This is a quick rundown of the shows I saw at the 2022 Big Ears Festival this past weekend. A note about the photos here: I am not a photographer. For the most part, photographing (and videoing) were discouraged if not outright prohibited, so I just snapped a shot on my phone of each act I saw.
Next up was Trefoil, the powerhouse trio of Kris Davis on piano, Gerald Cleaver on drums, and Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet. Davis is an amazing improvisor. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch the first half-hour of this show, but they announced at the beginning that the whole set was being recorded, so I am looking forward to that. (They also asked that everyone turn their phones off at the beginning for that reason, so that's why I was unable to grab a shot.)
I began Friday by going to the only speaking event I attended, which was Kris Davis and Julian Lage being interviewed by Nate Chinen. Very interesting discussion about the hypothetical tension between tradition and innovation.
Friday's music started off with the Craig Taborn Trio, with Tomeka Reid on cello and Ches Smith on drums and percussion. Another beautiful set that became quite trancy as it went on. It was a blast starting off a day with a show that any other time would have been the highlight of an evening.
From there I went to Harriet Tubman, and while I enjoy their dark brooding sensibility, for some reason this didn't do it for me. It was too gaddam loud, way past the point where they needed volume to make a statement, where it was more a stance of disdain for the audience. I used to dig Melvin Gibbs with Ronald Shannon Jackson, but the bass this time was so loud it was painful (even with my old-guy earplugs). I split.
That afternoon there were two sets from Kris Davis's Diatom Ribbons, billed as a trio with Terri Lynne Carrington on drums and Val Jeanty on samples and laptop, and joined by bassist Trevor Dunn. Both sets were heavily composition-based with little improvisation. The first set was a bit tentative, but I appreciated Davis's use of synth and electric piano in addition to her regular piano--I felt she was pushing herself and the band to play outside their comfort zones. The second set was more cohesive, helped with a jumpstart by the inclusion of Marc Ribot on two tunes, Ronald Shannon Jackson's "Alice in the Congo" (what a thrill!) and "Golgi Complex" (from the Diatom Ribbons album).
That's it for the first two days! More to come...
