Michael Schell
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Michael Schell
@schellsburg.com
80 followers 130 following 140 posts
Composer/intermedia artist, host of Flotation Device on 91.3 KBCS, contributor to Sequenza 21, cribbage player. Views expressed are mine and no one else's. https://linktr.ee/MichaelSchell
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Happy Podcast Monday. Today brings our Wozzeck at 100 celebration, with a look at history's most radical opera, a contemporary counterpart from Mary Kouyoumdjian (with FCC censorship), plus Jacob Garchik, Zorn, Monk & more.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @jacobgarchik.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-12-14 - Wozzeck and its progeny
Flotation Device salutes Alban Berg’s game-changing opera Wozzeck on its 100th anniversary, sampling it in English and German versions, and marveling at dramatically it expanded the harmonic and drama...
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January 6, 2026 at 1:20 AM
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Tonite Flotation Device begins 2026 w/old friends and new voices. Halvorson, Marsella, Kris Davis & Medeski play Zorn. +Mitchell/Gentile, Crispell, BMOP, Kendall, Steph Richards and even Bernstein & Ives!
Sun 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@kbcs.bsky.social @maryhalvorson.bsky.social @shuyingli.bsky.social
Photo credits: Out Came the Sun by Tanner Porter (for Shuying Li), Mark Feldman by Michael Jackson, Dobrinka Tabakova by Benjamin Ealovega, John Zorn by David Garland, Denis Dufour via the artist, Steph Richards by Chris Weiss, Marilyn Crispell by Bobby Glazer, circuit by John Bischoff, Charles Ives via the Charles Ives Society, Les mercenaires de l'amour fou (Christian Bucher, Matthias Reinhard-DeRoo, Martin Medimorec) via the artists, Paweł Łukowiec by Joanna Klich, Matt Mitchell and Kate Gentile via the artists, Hannah Kendall by Emily Denny. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice
January 4, 2026 at 11:46 PM
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Now at Sequenza21.com: my favorite new albums of 2025. Compelling, exploratory music that bucks the trends of destruction and vulgarity. Reich, Gubaidulina, Sun Ra, Monk, Zorn, Pärt, Hosokawa, Laibach, Fujikura and many others
www.sequenza21.com/2025/12/sche... @daifujikura.bsky.social @nonesuch.com
Music of interesting times: Schell’s picks for 2025
Michael Schell's favorite new albums of exploratory music from 2025. Compelling works that resist the twin threats of destructiveness and vulgarization, while carrying forward a musical tradition that...
www.sequenza21.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:28 PM
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Cross-cultural music takes the spotlight in our latest podcast which celebrates Bright Sheng at 70 and David Shea at 60 with music for Chinese and Western instruments. Plus Meredith Monk, Jarrett, Amina Claudine Myers and more.
mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @orenambarchi.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-12-07 - Bright Sheng at 70
Cross-cultural music takes the spotlight as we celebrate the 70th birthday of Chinese-born American composer Bright Sheng with a sampling of his works for Western and Chinese instruments. We also cele...
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December 31, 2025 at 12:46 AM
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Tonight Flotation Device continues its review of the best new albums of 2025 with Pärt, Jarrett, Gubaidulina, Zorn, Laubrock, Halvorson, Monk, Andres and more
Sunday 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@kbcs.bsky.social @nonesuch.com @timoandres.bsky.social @ingridlaubrock.bsky.social @maryhalvorson.bsky.social
Photo credits: Sofia Gubaidulina via Sikorski, Timo Andres by Jason Marck, Koan 3 by Ingrid Laubrock, John Zorn in MindFlux 2010, Keith Jarrett by Rose Anne Colavito, Beckmesser harp by Horngacher, Daphne Oram via Electronic Sound, Gabriel Prokofiev by Nathan Gallagher, Meredith Monk by Julieta Cervantes, Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson by Caroline Mardok, Ornette Coleman by Michael Hoefner, Cosa Brava (Zeena Parkins, Norman Teale, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Matthias Bossi) by Heike Liss, Eiffel Tower by Leslie Fehling, Cantica Profana (John Surman, Lucian Ban, Mat Maneri) by Mircea Albutiu. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice
December 29, 2025 at 12:45 AM
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Podcast Monday brings an expedited expanded edition of last night's "best of 2025" program, with Reich, Berne, Paxton, Rzewski, Alberga, Ross and more. Plus Wayne Horvitz's Pigpen reunites at The Royal Room.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @stevereich.bsky.social @nonesuch.com @kbcs.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-12-21 - The Best Of 2025, Part 1
