BIG EARS FESTIVAL

AN HOMAGE TO ZAKIR HUSSAIN / 100 OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS (PART 8)

In the Key of the Universe: Charle’s Lloyd’s Homage to Zakir Hussain (Feat. Bill Frisell, ganavya, Eric Harland, and Harish Raghavan)

A few months after the 2001 death of his lifelong collaborator, Billy Higgins and just weeks after 9/11, Charles Lloyd met with Zakir Hussain at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco to make music together for the first time. The vast cathedral was filled to capacity and the audience was mesmerized by the music created by these two great musicians. A few years later, Lloyd invited Eric Harland to join him and Hussain to perform in a concert that was an homage to his departed musical partner, Master Higgins. Out of that concert, the trio “Sangam,” emerged. “Sangam,”, a Sanskrit word meaning a confluence of rivers and as Lloyd liked to say, they represented the Ganges, the Rio Grande and the mighty Mississippi.

Charles Lloyd’s Sangam Trio was slated to play again on March 27, opening night for the Big Ears Festival.  Tragically, Ustad Zakir Hussain died on December 15, 2024, taking the world by surprise. For Charles Lloyd it has been an immensely, deep, personal loss.

During what was to be the Sangam concert at Big Ears, Lloyd and Harland will now pay homage to their beloved friend and collaborator. In keeping with the exploratory freedom and deep spiritual roots of Sangam, they have invited Bill Frisell, and Harish Raghavan, who have worked with Lloyd, Hussain and Harland at various times and, a special guest, ganavaya, who will sing some of the songs that Hussain wrote and sang during his performances with Sangam. This will be an offering of uplift and a celebration of the tremendous legacy of the musical master that was Zakir.

100 of Our Favorite Things Coming to Big Ears 2025 (Part 8)

Gracing the world stage from a young age with over a quarter-century’s performing behind her, Anoushka Shankar is a singular, genre-defying artist across multiple musical realms – classical, contemporary, acoustic, electronic, and more. Shankar, alongside her new quintet of musicians, will perform music from her two newly released mini-albums, Chapter I: Forever, For Now and Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn, and gems from previous releases.

We welcome  painter, puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, set designer, illustrator, three time Emmy Award winner Wayne White to Big Ears with his band Username Password including drummer Bob Stagner (Shaking Ray Levis) along with Jim Tate and Brian Dyer.

Celebrated as a collaborator, composer, producer and champion for some of the most boundary-pushing artists of his generation via his NYC-based label Shimmy-Disc, Kramer will perform his Music for Pianos and Sunflowers as well as perform with David Grubbs and Wendy Eisenberg in Squanderers.

The Centennial of the beloved illustrator of the humorous and macabre Edward Gorey will be celebrated by violinist / singer / composer Carla Kihlstedt, joined by the ensemble Present Music, in “26 Little Deaths,” settings for The Gashlycrumb Tinies: A Very Gorey Alphabet Book.

Joy Guidry’s her new record, Amen, is an ambient exploration with a focus on spiritual jazz and southern gospel. This is her third release as a leader and features contributions by Niecy Blues, Kalia Vandever, Jillian Grace, and Jessie Cox.

Blues? Folk? Punk? Sunny War embodies and transcends it all. We are thrilled to welcome her to Big Ears in March!

Bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer is also one of the most compelling composers of our age. Here, he has created a dynamic body of work for trio, touching on the breadth and depth of American music, with violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman.

Glasgow-based Still House Plants take the idea of art-rock or post-rock or however you might try to describe them to new dimensions on their new record, If I don’t make it, I love you, another one of the must hear records of 2024.

The inimitable Thor Harris is rarely a leading man and is perhaps best known for propelling Swans to ecstatic heights with his powerful drumming, but there’s more to this visionary artist. He’ll step into the lead role at Big Ears 2025 with his solo project, and you’ll also find him fueling the drone with kraut-punkers Water Damage.

Quiet, enchanting and  utterly bewitching, Icelandic indie-rock legends mum are back and will finally appear at Big Ears this coming March. They have a map of the piano…we’ll see where those roads might lead.

Tarta Relena, the Catalan duo of Marta Torrella and Helena Ros, simply take our breath away.

The sweeping sounds of Flore Laurentienne, the vessel of French-Canadian composer Mathieu Gagnon, illuminate the science and spirit of his surrounds through rich textures and captivating experimentation using early analogue synths. 

BIG EARS
03.27_03.30.25
Knoxville, TN · USA

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