BIG EARS 2022: Zorn, Shabaka, Low, Arooj Aftab, Annette Peacock, Dawn Richard, Nubya Garcia, L'Rain, Damon Locks, Lido Pimienta, more more more!

Full disclosure, my wife works for Big Ears now, and I have been watching this lineup evolve for months. But I think it's legit pretty spectacular and am super-psyched for it.

https://bigearsfestival.org/

Lots of London, Chicago, NOLA folks. Jeff Parker, Angel Bat Dawid, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah. And that's not even mentioning Meredith Monk, Kim Gordon, Ron Miles, Jason Moran, etc etc.

see u there

I have skipped the last 2-3 festivals for *reasons* but I think I'll go to '22.

Maybe we can make you a guest bartender WmC. :)

I skipped the last one because I lost my fuckin job and media in general shit the bed. But I'm back, baby!

Ha, not sure how that would work -- festival days I'll probably either be asleep or at gigs. I used to make a point of hitting McKay's on every Knoxville trip, but now I want to hit the one or two best liquor stores while I'm there. xp

Shit, that looks awesome, but I think I'm booked up. :(

Ugh I may have an issue with work but it's just two workdays, if I drive all night Wednesday and Sunday nights and bring my work laptop with me...

I also made this lonely post in July:

Big Ears 2022

damn, pretty amazing lineup, this is one where you want to be in three places at once, shabaka and arooj afjab would be a must for me

Oh I missed yr thread Boring, apologies! Didn't occur to me someone would have started one earlier.

worth it for sarah davachi alone

Shit, I might have to go to this.

As with every Big Ears, I wish I could go.

had tickets for last year's before it got canceled. not sure if i'm gonna try to make it to this one but....it is tempting....

worth it for sarah davachi alone

I’m down for an Ilxor meetup.

As with every Big Ears, I wish I could go.

― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, September 14, 2021 5:31 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I saw Davachi live in January 2019 in Brooklyn. It was fantastic.

I have been saying for years that Dawn Richard belongs at Big Ears, stoked that it's actually happening.

i just got my ticket :)

very tempted to go to this

Just for fun, I took the artist list for this and plugged it into the system I use for genre-modeling at Spotify, as if Big Ears were a genre and the 2022 lineup were its most representative artists. Here's a playlist of most of those artists and a bunch of other ones that the same fans tend to like, ordered by collective relevance:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05P0AnKQosf05ENEVQEMDw?si=65c587a844c249a0

:)

I want to point out that Brian Howe wrote most of the blurbs on the site, and having ONE writer do it really creates a cohesive experience when navigating something built on music discovery

That sounds right

very tempted to go to this

Motherfucker

Early Bird gone already and the day isn't even over...

Boring where are you getting your intel

lol by the time I have enough money for a ticket they'l be sold out

Well, I just bought em

I wasn’t expecting Early Bird to jump to $100 for two tix in a matter of hours >:(

Boring?

Big Ears emails only. Their latest email said the pre sales for donors and those who had tickets for 2020 snatched up a lot of the total available tickets.

FYI I only donated $50 but that was enough to allow me in the pre-sale.

ahhhhh thanks

Pardon the street teaming, but a few more artists announced, in particular Patti Smith. (She was supposed to be at the canceled '20 fest.) Solo sets by Lage and Medeski, other interesting stuff.

https://bigearsfestival.org/big-ears-announces-second-wave-artist-additions/

ok haven’t posted here in like five years but I am incredibly excited about this lineup. like, beyond amped.

I bet some of y’all who’ve attended previously will know: if I stay outside of town, is parking near-downtown doable? And how likely am I to get shut out of performances if my ticket is GA?

I only got shut out of tiny places like the Pilot Light, but then again I had the mid-level Premier tickets.

Yeah, the only places it seems to be a problem are the small venues. I think Wolf Eyes shut down the Standard

You can definitely park downtown, especially in March. There are a lot of garages. I've found the shut-out thing variable, there are definitely shows that if you really want to be at, you want to get there early (even if it means skipping something else). You can usually tell by looking at the schedule which shows in any given slot are going to be the big draws.