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December 23, 2025 at 12:34 AM
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Tonight Flotation Device begins its annual review of the year's top new releases of exploratory music. Reich, Rzewski, Paxton, Mitchell, Serpa, Gentile, Alberga and Wayne Horvitz's Pigpen are among the headliners
Sunday 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@kbcs.bsky.social @stevereich.bsky.social @nonesuch.com
Photo credits: Eleanor Alberga by Ben Ealovega, Tim Berne Trio (Gregg Belisle-Chi, Tom Rainey, Tim Berne) by Sarah Berne, Ig Henneman by Francesca Patella, Steve Reich by Jesse Yang, Peter Eötvös by Jean-Francois Leclercq, self portrait by Alex Paxton, Pigpen (Briggan Krauss, Fred Chalenor, Mike Stone, Wayne Horvitz) via Wayne Horvitz, Trio Mediæval (Linn Andrea Fuglseth, Anna Maria Friman, Jorunn Lovise Husan) by Åsa Maria Mikkelsen, Nastasia Khrushcheva via Melodiya, Sifters (Jeremy Viner, Marc Ducret, Kate Gentile) via the artists, Frederic Rzewski via Nonesuch Records, Stomu Takeishi by Daniel Sheehan, Putu Septa via Other Minds. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice
December 22, 2025 at 3:24 AM
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Happy Podcast Monday! Sample GF Haas' microtonal 2nd Violin Concerto in its premiere rec. Plus Younghi Pagh-Paan at 80, Zorn, Rzewski, Scelsi, Dave Lombardo, Raven Chacon, John Dieterich, Brandon Ross & more.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev...
@urlicht.music @kbcs.bsky.social @davelombardo.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-11-30 - Haas, Sonami, Pagh-Paan
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December 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
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Happy 100th BD to Wozzeck, the most iconic modern opera. We'll celebrate in English & German and hear its influence in Mary Kouyoumdjian's Adoration. Plus Jacob Garchik, Zorn, Rzewski, Monk & more.
Sunday 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@jacobgarchik.bsky.social @maryhalvorson.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Photo credits: Frederic Rzewski by Lynn Garon, Ye Olde plus Simulacrus (Miles Okazaki, Josh Dion, Mary Halvorson, Ava Mendoza, Sean Moran, Jacob Garchik, Vinnie Sperrazza, Brandon Seabrook, Jonathan Goldberger) by Ernest Stuart, Elisabeth Steiner and Toni Blankenheim in Wozzeck (Staatsoper Hamburg 1970), Cenk Ergün via the artist, Adoration (Marc Kudisch, Naomi Louisa O'Connell, Omar Najmi) by Maria Baranova, Matt Choboter by Krestine Havemann, Chaos Magick (Brian Marsella, Matt Hollenberg, John Medeski, Kenny Grohowski) via Roulette Intermedium, Mako Sica (Przemyslaw Krzysztof Drazek, Hamid Drake, Tatsu Aoki, Brent Fuscaldo, Thymme Jones) by Taylor Hales, Meredith Monk by Julieta Cervantes. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice
December 15, 2025 at 3:34 AM
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This week's podcast celebrates the 100th birthday of Gunther Schuller, the 90th of Helmut Lachenmann, the 60th of Björk and the 50th anniversary of Feldman's Piano & Orchestra. Plus new things by Alec Hall and the Dwarfs of East Agouza.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @universaledition.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-11-23 - Lachenmann, Schuller, Björk
Flotation Device celebrates the 100th birthday of Gunther Schuller, who helped bridge the worlds of jazz and classical music. We're helped by Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Nat Hentoff among others,...
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December 10, 2025 at 12:41 AM
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Meredith Monk has a new documentary film (Monk in Pieces) and a new album on ECM (Cellular Songs, which we sampled on Flotation Device last night). I wrote about both—and her probable legacy—for Sequenza21.com.
www.sequenza21.com/2025/12/mere... @philipglass.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Meredith Monk in review
The acclaimed singer, minimalist and intermedia artist gets a new documentary and a new record.
www.sequenza21.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:57 AM
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Now in podcast format, our tribute to Jack DeJohnette. Plus Meredith Monk's new album, Prudencio at 70, Alex Paxton, Zappa's unusual Fall '75 band, Clone Row, Aquaserge and more.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @kbcs.bsky.social @maryhalvorson.bsky.social‬ @nonesuch.com @newamrecords.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-11-02 - DeJohnette, Zappa, Prudencio
Flotation Device salutes the fecundity, positivity and multidimensionality of Jack DeJohnette (1942–2025), possibly the most versatile drummer in jazz history, proficient at fusion, bebop and free jaz...
