The Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, is coming up next spring. I was a latecomer to the festival, attending for the first time in 2019. Having been once, though, I vowed to myself that I will try to attend every year.
This is the second in an occasional series of posts on artists I am looking forward to hearing.
Bing & Ruth – “Nearer” is one of two solo piano works from the 2022 release Species. It’s an intimate, four-minute work that speaks with a profundity that only solo piano can, with each chord making a statement, while its resonating aftermath offers a moment of contemplation about what that statement might mean.
Catherine Lamb – One of the thrills of new music is challenging yourself. Enter Catherine Lamb and her microtonal drone works. They’re the kind of pieces that could send an unsuspecting audience member to the exit, muttering that what they’re hearing isn’t “music” because it doesn’t have a clear beat or a discernible melody. They’re also the kind of pieces that reward an open mind and patient listening, as layers upon layers of elongated notes shift subtly in timbre and intonation as they move toward, away from and against each other, creating a complex web of harmony and dissonance.