New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The 2019 Big Ears Festival gets under way today, and as usual, featured among the performers are several Nonesuch artists: Rhiannon Giddens, Punch Brothers, Gabriel Kahane, and Mountain Man. Big Ears takes place at venues throughout downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, through Sunday, March 24.
Rhiannon Giddens returns to Big Ears to take part in several events. She and percussionist Francesco Turrisi will perform her score to Lucy Negro Redux, a ballet based on the hypothetical life of Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" and Caroline Randall Williams' 2015 book Lucy, Negro Redux, as the Nashville Ballet performs the piece choreographed by Paul Vasterling and narrated by Randall Williams, at the Tennessee Theatre tonight. The featured performers will also take part in a talk-back session after the performance. The piece received its Knoxville premiere there last night; following its world premiere in Nashville, the New York Times called it a "miracle." Giddens and Turrisi will perform music from their own just-announced album, there is no Other, at Visit Knoxville today at noon and at Church Street United Methodist Church on Friday night. Giddens will also join Richard Thompson and Rachel
Grimes for a panel titled Songs of our Ancestors: Making History Present in Music, moderated by NPR's Ann Powers, at Visit Knoxville on Saturday at 3pm.
Punch Brothers, who are currently touring the US with label mate Gabriel Kahane as their special guest, bring music from their Grammy Award-winning new album, All Ashore, to The Mille & Mine on Sunday night at 8:15pm. Kahane will perform his own set of music from his new album, Book of Travelers, at The Standard on Sunday afternoon at 4:45pm.
Mountain Man, which resumed its US tour last week, bring music from its Nonesuch debut album, Magic Ship, to St. John's Episcopal Cathedral on Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm.
Another artist familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal, Bill Frisell, will perform several sets at Big Ears too. His classic album recorded in another Tennessee city, Nashville, first released on Nonesuch Records in 1997, received its first worldwide vinyl release in November. For all the festival details, visit bigearsfestival.org.
