Each year at the end of March, Knoxville, Tennessee is taken over by hundreds of musicians from every corner of the world for the Big Ears Festival, widely considered the most diverse music festival in the country, and most likely the world. This live broadcast from Overlook Mountain will recap a fraction of the music host Rob Saffer experienced when he attended the 11th Big Ears Festival: showcasing the festival’s breadth from just-intonated rock and spikey avant garde jazz to live film accompaniment and ambient Japanese vocal music. Turning 80, Henry Threadgill was a featured composer. Notable this year was the continuing, growing influence of women composers and players, as well as more ensemble playing and less soloing. In many cases the lines between genres was blurred; jazz ensembles employing strings and more through-composed music, and classical musicians experimenting with improvisation. As in the past, Big Ears is a festival where audience and musicians mix freely and check out performances together; everyone has big ears!

Playlist:
Vitus Labrusca (“Overlooked” theme) - Ben LaMar Gay
Just Charles & Cello in the Romantic Chord (part 2) - Charles Curtis (LaMonte Young)
Desiderata - Mary Halvorson Amaryllis
Little Pocket Size Demons - Henry Threadgill Very Very Circus
Heavy Focus - Adrienne Lenker
Closer to the Ground - Fred Frith
Saint Medard - Trevor Dunn’s Trio Convulsant
Sauntering with Mr. Brown - Tomeka Reid Quartet
Above All - Dragonchild
Critical Paranoia - Titan to Tachyons
Magic - Min Xiao Fen (with River Guerguerian)
Theme (Moondog) - Ghost Train Orchestra/Kronos Quartet
A Tres Voces - David Virelles
Aura - Hatis Noit
Insertion Four - Myra Melford Fire & Water Quintet
Law of Movement - Horse Lords
Swelter - Tomas Fujiwara Trio
Lawn Mower - Steven Bernstein’s Sex Mob
Shaken, Stirred Silence - Ches Smith’s Laugh Ash
Chordal Drift - Roger Eno

After the local news at noon, “Overlooked” is a show focusing on overlooked and under-heard jazz, improvisational, and other fringe music, from early roots to contemporary experiments, a mix of familiar to rare, classic to weird. Live from the shadow of Overlook Mountain in Ulster County.

Host Rob Saffer is the former Executive Director and Producer of the Creative Music Foundation. While living in Brooklyn for 25 years, he served on advisory boards for Celebrate Brooklyn and Symphony Space. He also curated the Brooklyn Museum’s summer jazz series and helped found The Mingus Big Band.

Overlooked Playlist Archive