Flotation Device celebrates the 110th birthday of Sun Ra and the 100th birthday of Marshall Allen, his longtime alto saxophonist and for the past 30 years the leader of his legendary Arkestra. We dive into a new archival album that documents a pair of mid-70s Chicago gigs showing the Arkestra in vintage form, and we survey Allen’s obscure but remarkable corpus of recordings made without Sun Ra. Afterwards, we look for Sun Ra's influence among younger proponents of multivalent improvisation, while Jeffrey Gavett implores the members of the Ekmeles vocal ensemble to sing in and out of tune with themselves. We pay our respects to the late Larry Polansky and Chas Smith, and sample Salvatore Sciarrino’s instrumental noise music through a cello concerto that's just turned 50. Bára Gísladóttir combines noise and dark ambient styles in a gripping new double bass concerto, and a sinuous Hosokawa chamber work that's just gotten its first recording rounds out this wide-ranging playlist.
Chart history
Top position held by this upload
Tracklist
Comments
Flotation Device 2024-05-26: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Happy Birthday Sun Ra and Marshall Allen [0:00]
1. [1:58] Carla Bley: And Now the Queen. From Barrage (ESP, 1965) with Paul Bley Quintet: Marshall Allen (alto saxophone), Dewey Johnson (trumpet), Paul Bley (piano), Eddie Gomez (bass), Milford Graves (drums). Recorded October 20, 1964
2. [6:14] Sun Ra Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: Visitor’s Approach AKA Synthesis Approach. From At The Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976–1977 (Jazz Detective/Elemental Music, 2024) with Sun Ra (piano, electric keyboards), Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, kora), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Danny Davis (alto sax, flute), Eloe Omoe (alto sax, bass clarinet), Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax, flute), Michael Ray, Ahmed Abdullah, Emmett McDonald (trumpet), Vincent Chancey (French horn), Dale Williams (guitar), Richard Williams (bass), Luqman Ali (drums), Eddie Thomas (percussion, vocal), James Jacson (Ancient Ihnfinity Drum, oboe), Atakatune (congas), Richard Wilkerson (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded November 10, 1977 at Jazz Showcase, Chicago
3. [14:19] Sun Ra Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: New Beginning. From At The Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976–1977 (Jazz Detective/Elemental Music, 2024) with Danny Davis, Danny Ray Thompson (flutes), Marshall Allen (kora), Eddie Thomas (percussion). NOTE: Recorded November 10, 1977 at Jazz Showcase, Chicago
4. [17:19] Sun Ra Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: The Shadow World (excerpt). From At The Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976–1977 (Jazz Detective/Elemental Music, 2024) with Sun Ra (piano, electric keyboards), Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, kora), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Danny Davis (alto sax, flute), Eloe Omoe (alto sax, bass clarinet), Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax, flute), Michael Ray, Ahmed Abdullah, Emmett McDonald (trumpet), Vincent Chancey (French horn), Dale Williams (guitar), Richard Williams (bass), Luqman Ali (drums), Eddie Thomas (percussion, vocal), James Jacson (Ancient Ihnfinity Drum, oboe), Atakatune (congas), Richard Wilkerson (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded February 21, 1976 at Jazz Showcase, Chicago
5. [19:04] Marshall Allen, Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris: Cosmic Hammer. From Night Logic (RogueArt, 2010) with Marshall Allen (alto saxophone), Matthew Shipp (piano), Joe Morris (double bass), Jim Staley (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded July 26, 2009 at Roulette, New York
⠀
SET 2: Back to Chicago [25:31]
1. [28:41] Marshall Allen, Joe Morris: Particle Physics. From Night Logic (RogueArt, 2010) with Marshall Allen (Electronic Valve Instrument, flute), Joe Morris (double bass), Jim Staley (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded July 26, 2009 at Roulette, New York