A bunch of downtown parking garages are free in the evenings and on weekends: https://www.downtownknoxville.org/explore/parking/?t%5B%5D=96&view=map&q=&_=1635304005563&ajaxcall=1635304017

Your best choice is probably the State St. Garage which is one block from the TN Theater and two from the Bijou Theater: https://www.downtownknoxville.org/state-street-garage/

Yeah, any of the public garages, if you wait until after 8 or so to leave you don't have to pay at all (even if you park there in the morning/all day).

I'm vaxxed and boosted... Any advice on how not to get Omicron at Big Ears?

zorb ball

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0280/1473/9549/products/89223_ziploc_gallon_storage_bags_1_800x.jpg?v=1576176350

N95 mask at all venues, avoid the UT campus? Eat in your hotel room?

For a moment I thought this was the campaigning thread haha

I wouldn't worry about it. By the end of March there will probably be a new strain.

http://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GettyImages-89266817.jpg

Speaking from on the ground in Knoxville, I'd say it's possible Omicron is gonna burn through here like a forest fire. It may be long since peaked by the end of March. On the downside, the state Legislature has made it literally illegal to require vaccination to enter a venue — BUT they can require a negative test, and accept a vaxx card as a substitute. So dumb.

This thing is 10 weeks away, what are our odds

i have these same questions

so say we all

Think positive

Schedule is here...

https://bigearsfestival.org/festival-schedule/

I'm not even past Thursday and it looks impossible

https://bigearsfestival.org/festival-schedule/

i say this every year but i really need to go one of these days.

lol at scheduling the sparks and low shows where they overlap, there will be tears

As much as I love the music, my legs and back are too old for the hard hustle of getting from venue to venue and the no-seating venues, not to mention the impossible choices of multiple programming tracks.

Yo, especially after covid! I went to one show in the space between Delta and Omicron after a year or w/e of lockdown and my back was like FUUUUCK YOOOUU

Yo, especially after covid! I went to one show in the space between Delta and Omicron after a year or w/e of lockdown and my back was like FUUUUCK YOOOUU

i am trying to get back to jogging at least partially so that i can toughen my feet up so that i can be out nights

lol at scheduling the sparks and low shows where they overlap, there will be tears

think I gotta go w low

my question is, do they kick ppl out of the venues between shows? or can I hang out and get a good spot for the next one

jeff parker against sons of kemet, honestly rude imo

still so excited tho

can't wait for the day when I can just ship someone my entire head to take along with them and then just get it fedexed straight back to me afterwards before the memories start leaching out

Thursday and Friday are just way too loaded and Sunday is pretty sparse I know they gotta work around artists’ schedules but they should try to even it out.

my question is, do they kick ppl out of the venues between shows? or can I hang out and get a good spot for the next one

They clear the venues iirc.

ugh

I have fewer terrible conflicts than I was afraid of, partly because of some people playing more than once. But there will be hard choices, plus yes the physical limits of what one can endure. (One trick for me is to work in shows at the Bijou or Tennessee, which are seated, between the standing venues when possible.)

I just sprung for the VIP tickets cause I haven’t gone anywhere in two years.

xpost - I was bummed when I saw the 75 Dollar Bill / Damon Locks conflict on Thursday, until I saw 75 Dollar Bill was playing again the next day.

Also because I remembered that I'm not actually going to this.

is there a map of the venues? i know where they are mostly but it'd be nice to be able to look at a map to plan things out

is there a map of the venues? i know where they are mostly but it'd be nice to be able to look at a map to plan things out

Yeah, Mill & Mine is most removed, except for the Tennessee Amphitheater which is over in a park. (Not to be confused with the Tennessee Theatre, which is just a few blocks from the Bijou.) All walkable but takes a little time from one end to the other.

yeah, I've been to all these venues before and I've gotten the map at the event, I guess I'm just surprised there's not one on the website!

likely old but
https://bigearsfestival.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BE19-MAP-Digital-2-01-1024x904.png

nice - ty!

