FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR! / NOTEWORTHY ARTIST PROFILES
Festival of the Year
We were recently crowned Best Music Festival of the Year by Spin Magazine!
Noteworthy Artist Profiles
Throughout the year we’ve shared with you many enthralling profiles of artists who’ll be joining us at Big Ears 2024. It allowed us a more intimate knowledge of these artists not always found onstage. Here are just a few of our favorites.
“MOJO Rising: James Brandon Lewis”
James Brandon Lewis is a Saxophone Colossus. As Sonny Rollins himself said,“ “When I listen to you, I listen to Buddha, I listen to Confucius… I listen to the deeper meaning of life. You are keeping the world in balance.” Lewis returns to Big Ears for his collaboration with The Messthetics (former Fugazi rhythm section & guitarist Anthony Pirog) on Saturday, March 23, and he performs with Ches Smith’s Laugh Ash the following day.
“Adrianne Lenker’s Radical Honesty”
We’re certainly excited to have Adrianne Lenker, the galvanizing creative force behind the band, Big Thief, joining us for thre 2024 festival, with the live premiere of her new solo show. Back in 2020, on the occasion of her first solo release, Amanda Petrusich penned this compelling profile for The New Yorker.
The pioneering pianist, composer bandleader, and educator Myra Melford returns to Big Ears with Fire & Water, a remarkable gifted, all-star, all-female quintet, that includes guitarist Mary Halvorson, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, cellist Tomeka Reid, and drummer Lesley Mok.
“Swing Time: Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog”
Relix Magazine checked in with Marc Ribot on the state of protest, resistance and, of course, Ceramic Dog, returning to Big Ears for a performance on Saturday, March 23. The guitarist and his bandmates, Shahzad Ismaily and Ches Smith, are all over Big Ears this year, individually and collectively, in a continually head-spinning, shape-shifting array of performances that include Chocolate Genius, Inc, John Medeski, Secret Chiefs 3, Trevor Dunn, Joe Russo, Evan Lurie, Ches Smith’s Laugh Ash and perhaps more that they haven’t yet told us about.
