The Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, is set to return March 22-25 with performances by jazz luminaries like http://bit.ly/2CAYHDa" rel="nofollow - 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 Nels Cline: “Lovers” with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and Guests Godspeed You! Black Emperor David Hidalgo & Marc Ribot Anna Thorvaldsdottir: ‘In the Light of Air” Performed by International Contemporary Ensemble Kid Koala’s “Satellite” Turntable Orchestra Jaga Jazzist Featuring Ståle Storløkken & Jon Balke Meshell Ndegeocello Susanna Brooklyn Rider Jenny Hval Kid Koala (DJ) Duet for Theremin & Lap Steel Susan Alcorn Friday, March 23 Medeski Martin & Wood Bang on a Can All Stars: Field Recordings GAS (Wolfgang Voigt) Milford Graves Jason Moran presents “Fats Waller Dance Party” Béla Fleck & Brooklyn Rider Jon Gibson’s “Visitations” Susanna feat. Giovanni Pessi, Frode Haltli & Cheyenne Mize Trio Five feat. Roscoe Mitchell, Junius Paul, & Vincent Davis International Contemporary Ensemble nief norf & Wordless Music: “Brimstone & Glory” Live Score Arto Lindsay Rocket Science (Evan Parker, Peter Evans, Craig Taborn, Sam Pluta) Kid Koala’s “Satellite” Turntable Orchestra Cyro Baptista Presents “Vira Loucos” Evan Parker Rova: The “Sound in Space” Project The Thing Tal National Steve Gunn Algiers Jenny Scheinman “Mischief & Mayhem” with Nels Cline and Scott Amendola Aine O’Dwyer Jaga Jazzist Innov Gnawa The Black Twig Pickers Okkyung Lee Ned Rothenberg Yuka C. Honda “Eucademix” Ikue Mori Laurel Halo (DJ set) Jon Balke Saturday, March 24 Anoushka Shankar “Land of Gold” Roscoe Mitchell TRIOS Bang on a Can All-Stars: Julia Wolfe’s “Anthracite Fields” Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda: The Ashram Experience Diamanda Galás Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn Rova Channeling Coltrane: “Electric Ascension” Four Tet Jon Gibson Aine O’Dwyer Performs William Eggleston’s “Musik” Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble Laurel Halo Live with Eli Keszler The Jerry Douglas Band Jason Moran & Milford Graves Cyro Baptista and Banquet of the Spirits Jenny Scheinman Presents “Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait” Kid Koala’s “Satellite” Turntable Orchestra Arto Lindsay & Paal Nilssen-Love Steve Gunn & the Black Twig Pickers Kelly Lee Owens John Medeski Wu Fei & Friends: Improv Game Peter Evans Billy Martin Cleek Schrey & David Behrman Johnny Gandelsman plays Bach Anna & Elizabeth
Sunday, March 25 Bang on a Can All Stars Celebrate Their 30th Anniversary Performing Works by David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe Bangs (Jason Moran, Mary Halvorson, and Ron Miles) Craig Taborn Quartet Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda: The Ashram Experience Lightning Bolt Knoxville Symphony Strings Performs “Were You There” with Baritone Davóne Tines Abigail Washburn & Wu Fei Tyshawn Sorey Trio Peter Evans Ensemble Lucius Mats Gustafsson & Kieran Hebden Suuns Rostam Julie Byrne Cleek Schrey St. John’s Passion: A Meditation on Suffering 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 https://bigearsfestival.org/" rel="nofollow - Big Ears website . DB
from downbeat.com
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