I have passed along the suggestion of a map on the website. Agree it would be helpful.

Here's a quick Google map of the festival sites: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1W0ouVIHAZPOlttxBAhp5FFTinKvwSZA2&usp=sharing

So what’s the deal is the Tennessee Amphitheater outdoors? If so, they must be really confident it’ll be nice in late March. I was there in 2018 and it was quite chilly that year. Unusually chilly, I was told. The weather was nicer in 2019 but I remember at least one cold rainy day that would definitely put a damper on anything outdoors.

I know we have more than a month to go, but apart from Ron Miles, no one else has backed out yet.

The Amphitheater is outdoors, and yeah ... hoping for decent weather. It's covered, but not heated. (The weekend that would have been Big Ears 2020 was, naturally, the nicest weather that weekend has had since Big Ears started.)

Georgia Ann Muldrow has also backed out btw. She is not playing indoor shows right now.

https://t.co/fBGNnrfKpy pic.twitter.com/1WvuTB7JgV

— Big Ears Festival (@BigEarsFestival) February 25, 2022

App dropped with map!

liking these tweaks to the schedule.

There is one (1) Actual Noise Show popping off at the Pilot Light with Recovered Media, but it’s happening the same time as the 79ers…. >:(

That whole lineup of NOLA/Haiti stuff at the Amphitheater from 3:30 to 10 on Friday solidly kicks ass.

Some enterprising food truck needs to pull up with some goat in creole sauce & oxtail stew

Sell-out officially declared. First one, I think. Or maybe the 2020 was going to be sold out just before it canceled.

x-post--
I follow Sporty's Brass Band from New Orleans on IG and they frequently do some awesome late night IG lives from clubs there.

Yea, that Friday NOLA and Haitian lineup looks pretty cool

So who's all going?

me

i'll be there!

btw if you're like me and don't have a big monitor i recommend using the downloadable / printable schedule - the schedule on the site is too big for my laptop screen and i almost entirely missed half the venues as a result

same same.

the app is actually pretty useful and good. has a (to me) more digestible schedule and map and whatnot.

biggest toss ups for me personally right now:

• Sparks or Fennesz?
• Is it worth it to go to the Standard and Mill & Mine? (The Mill & Mine is uncomfortable and out-of-the-way, and the shows I'd want to see at the Standard = big crowds in a small space)
• Do I go see another Zorn thing Sunday night or do I fuck off early to watch the On Cinema Oscar Special like a fuckin' nerd?

Standard and Mill & Mine aren’t really that far!

yeah you're right - I'll probably end up over there for Nubya Garcia and Natural Information Society, but I think I'll have to pass on Jeff Parker unfortunately

There's also a free trolley that runs from Gay St. to the Old City. So you could get on at the Bijou Theater (or TN Theater) and ride it to the Old City and only have to walk one block to the Mill & Mine.
https://katbus.com/178/Free-Trolley

There was a guy in 2019 ferrying people by golf cart for a fee.

Sad news: https://denverite.com/2022/03/09/jazz-legend-and-colorado-music-hall-of-famer-ron-miles-has-died/

The schedule noted he was ill, and his band was already scheduled to perform his music without him - https://bigearsfestival.org/festival-schedule/?eventId%5Bundefined%5D=9dd2d534-40ab-47a5-9177-10b40d86edcd

Yeah that show is going to take on a lot of added weight. (Probably bigger crowd than otherwise too.)

flight/work means i'm gonna miss basically all of sunday :(

quit

Sunday the most skippable day for me, not a Zorn fan so much. All the great stuff for me is frontloaded on Thursday and Friday, often conflicting when there is more than one performance.