2. [36:26] Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Taking a Chance on Chances. From Taking a Chance on Chances (Saturn, 1977, reissued 2018 by Enterplanetary Koncepts) with Sun Ra (organ), Vincent Chancey (French horn), Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, oboe, percussion), Danny Davis (alto sax, flute, percussion), John Gilmore (tenor sax, clarinet, timbales), Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax, flute, percussion), Eloe Omoe (bass clarinet, flute, percussion), James Jacson (flute, bassoon, Infinity-drum), Michael Ray, Ahmed Abdullah (trumpets), Richard "Radu" Williams (bass), Tommy Hunter, Luqman Ali (drums), Atakatune (conga), Eddie Thomas (percussion). NOTE: Recorded 1977 at Jazz Showcase, Chicago
3. [42:51] Sun Ra: Over the Rainbow. From Taking a Chance on Chances (Saturn, 1977, reissued 2018 by Enterplanetary Koncepts) with Sun Ra (piano), Tommy Hunter or Luqman Ali (drums). NOTE: Recorded 1977 at Jazz Showcase, Chicago. Song by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg
4. [48:10] Sun Ra Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: Calling Planet Earth/The Shadow World (excerpt). From At The Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976–1977 (Jazz Detective/Elemental Music, 2024) with Sun Ra (piano, electric keyboards), Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, kora), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Danny Davis (alto sax, flute), Eloe Omoe (alto sax, bass clarinet), Danny Ray Thompson (baritone sax, flute), Michael Ray, Ahmed Abdullah, Emmett McDonald (trumpet), Vincent Chancey (French horn), Dale Williams (guitar), Richard Williams (bass), Luqman Ali (drums), Eddie Thomas (percussion, vocal), James Jacson (Ancient Ihnfinity Drum, oboe), Atakatune (congas), June Tyson, Cheryl Banks-Smith, Wisteria AKA Judith Holton (vocals), Richard Wilkerson (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded February 21, 1976 at Jazz Standard, Chicago
5. [55:48] Outro with Sun Ra: Space Is the Place
6. [1:00:12] Kate Gentile: laugh magic. From Find Letter X (Pi, 2023) with Jeremy Viner (tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet), Matt Mitchell (piano, Prophet-6, modular synths, electronics), Kim Cass (acoustic and electric bass), Kate Gentile (drums), D. James Goodwin (recording engineer)
⠀
SET 3: Larry Polansky (1954–2024) [1:07:08]
1. [1:08:35] Larry Polansky: An Unhappy Set of Coincidences. From Dream: American Music for Electric Guitar (Mode, 2018) with Sergio Sorrentino (electric guitar, electric bass). NOTE: Composed 1980
2. [1:11:54] Toshio Hosokawa: Arc Song. From Light and Darkness (Kairos, 2024) with Masanori Oishi (soprano saxophone), Naoko Yoshino (harp), Taira Ushiyama (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1999 for oboe and harp, arranged 2015 for soprano saxophone and harp (premiere recording)
3. [1:18:56] Jeffrey Gavett: Waves. From We Live the Opposite Daring (New Focus, 2024) with Ekmeles: Charlotte Mundy (soprano), Elisa Sutherland (mezzo-soprano), Timothy Parsons (countertenor), Tomás Cruz (tenor), Jeffrey Gavett (baritone, artistic director), Steven Hrycelak (bass), Ryan Streber (recording engineer)
⠀
SET 4: Chas Smith (1948–2024) [1:25:12]
1. [1:29:05] Chas Smith: Nakadai (excerpt). From Nakadai (Arc Light, 1987, reissued 2009 by Cold Blue) with Chas Smith (multitracked pedal steel guitar)
2. [1:34:04] Chas Smith: A Judas Within - 2. Betrayal (excerpt). From Nakadai (Arc Light, 1987, reissued 2009 by Cold Blue) with Chas Smith (pedal steel guitar, recording engineer), Bob Fernandez, John Fitzgerald, M.B. Gordy, Theresa Knight (vibraphone, marimba, microtonal chimes, bowed rods, small metal objects)
3. [1:36:51] Bára Gísladóttir: Hringla. From Orchestral Works (Dacapo, 2024) with Bára Gísladóttir (amplified double bass), Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen (conductor), Daniel Shores (recording engineer)
4. [1:53:33] Outro with Salvatore Sciarrino: Variazioni for cello and orchestra (Francesco Dillon, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Tito Ceccherini)
Photo credits: Ekmeles (Tomás Cruz, Steven Hrycelak, Jeffrey Gavett, Charlotte Mundy, Elisa Sutherland, Timothy Parsons) via the artists, Find Letter X (Jeremy Viner, Kim Cass, Kate Gentile, Matt Mitchell) via Pi Recordings, Marshall Allen by Marek Lazarski, Bára Gísladóttir by Anna Maggý, Chas Smith via the artist, Salvatore Sciarrino via the artist, Arkestra in 1980 (Sun Ra, Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, John Gilmore, Danny Ray Thompson) by Tom Copi, Larry Polansky via UC Santa Cruz, June Tyson and Sun Ra in Space Is the Place, Toshio Hosokawa by Vioworld, Matthew Shipp and Joe Morris by Lorna Lentini