1 00:00:08,390 --> 00:00:11,430 Welcome to Big Ears conversations about music. 2 00:00:11,510 --> 00:00:15,910 I'm your host Sarah Gilletti. Today we hear from 4 top music 3 00:00:15,910 --> 00:00:19,670 writers covering a broad range of artists they loved in 2025. 4 00:00:20,270 --> 00:00:23,390 We asked each to choose three top picks representing music 5 00:00:23,390 --> 00:00:28,520 they loved in the past year. Call it a Best of 2025 and a 6 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,360 preview of artists you can hear at Big Ears 2026, which takes 7 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:36,040 place March 26th through 29th in Knoxville, TN. 8 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:42,160 Let's meet our panel, shall we? First up is the omnivorous 9 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:45,680 critic Steve Smith, known for his long time coverage of 10 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,720 classical and new music in publications like The New York 11 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:53,080 Times, The New Yorker, and most recently his acclaimed substack 12 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:57,080 Night After Night. While he may be most widely 13 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,400 known for his coverage of classical music, Steve is also 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,640 an expert on improvised music. For our first pick, Steve 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,520 singles out an iconoclast who drew him to New York 35 years 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,560 ago. John Zorn. 17 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:18,040 He is a 72 year old composer, improviser, Jack of all trades. 18 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,400 He has played in pretty much every conceivable genre known to 19 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,560 mankind and invented a few along the way. 20 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:28,160 And at age 72, he is not slowing down at all. 21 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,480 He is all over the big years. Schedule this year. 22 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,240 Next up is journalist and critic Liz Pelley. 23 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,120 You might know her work from Pitchfork, The Guardian, and 24 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,760 Rolling Stone. In 2025, Pelli released Mood 25 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,000 Machine, The Rise of Spotify, and The Cost of the Perfect 26 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,800 Playlist. Her book examines the impact of 27 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,000 streaming services on artists and the public. 28 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,920 Her first pick examines an intriguing folk duo there. 29 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,760 Was an ancient. There was an. 30 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:07,800 Ancient. Song now something isn't. 31 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,840 Right now we live in Florida. Hailey Hendricks is someone who 32 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,560 I am very excited to get the opportunity to talk about today. 33 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,840 So this is a record with a songwriter named Max Garcia 34 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,240 Conover called One Of Our Nature. 35 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,320 This is a record that they describe as being really 36 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:30,960 inspired by Woody Guthrie and I would say is an example of a a 37 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,720 record that actually lives up to that potential tabloid. 38 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:41,680 Just to try to get the. Best of me, the cards in Lovely. 39 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,840 We also have Ayana Contreras, VP of radio at Rocky Mountain 40 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,720 Public Media. Before her time in Denver, she 41 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,840 spent decades in Chicago as a journalist, producer, DJ and 42 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,360 cultural historian. You can hear all of these 43 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,160 sensibilities in her commentaries. 44 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,520 First, she speaks about a new group she calls Holy Roller 45 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:25,800 Disco. Probably #1 on my list is Annie 46 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:32,040 and the Caldwells, which put out a really amazing album this past 47 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,840 year, which is I'd classify it as holy roller disco. 48 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,640 And for you, if you think that gospel music and disco music are 49 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,480 not somehow intertwined, you didn't grow up in my church. 50 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,960 Went. To the one up he left. 51 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:53,800 That one up put. Me and my baby outside sooner he 52 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:59,680 got outside. Rounding out our panel is 53 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,240 someone who calls himself a musicer, Peter Orloff. 54 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,040 Over the past 30 years, Orlaf has written for NPR, Rolling 55 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,040 Stone, Pitchfork, and the Village Voice. 56 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,959 His current project, which combines journalism, curation, 57 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:19,440 and community building, is Data Strain. 58 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,920 The core tenets of everything Peter does are rhythm, 59 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:27,600 improvisation, and community. We hear a teaser of his first 60 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,280 pick here, a fast ascending vibraphonist and composer named 61 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:39,200 Patricia Brennan. Patricia Brennan right now is on 62 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,000 a like an album by album winning streak that is slightly 63 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,680 unparalleled in this music called jazz. 64 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,680 Her practice on her own has been like evolving in this wonderful, 65 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,280 wonderful, wonderful way. When she and I have had 66 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:57,760 conversations, I kept asking her like, are you a dancer? 