Sorry gbx

i'm a zorn guy :(

but i'm looking forward to lots of the other stuff :)

Woo I’m here and excited

And I think they adjusted the times for sparks and low so there is a chance I can see complete sets by both

Welcome to Knoxville everyone! (Or welcome back for return visitors.) Super excited this weekend is finally here.

Wow!

I wonder how accurate these “scheduled” numbers on the app are. Like, do most ppl use the app? I’m still worried about getting shut out of places, even though I prob shouldn’t be bc there are always three great bands playing at any given time. Truly an embarrassment of riches.

I imagine some people schedule shows they're considering going to but may not actually attend. I also imagine many people aren't using the app at all or aren't using the schedule feature. So who knows how accurate the numbers really are.

I do know venues often reach capacity and it becomes one in / one out with the people waiting in line outside. So if there's a show you really feel like you can't miss, try to get there early.

In line for tickets and wanted to make the joke “I’m the pudgy middle aged white guy with glasses”.

Yeah, the numbers on the app are some signal but certainly not definitive. My rule of thumb is, if you REALLY want to see something, particularly at a smaller venue (The Standard and the Bijou are the two that get packed out the most), get there 40 mins early no matter what else you have to miss to do it. Or just accept that you're taking a chance on not getting in.

I can't remember the Tennessee Theatre ever being shut out, but it could happen with Patti Smith's Friday show e.g.

Also here's my unsolicited food/drink recommendations in and around downtown:

--A Dopo pizza (just a few blocks north of Mill and Mine)
-- Potchke Deli (just opened, good bialys, whitefish, pickles, etc)
-- the Marble City Market (a food hall basically next to Mill and Mine on the next block)
-- Kaizen (good Asian fusion)
-- Public House (hipster beer/wine/cocktails place, basically behind the Mill and Mine, nice back patio)
-- Emilia (good sit-down Italian place on Market Square)
-- J.C. Holdway (Southern fine dining type place, this is the one that gets national write-ups etc)
-- KoPita on Gay Street and Yassin's on Church Avenue both have good Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food — KoPita is Israeli, Yassin's is Syrian
-- Good Golly Tamale in the Old City (cheap and delicious tamales, both vegetarian and non)
-- Fin2 in the Old City (pretty good ramen etc)
-- Tern Club (tropical bar on Gay Street, really good rum-based cocktails if that's your thing)
-- Brother Wolf (Italian amaro bar in the Old City -- it's attached to Osteria Stella, which is a respectable Italian restaurant, but the bar is the best reason to stop in)
-- And then there are a bunch of easy places like Barley's in the Old City and the Downtown Grill and Brewing Co. on Gay Street that have your basic comfort food pub menus (Barley's pizza is quite passable)

Very cool; thanks!

Oh should add that Potchke Deli is also close to Mill and Mine, basically around the corner from the Marble City Market.

Also, Suttree's on Gay Street is a good beer bar, big rotating selection of local/national microbrews.

I shared a $75 ribeye at JC Holdway last night and it was awesome

Also here's my unsolicited food/drink recommendations in and around downtown:

--A Dopo pizza (just a few blocks north of Mill and Mine)
-- Potchke Deli (just opened, good bialys, whitefish, pickles, etc)
-- the Marble City Market (a food hall basically next to Mill and Mine on the next block)
-- Kaizen (good Asian fusion)
-- Public House (hipster beer/wine/cocktails place, basically behind the Mill and Mine, nice back patio)
-- Emilia (good sit-down Italian place on Market Square)
-- J.C. Holdway (Southern fine dining type place, this is the one that gets national write-ups etc)
-- KoPita on Gay Street and Yassin's on Church Avenue both have good Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food — KoPita is Israeli, Yassin's is Syrian
-- Good Golly Tamale in the Old City (cheap and delicious tamales, both vegetarian and non)
-- Fin2 in the Old City (pretty good ramen etc)
-- Tern Club (tropical bar on Gay Street, really good rum-based cocktails if that's your thing)
-- Brother Wolf (Italian amaro bar in the Old City -- it's attached to Osteria Stella, which is a respectable Italian restaurant, but the bar is the best reason to stop in)
-- And then there are a bunch of easy places like Barley's in the Old City and the Downtown Grill and Brewing Co. on Gay Street that have your basic comfort food pub menus (Barley's pizza is quite passable)

Stock and Barrel’s food is just ok but it has a good whiskey/bourbon selection

Are your guys’ Big Ears apps running fast? I can’t see anything happening before 7pm

Apparently there’s something a little buggy with the app right now. I’d go with website/printed schedule for the moment.

