Results for "Knoxville"

Big Ears Festival 2022

by Mark Sullivan
April 5, 2022

Big Ears Festival Knoxville, TN March 24-27, 2022 The Big Ears Festival found ways to continue virtually during the pandemic—most notably by sponsoring the Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival—but there is no substitute for the big glorious eclectic event that is the in-person festival. Past festivals have usually opened with a big kickoff ...

Don Wood

Born: November 4, 1963

The Bad Plus at Bijou Theatre

by Mark Sullivan
December 18, 2020

The Bad Plus Bijou Theatre From Big Ears, Part 2 Knoxville, TN December 4, 2020 The Bad Plus kicked off the virtual concert series “Sites & Sounds from Big Ears" with their October 9th concert streamed from Knoxville's historic Bijou Theatre. This second installment began with a point of view ...

Brian Varner

Bryan's love of music started when he joined band in his teens. He earned a music scholarship to UT and studied classical trumpet. He found his singing voice in his 30s. As a vocalist he has a background in choral music and musical theater, but his main interest is jazz from the great American songbook. He has been a featured guest singer at different venues around Knoxville including the Red Piano Lounge and has earned air time on Kelle Jolly’s jazz jam show on WUOT public radio. Brian lost his eyesight as an adult which makes his story as a vocalist and a musician even more remarkable.

Jane George

Grace Moore recipient at University of Tennessee School of Music. Has performed as vocalist, actress, and worked in stand-up comedy. Jane George recently moved to Knoxville from Los Angeles where she performs with SWINGBOOTY and is involved with numerous personal recording projects.

Connor Lafollette

Connor Lafollette is a drummer and keyboard player based out of Knoxville, TN. He is junior at University of Tennessee School of Music. He has played in numerous jazz bands including The Terrapin Quartet, the Jake Bird Trio, and Swingbooty.

Tom C. Smith

Born: December, 1962

Tom Smith learned to play bass and guitar in the parks and streets of Brooklyn.  He has been in over two dozen bands and published five self-produced CDs of original material since 2015 under the artist name Merry Jaynz and Lunchtime Tom.  Smith has been Swingbooty’s upright bass player since 2020. Inspired by greats like Berry Oakley and Phil Lesh, Tom’s bass lines blend a solid groove with melodic finesse, weaving harmonically rich lines that add depth and energy to the music.

Kenneth Brown

Knoxville, TN based drummer, educator, composer, he wrote six of the tunes here, and band leader Kenneth Brown, son of jazz visionary pianist Donald Brown is set to release his debut CD 3 Down on Space Time Records. Born into a musical family Kenneth's household was filled with music led by his father. and later his brother Keith also a pianist. It was also during this same time period that Kenneth starting to gain exposure to all kinds of music which has always paid big dividends! By the age of four Kenneth was already playing drums and within a couple more years was studying piano "to gain a harmonic foundation in the music"

Christian Lange

Born in Santiago, Chile, and raised in Miami, Christian Lange's musical journey began with Rock and Latin rhythms before he discovered the captivating world of Hot Jazz in 2010 during a music camp-out along the French Broad River in Tennessee. This pivotal moment inspired the creation of Swingbooty, a band deeply influenced by the sounds of Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, and the Swing music of the 1930s.

Lange's musical influences are as diverse as his background: “I’ve explored multiple genres, including a very unique Bluegrass-Punk project called Blackgrass. But once I caught the Gypsy Jazz bug, it became my musical home.”

Big Ears Festival 2019

by Mark Sullivan
April 3, 2019

Big Ears Festival Knoxville, TN March 21-24, 2019 The major focus of this year's Big Ears Festival was a celebration of ECM Records' 50th anniversary, which included a number of live performances (representing both the main label and the classical music imprint ECM New Series) as well as a panel ...