Increasingly, improvising artists across the style spectrum are accessing multiple vocabularies, reconciling divergent strategies, bringing other disciplines into the frame. What led me to Big Ears this year, in part, was an unusually high quotient of experimental jazz - or one or another form of unnamable music, like Graves and Moran's spirit trance, that bore a vestigial relationship to jazz. Jason Moran, left, and Milford Graves, right, performing on the second day of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. This was its seventh edition - and my first, despite the best of intentions and the deepest of affinities. It has skipped some years over the last decade. For a few years, the event honored vanguardist classical composers like Terry Riley and Steve Reich. From its first iteration in 2009, the festival has been a locus of expedition, defined more by a go-anywhere ethos than by any style or genre allegiance. Contained within a walkable radius of historic downtown Knoxville - in a range of ornate landmark theaters, refurbished industrial spaces, art galleries, churches, and clubs - it creates its own atmospheric climate, along with a center of gravity. "The more bizarre, the better," he told me.īig Ears will do that to a person. He wasn't a rare-sound partisan, or a practicing connoisseur he had just learned to count on musical discovery at Big Ears. His eyes lit up as he said it, like a kid about to open a birthday present. When I asked whether he'd been looking forward to Graves and Moran, he said he didn't know a thing about either one. Standing in line, I struck up a conversation with a white-bearded Tennesseean who has never missed an edition of the festival. Their concert was a gemlike centerpiece of Big Ears 2018 capacity at the Bijou is 700, but even with several competing options on the schedule, a lot of people were turned away. Musically speaking, this was a first-time encounter for Graves, who at 76 is a sagacious elder in the improvising avant-garde, and Moran, 43, whose career has branched out from a position closer to jazz's center. At one point, Moran's deep, mournful sonorities at the piano led Graves toward a murmuring hush at the drums, as if anything else would break the spell. Their spontaneous musical dialogue, onstage at the elegant Bijou Theater in Knoxville, Tenn., suggested a merging of the ancient and the ultramodern, aglow with an ephemeral sort of grace. Milford Graves and Jason Moran were listening hard at the Big Ears Festival on Friday evening, and in this they were far from alone. The festival has always maintained an eclectic schedule, but this year's bookings belied a fascinating alchemy within the current jazz landscape. Parking is easy-two blocks away and only $6.00 for Self Park.Milford Graves, performing at the 2018 Big Ears Festival. We were very satisfied with the performance and will return to the Bijou.
In between songs, he recited thoughtful lyrics of poetry related to his walking journeys throughout the world. The “Sound of Silence” was spot on with harmonies as good as the record. His stellar performance included all his great songs along with a couple of classics from the Graduate. A nice mix - a little of everything is on the roster.Īrt Garfunkel is a legend and his lyrics will live on for eternity. However, in addition, the Bijou also offers a wide array of well know rock, jazz and country artists from the past and present such as: Lindsey Buckingham, Christopher Cross, and Joe Jackson. It provides an opportunity for lesser known local and TN groups to advance their career and gain a higher level of identity than by just playing in the area pubs or smaller venues. The Bijou is unique because it fills a void in the KNOX area.
The staff is cordial and they have a great concession area. The Bijou is classical,- really historical, and over 100 years old. We liked the way they have their restaurant next door directly connected to the theater. The small venue setting is our preference and the seating arrangement at the Bijou is ideal - with a good view of the stage from most areas. The Art Garfunkel concert was the first event we attended at the Knoxville Bijou and it was very good. My wife nagged me to get the Garfunkel tickets in December 2018 so I purchased seats from Ticketmaster at 10:01 AM on the morning they went on sale and got really good seats.
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