Lol apparently the app is the wrong time zone. Being worked on!

Big Ears relocated to Greenwich, UK

They completely nuked the app XD

It was good while it lasted. Glad I screenshotted that shit.

“Good: After a brief technical kerfuffle our app & schedule is back up & running. Bad: all saved personal schedules were lost. Good: You can now devise a fresh new path through the festival.”

at least it happened while i’m killing time at the bistro

Hutchings doing Copeland was great, glad he made it back from the rusted root concert on time

Wish I were there

Ppl talking during low: why.

Breakin up my trance and whatnot.

Anyway. Long live low.

The smoking at the Mill and Mine is a bummer. Prob my least favorite venue.

Low was great, it was good to end the day with noise. My kid, who's a big Shabaka fan but not a classical music guy, loved his Copland performance. (Me too.)

Thursday setlist

Kronos Quartet
Sō Percussion
75 Dollar Bill
Preservation Hall Brass & East Tennessee Bluegrass Association
Dan Weiss’ Starebaby
Sparks
mssv

Thursday:

Kronos Quartet
So Percussion
Tomeka Reid and Nikkey Finney
Film: Quarry
Sparks
Low

Saw IG clips of We Were Here Before jazz noise trio at the Pilot Light. Group has Luke Stewart , Mark Cisneros, and Nik Francis. Cisneros plays guitar in Kid Congo’s band but is on sax in this band

Luke Stewart is the shit.

Bass player Stewart is gigging everywhere it seems , plus releasing lots of music on small labels

God, wish I’d seen the whole L’rain set

I ended up skipping both Patti Smith and Kim Gordon because of the huge crowds / long lines. There are so many people here!!

More room for me at Meredith Monk at 8 then. And now I’m at the secret Fennesz show!

Capping off my evening with Lido Pimienta and Mdou Moctar. It’s been a good day. Anyone else see Arooj Aftab? I thought she was phenomenal.

Yeah, Arooj was lovely.

Would not have bet on the loudest show for me so far to be L’Rain.

I ended up skipping both Patti Smith and Kim Gordon because of the huge crowds / long lines. There are so many people here!!

Jeff Parker sold out too.

I liked Arooj too. The violinist was pretty amazing.

Fennesz was great, you could feel it in your organs. We left it a little early to catch the Frisell-led tribute to Ron Miles, where I am now. This is the most straight ahead thing I’ve seen but also maybe the best thing we’ve seen so far.

(at capacity I mean – this Ron Miles tribute is as well)

Friday setlist:

James McVinnie & Tristan Perich
Arooj Aftab
79ers
Sporty’s Brass Band
Lakou Mizik
Kris Davis’ Diatom Ribbons
Patti Smith Band
Pedrito Martinez Group
Fennesz
Mdou Moctar

Should we do an ILM meetup?

(I’m here with Save the Robot)

thursday:
-shabaka hutchings + the knoxville symphony orchestra
-fennesz

friday:
-james mcvinnie + tristan perich
-harriet tubman
-caroline shaw + sō percussion (i got bored and left early)
-andrew cyrille + ambrose akinmusire
-sons of kemet
-mind maintenance (joshua abrams + chad taylor)
-mdou moctar

sons of kemet were so good

Friday

Craig Taborn
Harriet Tubman
Caroline Shaw and so percussion
Last 15 minutes of L’rain
Meredith Monk and John Hollenbeck
Fennesz

Would like to have seen Mdou Moctar but too tired

I appreciate Knoxvillians and UT students’ commitment to pretending they are not cold

I can only imagine it’s a point of local pride. Meanwhile my clothes are progressively less cute and more tactical.

