{"id":10337,"date":"2025-04-06T09:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T14:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=10337"},"modified":"2025-04-06T09:03:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T14:03:18","slug":"edges-big-ears-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/edges-big-ears-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical Tourism on the Edges – Big Ears 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My sister and I made the scenic journey through the picturesque farmlands of central Pennsylvania, through the bucolic splendor of Virginia\u2019s Shenandoah Valley, on a nine-hour road trip to Knoxville, TN, for the annual Big Ears Festival. The fest has become America\u2019s – and perhaps the world\u2019s – most diverse, eclectic, and exploratory festival comprising music, poetry, literature, film, and visual art. Big Ears is an overwhelming sensory and wildly exploratory experience over four days, held between March 27-30, 2025, in the city\u2019s vibrant downtown. Consider nearly two hundred concerts, with many artists playing multiple times, not to mention the poetry, literature, panels, films, and interviews scattered throughout mornings and afternoons in over twenty venues, all due to the comprehensive work of founder Ashley Capps, his staff, and hundreds of volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendees are highly knowledgeable, ardent music fans who consistently warmly respond to the artists. One could choose depth \u2013 staying for entire sets, or breadth \u2013 combining entire sets and snippets. We did the latter, with days beginning at ten AM for talks\/interviews and extending to midnight or later for music. Hardly any artist plays in only one performance, one band, or one configuration. The emphasis is clearly on boundary-pushing artists, mostly in jazz, but one can hear any genre at this festival, from classical to folk, bluegrass, rock, blues, electronica, and the undefinable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should be NEA Jazz Master Wadada Leo Smith<\/a>, the great trumpeter and composer, was associated with four publicized musical performances yet ended up playing in at least seven, including a couple as a sideman, most of which we attended. He seemed ubiquitous and exuded remarkable energy, especially given that he is an octogenarian. Collaboration is clearly a major theme, with multiple one-off performances not seen elsewhere. Heck, so many luminaries are in town! Here are the standout performances that we saw each day (while at the same time yearning for the ones we missed).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-We were fortunate to get into the very small back room at Boyd\u2019s Jig and Reel (a space with a capacity for only a hundred ) for the Alternative Guitar Summit. Hosted by guitarist Joel Harrison, the performance found a medium-sized ensemble, including guitarists Brandon Seabrook<\/a> and Nate Mercereau<\/a>, keyboardist Micah Thomas, and drummer Chad Taylor among four others performing Miles Davis\u2019s \u201cIn a Silent Way.\u201d <\/em>The interplay and improvisations were exemplary, and for a piece that is at times languorous, the energy from this group was most vibrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At the Tennessee Theater was scheduled a performance of Charles Lloyd\u2019s Sangam with the late Zakir Hussain and Eric Harland. Due to Hussain\u2019s passing, the show instead became a spiritual celebration of the tablaist\u2019s life with Lloyd and Harland, joined by Bill Frisell, Ganayva (who sang Hussain\u2019s pieces), and Harish Raghavan. The eighty-seven-year-old Lloyd played tenor, flute, tarogato, and piano. The performance was a grand elegy, beautiful but lacking the energy of Lloyd\u2019s usual performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At the Mill and Mine, Tortoise, who hadn\u2019t performed together since 2016, dazzled the audience while switching through multiple instruments. On one song, there were two keyboards. On another, two guitarists. On another, two drummers. And, on another, three vibraphonists, with two members sharing one. Hopefully, that gives you some idea, but their excellent rhythms remained consistent regardless of configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-The new BEATrio of Bela Fleck, Antonio Sanchez, and Edmar Casta\u00f1eda – banjo, drums, and harp, respectively – elicited one of the warmest, most enthusiastic audience responses I\u2019ve ever heard. Sanchez proved without a doubt that he is one of the best in jazz, and Caste\u00f1ada somehow played the bass parts with his left hand on the harp while providing the melody with his right, all while totally connected with Fleck, whose playing is always top-tier. Somehow, this unusual configuration works beautifully. Their album is due on May 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-This was the first day of the next three, where we attended morning talks. In this case, Nate Chinen interviewed Ambrose Akinmusire<\/a>, who offered so much insight into his upbringing, his pressure to perform, and his persistence in mastering his instrument, all spoken so humbly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At the Bijou Theater, Immanuel Wilkins performed <\/em>the music from Blues Blood<\/em> (Blue Note, 2024), in a performance that included cooking on stage and the elements of the album, such as electronics, and the three vocalists Ganavya, of South Indian descent, Alyssa (AKA June) McDoom, a Black folk artist, and Ghanian vocalist Yaw Agyemen. The core instrumental unit was Wilkins\u2019 quartet featuring pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Rick Rosato, and drummer Kweku Sumbry (also of Ghanaian descent). Like the album, the highly memorable performance married nostalgia with concepts of ancestry, all with a keen awareness of Black struggles and the need for