|
Big Ears Announces Full 2018 Lineup |
Post Reply 
|
| Author | |
snobb 
Forum Admin Group 
Site Admin Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Location: Vilnius Status: Offline Points: 28446 |
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote Reply
 Topic: Big Ears Announces Full 2018 LineupPosted: 09 Mar 2018 at 10:51am |
|
The Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, is set to return March 22-25 with performances by jazz luminaries like Milford Graves and Roscoe Mitchell scheduled for the 9th installment of the sonically inclusive series.
As broad as the music offerings are, Ashley Capps, the festival’s founder, sees Big Ears’ film programing as the perfect complement to what’s been planned for the 2018 festival. “It is pretty broad,” he said, mentioning a regional film series, as well as documentaries on Graves and a film that investigates the birth of country music in Bristol, a town straddling the Tennessee-Virginia border. “And hopefully, it’s a nice parallel to some of the themes that we’re exploring at the festival itself.” In addition to performances by harpist Áine O’Dwyer, the Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Susan Alcorn and Medeski, Martin & Wood, a wealth of additional jazz shows are schedule for the festival. Capps said he was excited for Graves’ various sets, as well as Mitchell’s series of TRIOS performances, comprising music from his Bells For The Southside (ECM). The festival organizer said it only might be the second time the suite has been presented in a live setting. Improvising cellist Okkyung Lee’s also scheduled to perform solo, as part of Evan Parker’s electro-acoustic ensemble—which includes trombonist George Lewis and pianist Craig Taborn—as well as playing in Rova, a group that will recreate John Coltrane’s Ascension during one of its sets at Big Ears. “It’s always the same mindset—it’s trusting your ears and using your musical judgement,” Lee said about playing the festival in a batch of disparate settings. “When I’m playing solo, there’s nowhere to hide, so I have to rely on myself. But playing with other people, it’s not about me. I’m trying to figure out how I can contribute to the bigger picture.” The essence of Lee’s selflessness enables her to seamlessly fit into any performance situation. And it’s that sort of genre-agnostic savvy that Capps has employed to program the genre-bounding Big Ears. “I think the thing that sets Big Ears apart from other festivals is the way it explores connections between different genres of music and the way those different genres might influence each other or the way a particular artistic personality embodies all of these different facets of musical creation,” he said. “More typically, you’ll have a jazz festival or you’ll have a bluegrass festival. And maybe you’ll have some overlap there, but they’re genre-specific and put a lot of similar acts together. … Here, we want to put things in a different type of juxtaposition. I think Béla Fleck fans should listen to Roscoe Mitchell and Roscoe Mitchell fans should listen to Béla Fleck.” A complete list of Big Ears performers is below. Thursday, March 22 Friday, March 23 Saturday, March 24 Passes range from $10 for a single event to $600 for a weekend pass. More information about the festival, which also includes literary events and discussions, can be found on the Big Ears website. DB from downbeat.com |
|
 |
|
|
Post Reply
|
|
Tweet
|
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Topic Options