Holy fuck, that Annette Peacock performance was WILD.

Yep!

Saturday setlist:
John Zorn: Meditations on the Tarot
Ches Smith’s We All Break
Ensemble Dal Niente: Alvin Lucier et al
Ensemble Dal Niente: James Tenney
John Zorn: Simulacrum
Andrew Cyrille & Mark Ribot
Jason Moran
Kronos Quartet
John Zorn: The Hermetic Organ
Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society

Saturday

Myra Melford Snowy Egret
Nikki Giovanni book signing
Caroline Shaw and Atacca Quartet
Meredith Monk and Bang on a Can
Sarah Davachi
Natalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet
Annette Peacock

My brother saw Moses Sumney and was ecstatic should have seen that

sarah davachi was transcendent

Seeing her again at noon

Honestly, as excited as I was to see it, I def. didn’t find it transcendent. But I’m contemplating the noon show as well or the Alabaster Deplume. Then Theo Bleckmann and the Frisell Trio.

I’ll be in a maroon hooded coat if anyone wants to say hi.

I’m first in line for the noon show 😜

I caught about a half hour of it. I liked it more for sure. But I love the sound of a Mellotron.

Snuck out to meet Save The Robot at Alabaster DePlume backed by Jamie Branch’s Fly or Die band (which we caught a little if last night). This is a trip.

Saw Branch at a coffee shop just now

waiting for chaos magick to begin. i’m wearing a georgia tech hoodie if any ilxors want to say what up to u mans

I saw Branch and Fly or Die last night, then again with Alabaster DePlume this morning — and then Branch sat right in front of me at the Lonnie Holley show this afternoon (with DePlume sitting in as part of Holley’s band). I love all those kinds of connections and overlaps.

i did not like terry riley's song about weed that bang on a can played. we know you smoke weed dude!!!

Not interested in Riley past Rainbow in Curved Air

Holy shit Electric Masada

So jealous

Sunday playlist

Zorn
Zorn
Evan Ziporyn
Zorn
Zorn
Zorn

Saw an IG story of Marc Ribot in a church playing solo guitar material by Haitian Frantz Casseus looked nice and pleasant enough (if you go for that kind of thing)(i haven't heard Ribot's album of those songs)

I should've Zorned more, too many other things I wanted to check out. I heard the Masada Quartet set was amazing. But man am I glad I saw the electric set, just bonkers.

Sunday
Sarah Davachi
Theo Blackmann and Joe Branciaforte
Bill Frisell
Odean Pope and Immanuel Wilkins (so good)
A Thousand Thoughts with Kronos Quartet
Yves Tumor (a small bit, was disappointed, like the hair metal aesthetic though)

Saturday: was too exhausted to see much
Sarah Davachi, organ
John Zorn, organ

Sunday:
Sarah Davachi
Chaos Magick
Odean Pope & Immanuel Wilkins
Bang On A Can All-Stars

I stopped in for some of that Kronos Quartet "live documentary" because I had time between Ambrose Akinmusire and Zorn, not expecting anything in particular, and thought it was actually a cool and interesting concept, well executed.

Also as local resident I will try to organize at least an ILX happy hour next year. Had it in mind this year but failed to follow through.

Someone said to me that you could do the whole fest over again and see completely different bands and still have a good time and he’s so right

Oh yeah, some of my friends saw almost an entirely different festival from me, and there's a ton of stuff I wish I'd seen.