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December 1, 2025 at 10:11 PM
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Tonight on Flotation Device:
-Haas's 2nd Violin Concerto (premiere rec)
-Younghi Pagh-Paan at 80
-John Zorn/Dave Lombardo duo
-Raven Chacon, John Dieterich, Brandon Ross & more
Sun 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@davelombardo.bsky.social @ssskdist.bsky.social @stefanogervasoni.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Photo credits: Stefano Gervasoni via the artist, Younghi Pagh-Paan by Astrid Ackermann, Laetitia Sonami via the artist, Miranda Cuckson and Georg Friedrich Haas by Gene Gaudette, Andrew McIntosh via the artist, Osvaldo Coluccino in Rosetta Berardi: Intreccio, Raven Chacon by Adam Conte, Giacinto Scelsi via Wikimedia Commons, Brandon Ross via 27 East, Nina C. Young via the artist, John Zorn and Dave Lombardo via DiegoMH2002, Frederic Rzewski by Michael Wilson. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice
November 30, 2025 at 11:13 PM
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Now in podcast format: our interview with Matthew Aucoin plus excerpts from his new vocal symphony Music For New Bodies (poems by Jorie Graham, directed by Peter Sellars). Plus Wayne Horvitz, Kris Davis, Dai Fujikura & more.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @kbcs.bsky.social @daifujikura.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-10-26 - Matthew Aucoin Interviewed
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November 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
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Tonight Flotation Device celebrates the 100th birthday of Gunther Schuller, the 90th of Helmut Lachenmann, the 60th of Björk and the 50th of Feldman's Piano and Orchestra. Plus new things by Dwarfs of East Agouza & Alec Hall
Sun 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@kbcs.bsky.social @universaledition.bsky.social
Photo credits: Björk by Viðar Logi, Morton Feldman via Universal Edition, Helmut Lachenmann by Ensemble recherche, Alec Hall by Laura Bianchi, Sarah Maria Sun by Rüdiger Schestag, Ornette Coleman by Michael Hoefner, Pression by Helmut Lachenmann, The Dwarfs of East Agouza (Alan Bishop, Maurice Louca, Sam Shalabi) by Hans Van Der Linden, Gunther Schuller by William E. Sauro. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice.
November 24, 2025 at 2:10 AM
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Now on video: Steven Mackey chats with us about his new Anemology sax concerto which comes to Seattle Symphony this week. Includes excerpts from the piece, and a skier's explanation of its "bumpy" rhythms.
youtu.be/VUdIHPId9G0 @kbcs.bsky.social @mcallistersax.bsky.social @booseyandhawkes.bsky.social
Steven Mackey discusses Anemology with Michael Schell
YouTube video by Schell77
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November 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
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Tonite on Flotation Device Steven Mackey chats about his new sax concerto coming to Seattle Symphony. Plus Jürg Frey, John Adams, Ying Wang & more.
Sun 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@mcallistersax.bsky.social @booseyandhawkes.bsky.social @juergfrey.bsky.social @klangforumwien.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Photo credits: Bryn Harrison via Another Timbre, Cantica Profana (John Surman, Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri) by Mircea Albutiu, Steven Mackey by Michael Schell, Jürg Frey via Le Vivier, John Adams by Musacchio Ianniello & Pasqualini, Ying Wang by Sophia Hegewald, Sifters (Jeremy Viner, Marc Ducret, Kate Gentile) via the artists, Blasio Kavuma via the artist, Steven Mackey on skis via the artist, Trio of Bloom (Craig Taborn, Nels Cline, Marcus Gilmore) by Frank Heath, Matt Mitchell and Sara Serpa by Mariana Meraz, Nicholas Tolle via UC Davis, Sylvie Courvoisier and Wadada Leo Smith by OGATA photography. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice.
November 17, 2025 at 1:29 AM
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Now in podcast format: What's Going On returns to the Northwest, celebrating the legacies of Sun Ra, Butch Morris and Henry Threadgill. With Wayne Horvitz, Ingrid Laubrock, Brandon Ross & more.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @kbcs.bsky.social @sunrauniverse.bsky.social @ingridlaubrock.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-11-09 - What's Going On
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November 10, 2025 at 8:38 PM
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Wayne Horvitz's What's Going On festival is back for a second year, and we'll have all the details tonight. Sun Ra, Butch Morris & Henry Threadgill will be in the spotlight of four Seattle concerts.
