen, David Hildebrandt, Mathias Friis-Hansen (percussion), Paul Hillier (conductor), Preben Iwan (recording engineer). NOTE: Composd 1999
2. [5:06] Lucian Ban: Bluesness Suite (excerpt). From Tuba Project (CIMP, 2006) with J.D. Allen (tenor saxophone), Alex Harding (baritone saxophone), Lucian Ban (piano), Bob Stewart (tuba), Derrek Phillips (drums), Marc D. Rusch (recording engineer)
3. [9:57] Lucian Ban, John Surman, Mat Maneri: Violin Song. From Transylvanian Folk Songs: The Bela Bartók Field Recordings (Sunnyside, 2020) with John Surman (baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), Mat Maneri (viola), Lucian Ban (piano), Uțu Pascu (recording engineer)
4. [17:57] Lucian Ban: Owners of Silence. From Ways of Disappearing (Sunnyside, 2022) with Lucian Ban (piano), Uțu Pascu (recording engineer)
5. [20:05] Lucian Ban: Rush. From Ways of Disappearing (credits as above)
SET 2: Transylvanian Dance [22:29]
1. [24:35] Lucian Ban in conversation with Michael Schell. NOTE: Video at https://tinyurl.com/LucianBan
2. [37:35] Lucian Ban, Mat Maneri: Transylvanian Dance. From Transylvanian Dance (ECM, 2024) with Mat Maneri (viola), Lucian Ban (piano), Uțu Pascu (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live October 29, 2022 at CJT Hall, Timișoara, Romania
3. [46:20] D-între câte hore sânt, măi (NM H 1968 d) recorded 1912 by Béla Bartók in Bihar county, Kocsuba, Cociuba Mare—source for Transylvanian Dance
4. [46:50] DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid: Steve Reich's City Life. From Reich: Remixed (Nonecush, 1999)
5. [53:55] Outro with Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
6. [58:58] Steve Reich: Pendulum Music. From Phase Patterns, Pendulum Music, Piano Phase, Four Organs (Wergo, 2014) with Martin Demmler, Steffen Schleiermacher (electronics). NOTE: Composed 1968 for microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers and performers
SET 3: Reich at 90. NOTE: For more on Reich and classic minimalism see https://tinyurl.com/ReichAt80 [1:03:35]
1. [1:05:44] Steve Reich: Four Organs. From Reich: Four Organs, Cage: Three Dances (Angel, 1973) with Michael Tilson Thomas, Ralph Grierson, Roger Kellaway, Steve Reich (electric organs), Tony Raney (maracas), Carson Taylor (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1970
SET 4: Life of Reich [1:29:56]
1. [1:32:06] Voice break with Morton Feldman: Palais de Mari (Marianne Schroeder)
2. [1:34:32] Steve Reich on City Life and speech melody
3. [1:35:09] Steve Reich: City Life. Composed 1995, premiered March 7, 1995 in Metz, France by Ensemble Intercontemporain, David Robertson (conductor). Montage of four recordings:
a. Movement 1: Check it out. From Eight Lines, City Life (Naxos, 2020) with Holst-Sinfonietta: Anne Parisot, Delphine Roche (flutes), Israel Sinez Muniz, Ludovic Anchour (oboes), Andrea Nagy, Nicole Krüger (clarinets), Kirstin Vielhaber, Chaim Steller (violins), Gideon Wieck (viola), Camille Bloch (cello), Lutz Gertler (double bass), Marie-Luise Klewer, Kana Onda (pianos), Jörg Schweinbenz, Adhi Jacinth Tanumihardja (samplers), Adrian Romaniuc, Pascal Pons, Tilman Collmer (percussion), Klaus Simon (conductor), Felix Dreher (recording engineer)
b. Movement 2: Pile driver/alarms; Movement 3: It's been a honeymoon, Can't take no mo'. From Proverb | Nagoya Marimbas | City Life (Nonesuch, 1996) with The Steve Reich Ensemble: David Fedele, Gen Shin Kai (flutes), Jackie Leclair, Matthew Sullivan (oboes), Leslis Scott, Mike Lowenstern (clarinets), Elizabeth Lim, Todd Reynolds (violins), Lois Martin (viola), Jeanne LeBlanc (cello), Jay Elfenbein (bass), Edmund Neimann, Lisa Moore (pianos), Nurit Tilles, Philip Bush (sampling keyboards), Russell Hartenberger, Bob Becker (vibraphones), Garry Kvistad (percussion), Bradley Lubman (conductor), John Kilgore (recording engineer)
c. Movement 4: Heartbeats/Boats & Buoys. From City Life, Eight Lines (RCA Red Seal, 2002) with Ensemble Modern: Dietmar Wiesner, Christiane Albert (flutes), Catherine Milliken, Joseph Sanders (oboes), Roland Diry, Wolfgang Stryi (clarinets), Antonio Pellegrini, Thomas Hofer (violins), Geneviève Strosser (viola), Eva Böcker (cello), Thomas Fichter (double bass), Hermann Kretzschmar, Benjamin Kobler (samplers), Ueli Wiget, Josef Christof (pianos), Rumi Ogawa, Rainer Römer, Boris Müller (percussion), Peter Rundel (conductor), Thomas Eschler (recording engineer)
d. Movement 5: Heavy smoke. From The Minimalists (Mode, 2009) with Orkest de Volharding, Jussi Jaatinen (conductor), Gert De Bruijn (recording engineer, MCO Studios Hilversum). NOTE: Arranged 2005 by Anthony Fiumara for wind band
4. [1:58:39] Outro with Steve Reich: Different Trains (Mivos Quartet)
Photo credits: Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri performing Transylvanian Dance, Steve Reich by Jeff Herman, young Steve Reich riding a New York tricycle, Four Organs (Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, David Cossin, Timo Andres, Steve Reich) by Stephanie Berger, Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri by Bogui Jazz, Steve Reich and Michael Tilson Thomas via the artists, Pendulum Music (Richard Serra, James Tenney, Steve Reich, Bruce Nauman, Michael Snow) by Richard Landry, Béla Bartók transcribing a field recording.
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