Absolutely magical weekend. We'd been talking about going to Big Ears for years and finally decided to go for it since we were going to have to do a bit of a road trip to see Sparks on this tour in any case. Really going to try to make it an annual thing from now on. Here's everything I saw:

Annette Peacock
Attacca Quartet
Aurora Nealand & The Royal Roses
Bang on a Can All-Stars: The Pandemic Solos
Bang on a Can All-Stars: Terry Riley's Autodreamographical Tales
Circus No. 9
Electric Appalachia (William Tyler & Mary Lattimore)
Ellen Reid Soundwalk Ensemble
Evan Ziporyn
Eve Maret
James McVinnie
Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann
Kronos Quartet: Terry Riley's Cadenza on the Night Plain
Kronos Quartet: A Thousand Thoughts
Lakou Mizik
Leyla McCalla
Maeve Gilchrist
Meredith Monk & Bang on a Can All-Stars: Memory Game
Nathalie Joachim
Nathalie Joachim & Spektral Quartet
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Sarah Davachi
Sparks
Sporty’s Brass Band

Mrs. VTC and I thank you for the Tern Club recommendation, tipsy -- very much our thing! Knoxville is cool.

Oh good, glad you had a good time and liked the Tern Club. Those are good folks, I love that place.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2022/03/29/big-ears-festival-2022-returns-memorable-sights-sounds-knoxville/7167776001/

Atlanta paper also covered the event

https://www.ajc.com/life/arts-culture/big-ears-festival-in-knoxville-brings-edgy-music-to-enthusiastic-crowd/J6BVMH6ZD5C5TAJZEWWFATKPHQ/

The SPIN writeup is funny because there's a lot of grousing about what a comped journalist VIP badge can and cannot get you, to which I'd say, "know your audience" but SPIN doesn't exactly have an audience in 2022

And the entrance and seating coordition was inconsistent venue to venue, at least for us critics. (At one show, my credentials allowed me to access the VIP section; at the next, I’d wait in the VIP line, only to be rerouted to the Premier, and then denied VIP seating. I overhead other people, both press and non-, vent similar frustrations. Overall, not enough to warrant any real complaints — but hopefully 2023 will run a bit more smoothly.)

really bummed i missed all of sunday's zorn :(

overall an outstanding time, though! will be back next year

According to that article with Ashley Capps there were 30% more attendees this year than 2019.

I suspected as much! I wasn't sure if I was just being overly conscious of crowd sizes after the pandemic or if there were actually way more people there

Yeah this was the first year of a complete sell-out. There weren't even any day tickets left.

the ppl were ready

https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/big-ears-festival/recap-arooj-aftab-joe-henry-caroline-shaw/?fbclid=IwAR1G0KOmaKcwkSz-3258FdqAmi6P6EoHFvdOKcBgsLkNpSCCkPHKdzFrWi8

Geoff Himes writeup in Paste

Himes makes big pronouncements-

re Jason Moran--

The 47-year-old pianist, perhaps the best jazz artist of his generation,

And the central paradoxes of our lives—the tension between creation and destruction, between hope and loss—are never fully resolved, and we can always use new approaches to the same old problems.
Every year, the Big Ears Festival provides a useful arena for reconsidering these issues.

Immanuel Wilkins, the alto saxophonist who is justly being hailed as the best young jazz artist of the decade

I'll suggest "a useful arena for reconsidering the central paradoxes of our lives" as the festival's new tagline.

Good idea. Ha.

Just reading author N*d S*blette in an email talk about his faves at the fest. He was there showing his work in progress movie "Tierra Sagrada (Sacred Ground)" about religious Cuban singing and dancing rituals. His faves were:

Miguel Zenón with the Spektral Quartet; Val Jeanty; and Jason Moran

I saw about 15-20 minutes of the movie, taking a breather between other things. It was cool. I also saw some of Val Jeanty, who was also cool. I heard raves about Zenon. (And Moran, I mean, of course.)

Dude the Moran set got absolutely batshit. He started just playing this low piano noise rumble that turned into a sucking abyss somehow?

I didn't make it to Moran, which I hated to miss. The two sets I saw by him a few years back (including w/Milford Graves!) were amazing.

This festival sounds amazing.

just got my pass for next year :)

got mine too

Thread for next year's:

Big Ears 2023