67 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,160 And she said yes, I, I love to dance and I love for that to be 68 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,080 reflected in my music. Steve Smith rejoins us to make 69 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:10,520 the case that John Zorn is quote the hidden DNA of the 2026 70 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:37,320 festival. John Zorn, you know, he's been a 71 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,520 community builder par excellence. 72 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,640 He's always had a knack with putting together disparate 73 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,000 musicians, whether he was included or not, and finding 74 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,560 ways to make things work and putting musicians together that 75 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,960 might not seem like they go together and yet somehow it's 76 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,040 it's it's like he has this sense of the potential that everybody 77 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,200 has. He's run several venues. 78 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,120 He's run a record label, a couple of record labels, 79 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,040 actually. He's just been somebody who has 80 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,840 facilitated so much in the community that you can actually 81 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:13,640 lose sight of the fact that he's pretty dynamic and extraordinary 82 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,960 as an artist and a musician. He's been playing lately in a 83 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,520 band called the New Masada Quartet with Julian Lodge, and 84 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,680 they've been playing the Village Vanguard. 85 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,560 It's very much the jazz bag. And you think, OK, Zorn is doing 86 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,320 the Masada thing again, and he's been doing it for a very long 87 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:30,880 time. And then you go see this band 88 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,880 and your jaw is on the floor because not only are they so 89 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,760 good, but they are having so much fun that you get caught up 90 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,400 in it. Zorn also doesn't play the PR 91 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,200 game. So for, you know, 30-40 years, 92 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:48,560 he's been putting out a steady stream of excellent projects and 93 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,640 they come out and then he's on to the next thing. 94 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:55,520 So in the last year alone, he's probably released a dozen albums 95 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,360 under his own name, of which I could name 7 as being pretty 96 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,760 significant. He put out two records by his 97 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,720 reunited grindcore dub trio Painkiller with Mick Harris and 98 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,160 Bill Laswell. He put out another another album 99 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,240 with his heavy metal organ band Chaos Magic, 2 albums of chamber 100 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,120 music, and a duo with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo 101 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:38,880 at Big Ears. You're going to get a taste of 102 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,600 that kind of extreme eclecticism and extreme versatility. 103 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,800 He's playing with Lombardo and Medeski in a trio called 104 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,680 Awakening Ground. He's doing two programs with 105 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,680 classical superstars, including Jack Quartet and the incredible 106 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,080 soprano Barbara Hannigan. He's doing an All Star version 107 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,400 of his game piece Cobra, which is a piece that he's been doing 108 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,800 for decades with a variety of players. 109 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,480 And because it's structured like a game, anyone can come into it 110 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,840 and succeed in this piece and it's never the same way twice. 111 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,120 He's got a duo with Lori Anderson, who he's been working 112 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,320 with regularly lately. He's got his love song project, 113 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,600 which is basically 10 Pan Alley style singer-songwriter material 114 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,800 with Petra Hayden. And Speaking of Masada, he is 115 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,320 reuniting the original groundbreaking lineup of Masada 116 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,200 for two shows. Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg 117 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,200 Cohen on bass, Joey Baron on drums. 118 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,200 If you look across the entire spectrum of the the whole span 119 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,679 of the Big Ears schedule in 2026, you see shows by Julian 120 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,080 Lodge, by Jesse Harris, Mark Rebow, even Pat Metheny. 121 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,720 There are connections to John Zorn literally everywhere. 122 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,080 He's he's like the hidden DNA of the 2026 festival. 123 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,800 Here's Liz Pelley continuing her commentary on Hayley Hendricks. 124 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,680 Hayley Hendricks and Max Garcia Conover have this record. 