Flotation Device celebrates the 100th birthdays of microtonal pioneer Ben Johnston and electronic music pioneer İlhan Mimaroğlu, plus the 80th birthday of Michael Finnissy, whose prodigious output we sample in a medley that acknowledges his connections to Bach, Ives and Gershwin as well as the New Complexity movement. Our 50 years ago in the avant-garde feature looks back at New York's loft jazz scene with Sam Rivers, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, and their echoes resound in new recordings by Jacob Garchik, François Houle, Kate Gentile and Alexander Hawkins. Alice Sara Ott plays Jóhann Jóhannsson on an old upright piano, while Bill Frisell blends a jazz guitar trio with a classical string trio in his new album. And Gabriel Zucker's rock and avant-garde collisions in the mold of Zorn and Zappa round out the proceedings. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell from 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