peaceful reflection. Wilkins is a visionary and an incredible soloist. On one of his long solos, he transported me to Coltrane territory with his searching and spiraling statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At the Mill and Mine, we segued from the meditative to the joyful \u2018noise\u2019 of the Nels Cline Singers. Keyboardist Brian Marsella<\/a> was unable to be there as his wife was expecting birth. Nonetheless, we witnessed wild guitar playing of the kind that only Cline can bring, the endless creativity of Cyro Baptista, who used every object in his arsenal, including mouth organs and instruments, the equally wild saxophonist Skerik<\/a>, the thunder and fury of bassist Trevor Dunn<\/a>, and drummer Scott Amendola. They did a quieter song in tribute to the late Susan Alcorn<\/a>, but for the most part, they had the joint rocking. Darn it, though, not enough time to catch the Jeff Parker ETAIVtet<\/a>. Conflicts like that are the nature of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-The Tennessee Theater hosted Meshell Ndegeocello, who performed mostly readings from James Baldwin\u2019s novel Another Country<\/em> (Dial, 1962) rather than her Grammy-winning No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin<\/em> (Blue Note, 2024). <\/em>The performance was very moving due to her reading of Baldwin and the extraordinary vocals from Justin Hicks and other band members in a relatively stripped-down unit from her usual ensemble. (Josh Johnson was playing with Parker, for example, at the same time.) The funky grooves and neo-soul that we associate with Ndegeocello were ever-present, drawing immense applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-Our first of several performances by Wadada Leo Smith took place in the gorgeous, cathedral-like St. John\u2019s, a beautiful room for the resonant, reverberating sound of Smith\u2019s trumpet accompanied by the RedKoral Quartet\u2019s strings. The audience remained utterly quiet and focused on the tension and release, the buoyant crescendos, and the drama of the performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

– At the Tennessee Theater, Bill Frisel<\/a>l held a \u2018family gathering\u2019 which he titled \u201cIn My Dreams.\u201d Surrounding him were artists that Bill has played with frequently through the years, a large ensemble producing colorful harmonics and gorgeous textures. They are violinist Jenny Scheinman, violist Eyvind Kang, cellist Hank Roberts, bassist Tony Scherr, drummer Rudy Royston, and saxophonist\/clarinetist Greg Tardy. The aptly titled group delivered a sublime, evocative program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-As strong as each of the prior acts were, the day\u2019s highlight was Ambrose Akinmusire performing the music from honey from a winter stone<\/em> (Nonesuch, 2025) at The Bijou Theater.  The trumpeter was his highly lyrical and inventive self, deferring often to the incomparable spontaneous rapper\/spoken word artist Kokayi and the Mivos String Quartet as well as pianist Sam Harris, Chiquitamagic on synthesizer (with amazing synth-bass tones), and mainstay Justin Brown on drums. Akinmusire\u2019s imagination and vision move beyond boundaries and structures. He seems almost ego-less. Some of his pieces have very little trumpet, almost like the basketball point guard who savors assists more than points. Yet, every facet of searing trumpet playing and compositional craft was in play. Chamber music yields to hip-hop, which surrenders to jazz (Harris is terrific) and back and forth through several sections of tension and release that somehow slithered into the ether, leaving us wanting even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

– We began the day in the Blue Note Lounge as Don Was interviewed Bill Frisell and Nels Cline. Again, the humility from both was striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At Regas Square, the lines for the Kris Davis<\/a> Trio far exceeded the room\u2019s capacity of two-hundred and fifty by twice that number or more. Eventually, we were able to take in the trio featuring Robert Hurst on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums as they played selections from the excellent Run the Gauntlet<\/em> (Pyroclastic, 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At the Bijou Theater, we witnessed a \u201cWadada doubleheader.\u201d First was his Revolutionary Fire-Love ensemble playing the \u201cGardens of Peace,\u00a0 in Five Parts,\u201d a moving new program that was mostly serene and reflective with dramatic dynamics. It was a configuration that featured Andrew Cyrille, Vijay Iyer<\/a> (who played Rhodes mostly), Cuban altoist Yosvany Terry, pianist Erika Dohi, cellist Ashley Walters, and electronics wizard Seiyoung Jang. The combination of strings, double keyboards, electronics, and Wadada\u2019s stirring trumpet was engaging throughout. Smith and Iyer then delivered a stunning, emotionally resonant performance of their latest recording, Defiant Life<\/em> (ECM, 2025), <\/em>a reflective masterpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-At the Civic Auditorium, we caught Joe Lovano\u2019s Paramount Quartet featuring guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Asante Santi Debriano, and drummer Will Calhoun in a spirited, highly rhythmic, and often bluesy performance that contrasted with Lovano\u2019s recent ECM output. Lovano was as spry and energetic as I\u2019ve ever seen him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-We returned to the Bijou for Sylvie Courvoisier<\/a>\u2019s Chimaera ensemble featuring Wadada (there he is again), trumpeter Nate Wooley, drummer Kenny Wollesen, bassist Drew Gress and electronics ace Christian Fennesz. Courvoisier often reached into her piano to pluck strings, while Smith and Wooley showed a striking contrast in styles. Wolleson delivered an incredibly potent drum solo, and, overall, it was another study