
Anoushka Shankar
Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
Music Festivals 2018: Big Ears Experimental Fest Favors Jazz
Love experimental music? Well get ready, because the 2018 edition of the Big Ears festival will be here before we know it.
Hosted in Knoxville, Tenn., the experimental music festival has announced their lineup for the weekend long celebration, which will take place March 22–25, 2018. As Rolling Stone reports, for the seventh consecutive year, the line-up relies heavily on avant-garde jazz.
This includes artists such as Medeski Martin & Wood, pianists Jason Moran and Craig Taborn, drummer Milford Graves, saxophonist Evan Parker, a performance of Alice Coltrane's "ecstatic music," Nels Cline with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, sax quartet Rova, trumpeter Peter Evans, violinist Jenny Scheinman, and many more.
GRAMMY nominee Anoushka Shankar will perform her work Land Of Gold, which discusses immigration. The classical music ensemble Bang On A Can will serve as the artist in residence at the festival. In addition, musicians at the intersection of experimental music and alternative rock and electronic undergrounds will perform, including Diamanda Galás, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Lightning Bolt, Kid Koala, Four Tet, Jaga Jazzist, Laural Halo, and Jenny Hval.
Your #BigEarsKnox 2018 lineup has arrived. GA, Premier & VIP weekend passes will be available Friday at 10am ET via https://t.co/I8WbBaetD0. pic.twitter.com/LPLSzooiUC
— Big Ears Festival (@BigEarsFestival) November 1, 2017
As if that isn't enough, Big Ears 2018 will feature "Appalachian Homecoming," curated by Anna Roberts-Gevalt of roots duo Anna & Elizabeth, which will celebrate the music of the American South with Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Abigail Washburn, and the Black Twig Pickers, on deck to perform.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale Nov. 3 via Big Ears' website.
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