125 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,680 What of our nature? That's the title of it this 126 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:15,920 morning. I. 127 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,560 Am born and I am for the. Forms. 128 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:20,360 We. Are. 129 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,600 In our great eternal. Moment in the. 130 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:29,160 Thrall of our own. *. In our border in. 131 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,680 Our. Neighbor in our torture little 132 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:36,600 yard fighting all this emptiness. 133 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:40,160 To me, it feels like right now, in a moment where there's a lot 134 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,240 of records that are being made as part of this sort of indie 135 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:49,440 country, indie Americana, kind of like indie twang resurgence 136 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,080 of sorts. What I'm like most interested in 137 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,720 is if artists are going to employ the aesthetics of 138 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,880 Americana and American folk music. 139 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,960 I'm interested in music that actually grapples with what that 140 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,560 means, that actually grapples with American identity. 141 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,280 This is a record that does that in a very sharp way. 142 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:12,280 Haley being half Filipina and Max being half Puerto Rican. 143 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,440 There's songs on this album that really look back to history. 144 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:20,480 It opens with this song that is an ode to a Puerto Rican 145 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,400 independence activist named Alicia Rodriguez, who spent a 146 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,080 lot of her life in jail. There's a song that is an ode to 147 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:33,120 the Filipino American writer and labor organizer Carlos Bouloson. 148 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,720 Perhaps since we don't talk, they cannot tell we're going 149 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:43,120 under. Perhaps we've been too fearful. 150 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:48,720 I'm not doing what we're told. They describe this as a record, 151 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,640 a collection of music about colonialism, generational 152 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:57,720 identity, commercialism and quote, the slippery target of 153 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,400 addressing social equity and song and quote, there are a 154 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,400 couple of songs specifically that take on the subject matter 155 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:09,040 of commercialism. And maybe not in a very on the 156 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:12,800 nose way, but that sort of seemed to be about dealing with 157 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,920 what it looks like or feels like to release art into like very 158 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,440 hostile conditions in the year 2025. 159 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,880 Including this song called Mr. Marketer that is just like a 160 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:29,040 very sad song about the commodification of art and the 161 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:36,000 man on the screen. He is freaking me out saying. 162 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:43,400 Don't let. Me down and you're letting me 163 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:50,880 down with the weight of all the subject matter that is tackled 164 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:55,520 on this record or that is sort of like, you know, it forms this 165 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,080 record. There's this really strong sense 166 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:02,440 of the need to sort of fight emptiness and alienation. 167 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,080 Again, Ayanna. Contreras, Amy. 168 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:33,920 In the Caldwells, that thin line between club music and gospel 169 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:39,760 music and soul music has been sort of a line that keeps 170 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,240 getting blurred generation after generation, and Annie and the 171 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,440 Caldwells are a great example of this happening today. 172 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:48,720 The. 1. We're dying. 173 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,960 Hello, my sister. Love. 174 00:12:52,800 --> 00:13:03,960 My brother. Recorded in West Point, Ms. at 175 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,800 the Message Center which is a small, you know, storefront 176 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,040 church and it's 6 songs, which is how long an album should be. 177 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,920 It's just beautiful. It's a beautiful recording. 178 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,080 Can't wait to see them in person. 179 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,920 Now back to Peter Orloff. Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan. 180 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,040 She was classically trained from Veracruz, Mexico, has been 181 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:58,640 participating in the New York City improvisational scene, 182 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,720 playing music that is often referred to as jazz and playing 183 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:08,280 in relatively traditional jazz combos, but also expanding using 184 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,080 a lot of electronics around her vibraphone and marimba playing 185 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,840 composing for bigger and bigger bands for a new record of this 186 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,160 year called of the Near and Far, which is one of my favorite 187 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,120 records of the year, has string section on it. 188 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,040 Very evocative of like David Axelrod, but also it's based on 189 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:31,200 data from constellations, so it's got a very space age theme 190 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,120 without being very space age. So it evokes the orchestra. 191 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,040 It's got Miles Okazaki playing guitar on it. 192 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:41,520 Very, very Prague and crazy, chaotic but wonderful music. 193 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:10,000 Here's Steve Smith once again, this time on a string quartet 194 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,240 originally known for their gnarly, uncompromising classical 195 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:17,200 music, but also a more meditative and contemplative 196 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:22,000 state. The Jack Quartet is currently on 197 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,240 the back half of its 20th anniversary celebration. 198 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:30,440 It's kind of amazing actually that these four young guys, or 199 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,800 they still certainly come off that way on stage, have been at 200 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,000 it for as long as they have and have been achieving at a very, 201 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:38,640 very high level from the very beginning. 202 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,480 They originally put themselves on the map 20 years ago with the 203 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,680 most gnarly, uncompromising modern classical music. 204 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,560 Giannis Xenakis was their early calling card and they did 205 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,880 complete cycles of the Elliott Carter string quartets and 206 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,360 developed a really, really close relationship with the German 207 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:23,520 modernist Helmut Lachenman. They've also got a real knack 208 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:28,000 for spacious, contemplative, meditative pieces, especially 209 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,840 those involving altered intonations, just intonation, 210 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:36,000 micro tonality. Hearing them playing music by 211 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,000 Catherine Lamb or Jank Aragon can be akin to a spiritual 212 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,600 experience. I've felt myself completely 213 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,600 transported out of my body hearing some of their concerts 214 00:16:45,600 --> 00:17:20,990 when they're in that mode. The four players of the quartet 215 00:17:20,990 --> 00:17:26,030 now are Christopher Otto and Austin Woolleman on violins, 216 00:17:26,230 --> 00:17:30,230 both of whom are a very accomplished composers 217 00:17:30,230 --> 00:17:33,190 themselves, and the quartet has recorded music by both of those 218 00:17:33,190 --> 00:17:35,510 two players. The violist is John Pickford 219 00:17:35,510 --> 00:17:38,670 Richards and the cellist is Jay Campbell. 220 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,360 At the very beginning of this year they put out a recording of 221 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,640 all of John Zorn's string quartets all together in one 222 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,000 place. A couple of decades worth of 223 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,920 work, from really early things that they that he wrote for the 224 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,040 Kronos Quartet decades ago to things that he has written 225 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:55,920 specifically for Jack more recently. 226 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,360 It's an astonishing recording for anybody who is involved in 227 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:02,640 contemporary classical music. I have to say. 228 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,880 It's one of the major events of the year. 229 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,320 And of course it came out in January and it still has that 230 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,760 resonance. So the fact that Jack will be 231 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,920 playing at least one program with John Zorn at Big Ears is a 232 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:18,800 big deal. That's a relationship that you 233 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,080 want to hear. But the other concert that 234 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,880 they're doing at Big Ears tends towards that more meditative and 235 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,240 contemplative state that I was talking about. 236 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,760 Because they also have a very long working relationship with a 237 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,440 composer named John Luther Adams, whose main concerns are 238 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:39,560 the environment, nature conservation, climate change, 239 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:41,960 you know, really hot button issues. 240 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,360 And he's not expressing them in sort of in your face stormy 241 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:51,000 protest test music style, but rather with these enveloping, 242 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,000 beautiful, meditative pieces that feel as if you're 243 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,640 inhabiting the music rather than simply listening to it. 244 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:02,000 Jack has really developed a beautiful working relationship 245 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,000 with Adams. They've done all of his 246 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,040 quartets. They've recorded virtually all 247 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,760 of them over the years. There's a through line of beauty 248 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,920 and tranquility and sincerity and necessity that runs through 249 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,360 this entire body of work and through this relationship. 250 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:18,480 Attending it. You're not just listening to a 251 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,000 string quartet, you're really coming into kind of a holistic 252 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,120 experience and you'll be changed when you come out. 253 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:26,640 Here's Liz Pelley on a country tangent. 254 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,400 Indie rock artist who's been compared to the late David 255 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:34,000 Berman. I can park the Monte Carlo in 256 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,400 the street, just so you know that I am there when you. 257 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:45,720 Pass we could make. A business satellite. 258 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,720 Ryan Davis has really made a splash the past couple of years, 259 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,120 specifically this year with this record that this group put out 260 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,840 called New Threats from the Soul on the label that Davis runs 261 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,480 Sophomore Lounge. And this is like a very dense 262 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,680 and the best way country punk country rock record that I'm 263 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:14,120 excited to get into when he was in college. 264 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:17,960 Ryan Davis. Interned at drag city records 265 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,280 and I think that is like you know totally checks out like 266 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:26,560 this band's a band that often gets compared to David Berman 267 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,440 there's like a quote shortly before he passed away Berman, 268 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,960 you know said that Ryan Davis was the best lyricist going 269 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,600 who's not a rapper I. Left my wall in El Segundo I. 270 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:41,480 Left my true. Love in a West. 271 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:49,360 Lafayette escape room. You know, in a similar 272 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:53,000 tradition, music that is like very funny and very heavy at the 273 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,520 same time. Another thing that kind of makes 274 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,200 it a critics record or critics artist is just kind of like how 275 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,120 clearly like very ambitious these records are for country 276 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,520 tinged like indie rock records. It is really like a record that 277 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,400 I think the payoff is strongest when you listen to it front to 278 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,240 back. Here's Ayana Contreras on, a 279 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,680 young trumpeter from Baltimore who's released his debut on Blue 280 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:28,000 Note Records in 2025. Brandon Woody and his group 281 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:32,160 Avendo are really like a community based group that came 282 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:37,280 up in Baltimore, which is not necessarily a city you think of 283 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,800 as being the centerpiece of jazz right now, but he sounds like 284 00:21:40,800 --> 00:22:05,560 right now. Upendo is really interesting. 285 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,800 The term is Swahili, and it roughly translates to love in 286 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,280 all forms. And that's really the reflection 287 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,360 of what he tries to give to his Baltimore community. 288 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,240 It was interesting. How many times can you say 289 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,120 Baltimore in one article? But he's not just rooted in that 290 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:22,720 one community. This spring, he actually toured 291 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,280 alongside artists including Toronto Electric jazz group Bad 292 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,840 Bad Not Good and pianist Luther S Allison. 293 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:36,720 He also has released his debut, For the Love of It All, which is 294 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,800 really a love song to Baltimore on Blue Note Records. 295 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,920 He studied at the Brubeck Institute. 296 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,040 In fact, his roommate was Chicago saxophonist Isaiah 297 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,120 Collier. And he also studied at the jazz, 298 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,640 studied jazz arts at the Manhattan School of Music. 299 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:56,240 But based on my conversation with him, his true education or 300 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,560 we'll just say the stuff that made him was found when he 301 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,640 returned home to Baltimore. He reconvened with his high 302 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,600 school friend and collaborator Troy Long and built a unique 303 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:21,210 sound was really like honed in clubs, 304 00:23:21,210 --> 00:23:24,530 but also non traditional performance spaces from porches 305 00:23:24,530 --> 00:23:29,770 and backyards and the like to spaces that you wouldn't even 306 00:23:29,770 --> 00:23:32,770 imagine would be hospitable to jazz music. 307 00:23:32,850 --> 00:23:38,000 It's great music and it's also very approachable music. 308 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,760 If you think that community rooted music almost on a 309 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:47,200 spiritual space isn't for you, this is a great gateway drug to 310 00:23:47,200 --> 00:24:05,440 that sort of sound and energy. Now we switch gears. 311 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:09,680 Here's Peter Orlov on the New York City Post Hardcore sound of 312 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,480 Yahweh nail gun. I would call it post hardcore 313 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:48,200 music. No bass, but a Moog that is not 314 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,680 playing kind of bass lines, but it's almost dropping digital low 315 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,880 end bombs as part of the sound. Got screamo vocals. 316 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:02,160 It's got incessant rhythms from the drummer. 317 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,680 The guitar is doing this kind of stuff that is more like akin to 318 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,000 My Bloody Valentine and David Thorn. 319 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,880 There's very, very intense, visceral music. 320 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:16,600 But at the same time, these drums that are roto Tom drums is 321 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,360 what a lot of people have been writing about, which is kind of 322 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,760 like these these TomTom, these hollow sounding Tom Toms. 323 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:28,200 So this very, very loud, very, very punky sound. 324 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:35,040 But Yahweh Nail Gun kind of streamlines it into a very, very 325 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:53,320 precise kind of thing. Once again, here's Steve Smith 326 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,600 on a Polish artist making a stir in the world's of songwriting 327 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:01,120 and ethereal classical music. The final artist that I'm really 328 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:05,200 fascinated by this year is someone that I'm actually not 329 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:06,840 personally very well acquainted with. 330 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,520 Somebody that I've really been sort of digging into just 331 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:14,080 lately, the Polish pianist and composer Hanya Rani, who kind of 332 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,880 started out in a very traditional classical training 333 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,680 kind of background and then moved in the sort of neo 334 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,280 classical, deceptively simple and beautiful area that we find 335 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,840 occupied by the likes of Max Richter and Nils Frahm. 336 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,160 She started very, very young. She studied in Berlin, and then 337 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,920 she rebelled from that kind of orthodox path and started making 338 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,640 the kind of really deceptively simple music that we think of 339 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,360 when we think about artists like Nils Frum or Olafer Arnold's, 340 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:12,520 you know, just simple, beautiful music. 341 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,040 But it's really a whole lot harder to make that kind of 342 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,200 music and make it stick than people think. 343 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,240 She started this with a 2019 album called Asya, and of course 344 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,360 she's since broken into film scoring, as people like Max 345 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:28,320 Richter tend to do. And she's got the score right 346 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,040 now for Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value, which won the 347 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,920 grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival. 348 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:38,200 So she's really got a sense of sort of deeply baked in 349 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,960 wanderlust. And so at Big Ears, she's doing 350 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:45,080 2 projects that don't entirely have anything to do with the 351 00:27:45,080 --> 00:28:04,040 music that put her on the map. Now one of them is called 352 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,560 Chilling Bambino and that's really all about live 353 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,760 synthesizer music. Some of the clips that I've 354 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,320 heard online sound like Tangerine Dream and vintage full 355 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:18,640 blown sequencer driven mode high Berlin school style, but others 356 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,000 are more ambient, more drifty and Spacey. 357 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,960 She taps into the kind of electronic singer-songwriter 358 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:29,160 mode that she introduced on her album Ghosts in 2023, and the 359 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,680 artist that I would most liken her to in that mode is not 360 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,120 Bjork, but more the the Norwegian singer Aurora. 361 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:41,880 So it it's full on pop but with real atmosphere and and real 362 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:48,720 interest to it. Oh yeah, down. 363 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:50,440 The floor with all. Our science it was. 364 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:52,320 Down the. Science. 365 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:06,240 Science down with. Dreams with fears with art of. 366 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,560 Science. The Piano Concerto that Ronnie 367 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,400 wrote is unorthodox in a lot of really great ways. 368 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,840 It was commissioned in memory of Yosima Feldschu, who was herself 369 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,280 a young Polish prodigy. She was renowned at age 12 for 370 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,960 playing Chopin in concert, and she composed music when she was 371 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,640 confined to the Warsaw Ghetto during World War 2. 372 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,160 Her family escaped in 1943, and she died of tuberculosis. 373 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,360 So we don't know very much about Yoshima Feldschu, but we have 374 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,080 her music because her composition notebook survived. 375 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:45,000 Ronnie's Concerto takes that story as the inspiration, but 376 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,400 she also connects it to contemporary sites of conflict 377 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,560 and strife, including pandemic. And it's very much also about 378 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,280 Ukraine, and it's about Gaza. The title Non fiction indicates 379 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:57,800 that the piece isn't about escape. 380 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,120 It's about actually, you know, digging into reality. 381 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,240 It's a fascinating piece. I can't imagine what it's going 382 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,280 to sound like live. And Big Ears audiences are truly 383 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:08,720 fortunate. They're going to get a crack at 384 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:10,360 it with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. 385 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:14,320 So, I mean, you know, as much as anything makes me want to attend 386 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,920 Big Ears next year, this is really a draw. 387 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,480 And now we return to Liz Pelley talking about a group with a 388 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:24,200 language and a sound all their own, with a very relevant 389 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:46,260 message. In addition to taking their 390 00:30:46,260 --> 00:30:49,980 music off Spotify, Deerhoff also put out their 20th studio album 391 00:30:49,980 --> 00:30:53,960 as a band, which is happening during their 31st year as a 392 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:55,800 band. So this album that they put out 393 00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:00,200 is called Noble and God Like and Ruin and it is just like an 394 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:05,680 amazing entry into a long lineage of great records. 395 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:12,080 The music that they're making now feels so current and urgent 396 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,680 and I feel like they're just an example of a group that have 397 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,120 like a language that they operate within. 398 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,480 Like you hear it and you're this is a dear hoof record. 399 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,520 The subject matter of the records and this record in 400 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,920 particular is just like so true to what we need from advance 401 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:32,680 like them in 2025. I think like the ability to take 402 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,400 on kind of like the current political environment. 403 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,200 I mean, this is a record is called Noble and God Like and 404 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:43,440 Noble and God Like in Ruin, which is a reference to a a 405 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:47,400 quote from Frankenstein. But I think in some ways, when I 406 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,400 like, listen to this record, it really sounds like a band sort 407 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:54,600 of staring down in a really like, deeply existential way, 408 00:31:54,600 --> 00:32:00,080 like what it means to make art at a time of societal collapse. 409 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:20,880 Something that maybe sometimes with Deerhoof like the like 410 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,480 deeply sort of like sharp and political nature of the 411 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:29,280 songwriting and the the, the subject matter can be a little 412 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:34,120 bit less apparent because of just like how exuberant and 413 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:38,560 joyful their music also is. But the thing that really struck 414 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,040 me with this record is that there's actually, I think like a 415 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,920 lot of it that feels really like sad and heavy also. 416 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,360 For her final pick, Ayana Contreras talks about a trumpet 417 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,960 player and producer from Chicago who's become known for bringing 418 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:15,400 gospel, neo soul and even house music into his jazz sound. 419 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:35,520 I'm so excited to see Marquis Hill, who I've seen a bazillion 420 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,200 times but never ever disappoints. 421 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,880 He's plays in Mackay Mcraven's band, he's played with Kurt 422 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,360 Ehling, Dee Dee, Bridgewater, so many other artists, just a 423 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:50,960 spectacular cat. His album this past year, which 424 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:55,000 is really written around other composers, is something unique 425 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,440 for him. Composer's collective Beyond the 426 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,440 Jukebox. Mark Keith Hill is an artist 427 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,040 that has been sort of on my radar since he was essentially a 428 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:10,560 student in the Chicago scene. And the Chicago scene is really 429 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,199 an interesting scene and he is a great example of it in a lot of 430 00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,719 ways. And he continuously brings in 431 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:21,880 gospel, soul, even house into his quote UN quote jazz music 432 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,600 and also works with folks who are in a lot of different 433 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,480 capacities. A couple of my favorite 434 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,520 projects, recent projects from him include 2019's Love Tape, 435 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,360 which is really in sort of an almost neo soul mode. 436 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,360 Composers Collective Beyond the Jukebox contained 6 of his own 437 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,720 compositions, as well as pieces by Chicago Zone, Ernest Dawkins 438 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:05,320 and Saba and Jeff Parker again of Tortoise and a million other 439 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:09,200 groups, and Matt Gold. His core band, the Black Tet, 440 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,680 includes Joel Ross as well as pianist Michael King, bassist 441 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,520 Junius Paul and drummer Corey Fonville. 442 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:21,400 All of these people to me in the modern jazz scene are, I guess 443 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,720 you would call them, Swiss Army knives in their ability to play 444 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:28,240 in a lot of different modes in very authentic ways. 445 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:33,840 So it's just it's fabulous music and to me it's a continuation of 446 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:36,560 the music that I grew up with and the music that I love to 447 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:42,880 hear. Peter Orloff's final pick is an 448 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,080 artist who makes his big year's debut in 2026. 449 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,640 The last artist that I picked is kind of a veteran artist and 450 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,160 that is Flying Lotus. Stephen Ellison, he started the 451 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:58,320 Brain Feeder label. Combines electronics and 452 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:02,360 improvisation, some done by jazz artists, some done by dance 453 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:06,000 artists. So I think he is kind of like a 454 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:10,400 great apex of some of the stuff that happens at Big Ears and and 455 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:12,240 I think in music communities worldwide. 456 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:31,200 I first met him when he was an intern at Stone's Throw Records. 457 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:35,280 At that time he was just, you know, somebody who was making 458 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,920 beats and was really, really into Mad Lib. 459 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:44,520 And but this, this organic way of blending the idea of 460 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:50,720 improvisation with what is happening musically, that is, 461 00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:53,080 that is all digital and sample formed. 462 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,240 And it's the most interesting idea happening in music right 463 00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:00,920 now, whether we're talking about an artist like Joy Guidry, 464 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:05,160 whether we're talking about Caroline Davis, or if we're 465 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:09,640 looking at more things like Makaya Mcraven and Ben Lamar 466 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:11,600 Gay. It's a little different kind of 467 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:12,960 jazz. And they've always been 468 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,960 grooving, rhythm oriented with a lot of their work, but 469 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:17,920 electronics keep seeping into it. 470 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:24,560 And when I look at a lineup like Big Ears and I see Flying Lotus, 471 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:31,160 I see that as being sort of at the height of this kind of to 472 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:37,960 music. To me, the thing that's really, 473 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:44,160 really great about Fly Low in 2026 is his emergence as a 474 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:48,680 legacy artist. So that's how far we've come 475 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:53,400 into music, and that is how big the tent for Big Ears is. 476 00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:00,160 Thanks to our esteemed panel of critics Steve Smith, Liz Pelley, 477 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:05,000 Ayana Contreras and Peter Orloff, you can hear all these 478 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,320 artists and many more at Big Ears 2026. 479 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,720 If you dig any of the music you heard in this episode, it's all 480 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:16,240 in the show notes. Big Ears Conversations about 481 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:18,480 Music is a production of Big Ears Festival. 482 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:21,920 I'm your host Sarah Gilletti. The show was produced by Matt 483 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:24,560 Marowitz. This episode was edited by Alex 484 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,440 Arif. Ashley Capps is the executive 485 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:29,640 and artistic director of Big Ears Festival. 486 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:34,920 Big Ears 2026 takes place March 26th through 29th in Knoxville, 487 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,240 TN. For more information and 488 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:40,640 festival updates, including detailed day by day schedules, 489 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:45,360 visit bigearsfestival.org. Thanks for listening and until 490 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,160 next time, keep those ears wide open.