in colorful harmonies and unpredictable dynamic shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-Our next full performance was a clear festival highlight as violinist Jenny Scheinman convened a super reunion of the group that played on All Species Parade<\/em> (Royal Potato Family, 2024), <\/em>an album devoted to nature and her native northern California. We were privileged to see guitarists Julian Lage, Bill Frisell, and Nels Cline together on stage alongside pianist Carmen Staff, drummer Kenny Wollesen, and bassist Tony Scherr. The program nicely balanced melodic, lilting strains with energetic solos from Scheinman, Staff, Lage (on acoustic), and the redoubtable Cline on electric. A dancer added to the intrigue. The audience was in awe throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-Saturday was also a snippet day with the likes of the Tyshawn Sorey Trio, SML(which impressed the audience but not this writer, who was in the photo pit and constantly distracted by all the pedal fiddling), Sun Ra Arkestra (complete with Knoel Scott\u2019s cartwheels, potent solos, and an emphasis on the blues), and the ever charismatic Taj Mahal.  Thankfully, we also caught the irresistible Free Form Funky Freqs, with the iconic Vernon Reid, Jamaladeen Tacuma, and drummer Grant Calvin Weston; a blast of firepower funk to end the day.  Our initial plans to see esperanza spalding and Waxahatchee just didn\u2019t materialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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-The day began with two consecutive talks – Nate Chinen hosted a panel with Nels Cline, Chad Taylor, and Melvin Gibbs to discuss the impact of political and social change in 1965 – \u201cSound, Fire, and Revolutions.\u201d Then Ashley Kahn asked Wadada and Vijay Iyer to delve into the thinking behind Defiant Life. <\/em>Both were informative and provocative. Don\u2019t miss these kinds of talks if you go next year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

–<\/em>Drummer <\/em>Dan Weiss\u2019s Even Odds Trio with monster altoist Miguel Zenon and pianist Matt Mitchell exemplified the art of improvisation at The Standard to kick off the musical day. Having never seen Zenon perform, that was a special treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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-Also at The Standard, we attended a moving tribute to the late Susan Alcorn, a mix of both the elegiac and the celebratory was delivered impeccably by the ensemble co-led by drummer Ryan Sawyer and guitarist Mary Halvorson<\/a>. Joining them were vocalist Bonnie Lander, violinist Yuniya Edi Kwon, and cellist Lester St. Louis, with much of the program drawn from the steel guitarist\u2019s recording Pedernal<\/em> (Relative Pitch, 2020).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/em>At the Mill and Mine, we caught most of the performance by Wadada Leo Smith\u2019s Radio Light & Orange Wave Electric, a huge ensemble with three full drum kits on stage. The program began acoustically with Andrew Cyrille and Bob Moses on drums, Min Xiao-Fen on pipa and vocals, and a bass clarinetist. The electric portion featured electronics master Hardedge, drummer Greg Saunier (from Deerhoof), bassist Melvin Gibbs, and guitarists Brandon Ross and Lamar Smith. While the acoustic program married Chinese traditional strains with jazz, the electric ensemble was every bit like Miles Davis\u2019s best electric groups, with Wadada blowing his lines, unadorned in short, crisp phrases that contrasted with his usual elongated, resounding sound heard in most other configurations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-At The Point – another church – we witnessed yet another performance that straddled the \u2018in\u2019 and \u2018out\u2019 with Nels Cline\u2019s Consentrik Quartet<\/a>. Earlier during the fest, Don Was pointed out that their album was #1 on Billboard\u2019s <\/em>Jazz chart, rather remarkable considering the avant-garde backgrounds of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock<\/a>, drummer Tom Rainey, and bassist Chris Lightcap. While the performance was highly vibrant, as Cline always is, there were gorgeous reflective pieces, too, commensurate with the album. The striking aspect was the unison passages between Cline and Laubrock that suddenly diverged into point-counterpoint. The quartet was locked in, to say the least, despite Cline\u2019s modest statement: “We haven\u2019t played in a while, so forgive us as we are thrashing our way through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Mary Hynes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

-Our final full performance took place again at The Standard with the Steve Lehman<\/a> Trio + Mark Turner saluting Lehman\u2019s former mentor-bandleader Anthony Braxton, again from their recent album The Music of Anthony Braxton<\/em> (Pi, 2025). Both saxophonists killed it on their solos and impressed even more with their unison sequences of this challenging material. The bass-drum tandem of Matt Brewer and Damion Reid stoked the fire in the engine room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Sunday also had some snippets, including a powerful performance from iconoclast Lonnie Holley and uplift from the gospel quartet Dedicated Men of Zion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As great as this musical experience was, there were at least as many acts missed as those witnessed. We wish we could repeat the four days to craft a completely different schedule, knowing it would be equally fabulous. In fact, this would be true for multiple iterations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information about the Big Ears Festival can be found on its website. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My sister and I made the scenic journey through the picturesque farmlands of central Pennsylvania, through the bucolic splendor of Virginia\u2019s Shenandoah Valley, on a nine-hour road trip to Knoxville, TN, for the annual Big Ears Festival. The fest has become America\u2019s – and perhaps the world\u2019s – most diverse, eclectic, and exploratory festival comprising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":10391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":158,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/big-ears-2025-scaled-e1742321551957-1-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-2GJ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11552,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-mark-turner-autobiography\/","url_meta":{"origin":10337,"position":0},"title":"Review: Mark Turner’s ‘Reflections on: The Auto-Biography of an Ex-Colored Man’","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"November 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A more cerebral artist, saxophonist and composer Mark Turner, never makes it too easy for the listener. However, he may have reached his zenith with Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Step Arts, 2025), a work that combines verbal narrative and music. As its title suggests, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Album Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/unnamed-2.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/unnamed-2.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/unnamed-2.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/unnamed-2.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11344,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/henry-threadgill-listen-ship-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":10337,"position":1},"title":"Review: Henry Threadgill\u2019s \u2018Listen Ship\u2019","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"September 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Audiences who saw artist-in-residence Henry Threadgill at Big Ears in 2024 were enthralled with five performances, each featuring a different configuration, and left eagerly anticipating the artist's next move. Listen Ship (Pi, 2025), like many of Threadgill\u2019s recent works, finds the eighty-one-year-old NEA Jazz Master conducting rather than participating instrumentally.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Album Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1714.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1714.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1714.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1714.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4562,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/oliver-lake-justice\/","url_meta":{"origin":10337,"position":2},"title":"Oliver Lake: Making Justice And Love A Reality","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"June 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Oliver Lake has been at the forefront of creative saxophone music for nearly a half-century. It is partly because of this history that on June 26, 2022, Arts for Art\u2019s always compelling Vision Festival will celebrate Lake\u2019s career with an evening dedicated to his work. While Lake will participate in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-Oliver-Session-Poetry.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-Oliver-Session-Poetry.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-Oliver-Session-Poetry.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-Oliver-Session-Poetry.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7910,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/brandon-ross-phantom-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":10337,"position":3},"title":"Traveling the Sound World : A Conversation with Brandon Ross on Phantom Station","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"March 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Borrowed from the ancient Greek \u03c6\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03ac\u03b6\u03c9, the idea of a phantom evokes a shadowy force that someone cannot precisely locate. The term suggests something seen or heard but which is not actually present. The power of a phantom comes from the perceiver's inability to fully understand their surroundings. In this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interviews"","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Brandon-Ross9-1-780x5251-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Brandon-Ross9-1-780x5251-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Brandon-Ross9-1-780x5251-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Brandon-Ross9-1-780x5251-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11220,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-fieldwork-thereupon\/","url_meta":{"origin":10337,"position":4},"title":"Review: Fieldwork’s ‘Thereupon’","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"September 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Fresh off their appearance at the Big Ears Festival, \u00a0which this author unfortunately missed, the trio Fieldwork return with their first album in almost two decades, Thereupon (Pi, 2025). You will likely not find three more decorated individuals in any trio than those in this band: Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Album Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9-19-25-Fieldwork-Credit_LynneHarty-780x525-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9-19-25-Fieldwork-Credit_LynneHarty-780x525-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9-19-25-Fieldwork-Credit_LynneHarty-780x525-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9-19-25-Fieldwork-Credit_LynneHarty-780x525-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10337"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10395,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions\/10395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}