Sun 10pm PST 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@sunrauniverse.bsky.social @ingridlaubrock.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Photo credits: Felipe Lara by Celeste Sloman, Wayne Horvitz and Butch Morris by Dany Gignoux, Sun Ra with Yamaha YC30 combo organ, John Zorn in MindFlux 2010 via the artist, Oxana Omelchuk via Orbit, Steph Richards by Chris Weiss, Butch Morris by Chad Batka, Michael Finnissy via the artist, Brandon Ross via 27 East, Henry Threadgill via Pi Recordings, Ingrid Laubrock by Frank Schindelbeck. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice.
November 10, 2025 at 1:25 AM
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Happy Podcast Monday! Celebrate Berio and Berberian at 100 and Hosokawa at 70 w/Stuart Dempster, Seattle Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, the Arditti 4tet and more. Plus Craig Taborn, Patricia Brennan, Gabriel Cabezas and Gabriella Smith.
tinyurl.com/FD0226 @starbuckcello.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-10-19 - Berio & Berberian at 100
Flotation Device celebrates the 100th birthdays of Luciano Berio and Cathy Berberian, and the 70th birthday of Toshio Hosokawa. We use the opportunity to examine the divergent postmodern aesthetics of...
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November 3, 2025 at 7:25 PM
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Tonite Flotation Device pays tribute to Jack DeJohnette—perhaps the most versatile drummer ever—with help from Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Roscoe Mitchell & more. Plus Zappa, Rzewski, Meredith Monk, Clone Row & Prudencio at 70.
Sun 10pm PDT 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@maryhalvorson.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Photo credits: Cergio Prudencio via Kairos Records, Meredith Monk by Julieta Cervantes, Jack DeJohnette via the artist, Aquaserge (Audrey Ginestet, Julien Chamla , Manon Glibert, Benjamin Glibert, Olivier Kelchtermans) by J.P. Sageal, Alex Paxton by Jess Rose, Standards Trio (Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Gary Peacock) by Roberto Massoti, Norma Jean Bell and Frank Zappa by Gail Zappa, Frederic Rzewski and daughter by Françoise Walot, Jack DeJohnette and Miles Davis by Harry Monty, Orquesta Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos via the artists, Clone Row (Liberty Ellman, Mary Halvorson, Nick Dunston, Ches Smith) by Chase Pierson. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice.
November 2, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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Now in podcast format: Flotation Device celebrates minimalism's founding father La Monte Young at 90 with help from Terry Riley, Marian Zazeela, Pandit Pran Nath and John Cale. Plus Partch, Shardik, Dai Fujikura Dobrinka Tabakova, all in new recordings.
@kbcs.bsky.social @daifujikura.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-10-12 - La Monte Young at 90
Flotation Device celebrates La Monte Young, the father of minimalism, for his 90th birthday with a look at his uncompromisingly static and intense music that gave rise to everything from ambient and n...
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October 29, 2025 at 12:49 AM
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Now at YouTube: my Flotation Device interview with Matthew Aucoin, who brings his Music for New Bodies to Meany Center on 11/1. We hear highlights from that work and chat about Matt's collaborations with Peter Sellars, and the state of new opera in the US.
youtu.be/4S-BLAI5Q74 @kbcs.bsky.social
Matthew Aucoin interviewed by Michael Schell
YouTube video by Schell77
youtu.be
October 27, 2025 at 7:20 PM
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Tonight Flotation Device interviews Matthew Aucoin about Music for New Bodies (coming to Meany Center on 11/1). Plus Wayne Horvitz & Kris Davis play Earshot Jazz, Dai Fujikura on timpani, Borderlands Trio, Zeena Parkins and more.
Sun 10pm PDT 91.3fm kbcs.fm
@daifujikura.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Photo credits: Matthew Aucoin via the artist, Megan Moore in Music for New Bodies via Meany Center, Wayne Horvitz by Tom Chargin, Cecilia Lopez by Ian Kornfeld, Kris Davis Trio (Kris Davis, Robert Hurst, Johnathan Blake) by B Natural, Zeena Parkins by Andy Newcombe, Dai Fujikura by Seiji Okumiya. 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://www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDevice.
October 27, 2025 at 4:34 AM
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Happy Podcast Monday! Ches Smith and Clone Row offer Schoenberg in a rock-n-roll guise. Rzewski takes us on a road trip. Threadgill writes for 6 guitars & 2 pianos, plus historical gems by Bayle, Ohana and Roscoe Mitchell.
www.mixcloud.com/FlotationDev... @maryhalvorson.bsky.social @kbcs.bsky.social
Flotation Device 2025-10-05 - Signs, tracks and rows
Ches Smith's Clone Row quartet provides an opportunity to ponder what Schoenberg might have sounded like as a rock-n-roller, while Frederic Rzewski takes us on a road trip, Henry Threadgill writes for...
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October 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM