Big Ears Festival Report, Days 3 and 4

 

Saturday started off with a bang with Myra Melord's Snowy Egret. With the authority of the master she is, she guided the band through a myriad of fascinating compositions, all the while punctuating the music with her brilliant playing. I enjoyed it most when she took it out, and there were occasionally Cecil Taylor-level flights of energy, but they didn't last as long as I would have liked. She's clearly capable of sustaining that comparison. 

Most of the rest of the festival was taken up for me with the various programs associated with John Zorn. "Songs for Petra" featured vocalist Petra Haden (Charlie Haden's daughter) with a quartet featuring Julian Lage on guitar, performing torch songs composed by Zorn and Jesse Harris. Her voice was appealing enough, and Lage's guitar solo always had interest, but after a while it felt like... I don't know, a background group on Prairie Home Companion? Not to my taste. 

The next show was more up my alley: Simulacrum, featuring the powerhouse trio of John Medeski on organ, Matt Hollenberg on guitar, and the amazing Kenny Grohowski on drums. Medeski has never played better than when he's performing Zorn's compositions in this context, and I gotta say: he sounded great. Grohowski was a revelation: easily one of the most dynamic, inventive drummers I've ever seen. He sailed through the hairpin twists and turns of the avant-death metal/organ trio jazz/Carl Stalling-style zaniness with expertise, inventiveness, and flair. The whole band was extremely powerful and unrelentingly tight. A true highlight of the festival.

Next up was a completely improvised duo with master drummer Andrew Cyrille and guitarist Marc Ribot. I respect, but am not enthralled with, Ribot's playing, and here I felt he didn't give Cyrille much space or direction to respond. He just started in on a very rhythmic drone thing that overly dictated the direction, and it felt like he was just going through the motions. Only when Cyrille was able to open the sound up rhythmically did the music take on interest. Cyrille, of course, played excellently throughout.

I was prepared for the onslaught of Simulacrum, but I was totally unprepared for how viscerally exciting Annette Peacock was. (No pictures were allowed, so I just got a shot of her setup.) She came out almost wraith-like, appearing as if from the mist, and played in almost total darkness, just her voice and piano, and occasionally pre-programmed drum machine beats. I was not familiar with any of the songs she sang, but they were mostly in the vain of her earlier compositions as featured on the Marilyn Crispell trio record of her compositions... sparse, evocative, contemplative, utterly and deeply beautiful and moving. And her voice was, amazingly, stronger and purer than I've ever heard it. I was utterly flabbergasted by the time she finished, as she floated away in the dark to a sample of her voice crooning into nothingness.... really amazing.

So that was Saturday! Sunday was all Zorn all day, beginning with pianist Stephen Gosling playing Zorn compositions for solo piano. Gosling deftly executed these pieces (which as you'd expect were all over the place from manic abstract darting lines to Romantic etudes) with flair and artfulness. 

Then, just in case Simulacrum wasn't intense enough, they upped the ante by adding keyboardist Brian Marsella to the trio to become Chaos Magick. The material was very similar to the trio book, and the music was extremely exciting, gut-wrenching, and mind-blowing, often reaching Mahavishnu-like levels of intensity (with Marsella taking the Jan Hammer role with his intense, over-the-top electric piano work). I've never seen anything like it (except for Simulacrum the day before, heh heh). One of the highlights was Zorn himself coming out on stage to do a bit of conducting and hand magic, as if the sheet music weren't enough.

Next up: Heaven and Earth Magick, with Gosling returning on piano, joined by bassist Jorge Roeder, drummer Ches Smith, and vibraphonist Sae Hashimoto. More remarkable Zorn compositions played by brilliant musicians. It was great to see Smith in so many different contexts over the course of the festival. 

The evening, and the whole festival, built up to an amazing climax, first with the New Masada Quartet: Roeder on bass, Julian Lage on guitar, Kenny Wollesen on drums (it really was drummer heaven!) and Zorn himself on alto sax. Hyperactive Ornette territory with fantastic playing from everyone. Zorn's alto work continues to pack a powerful punch. It was clearly his show; he dictated everything that happened, but at least he did so tastefully, with exciting material and brilliant musicians to execute his every whim.

Finally, a big blowout from New Electric Masada: all of Chaos Magick, all of New Masada, plus Bill Frisell on guitar. With both Wollesen and Smith on hands for drums, Grohowski was relegated to percussion. I enjoyed his work regardless but would have welcomed the opportunity to see him on drums one last amazing time...oh well. Smith and Wollsesen did not disappoint. The band was tight, Zorn conducted and controlled it all, and the music was energetic and appropriately climactic. An outstanding way to close out a truly amazing four days of innovative and life-affirming music.