Big Ears: Conversations About Music

In this special edition of Big Ears: Conversations About Music, four deeply engaged listeners -Ayana Contreras, Piotr Orlov, Liz Pelly, and Steve Smith - survey the sounds that moved them in 2025—offering a preview of just a few of the highlights in store for Big Ears 2026. The conversation encompasses a fiercely prolific Downtown innovator (John Zorn), a wide embrace of the contemporary classical landscape (JACK Quartet, Hania Rani); fiercely independent rock bands (Deerhoof, YHWH Nailgun); folk music deeply rooted in history and identity (Haley Heynderickx, Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band) gospel music ripe for the dance floor (Annie & The Caldwells), two vastly different fusions of electronics and improvisation (Patricia Brennan & Flying Lotus) and two trumpeters from Baltimore & Chicago whose sound is deeply informed by local community and collaborators (Brandon Woody & Marquis Hill). This episode offers the kind of snapshot of outsider music scenes that only Big Ears can offer. Explore the common and contrasting musical DNA that defines our ethos. Give it a listen!Tracks Played in this Episode:Annie & the CaldwellsI Made ItDon’t You Hear Me CallingMarquis HillI Promise to ListenThe CoolBrandon WoodyReal Love, Pt. IWe, Ota BengaJohn Zorn (Masada / related works)Jachin (Masada Quartet – Live at Tonic 2001)Sacred Beasts (John Zorn & Dave Lombardo – Memories, Dreams & Reflections)JACK QuartetConjurations (from Necronomicon, Complete String Quartets)Spectral Waves (from Waves & Particles)Hania RaniChilling Bambino (from Ghosts)Piano Concerto “Non-Fiction”: IYHWH NailgunPenetratorCastrato Raw (Fullback)Flying LotusIngo SwannArkestryPatricia BrennanPalo de Oros (Suit of Coins)AntiliaDeerhoofKingtoeHaley HeynderickxSong for AliciaThis Morning I Am Born AgainRyan Davis & the Roadhouse BandNew Threats From the Soul (Studio)New Threats From the Soul (Live in Cambridge)

On this episode of Big Ears: Conversations About Music, journalist and author Marcus J. Moore sits down with the formidable LA-based saxophonist, composer and producer Josh Johnson, a ubiquitous presence in today’s jazz scene. Big Ears' Ashley Capps was so taken by Johnson’s many performances at Big Ears 2025 that he asked him to curate a series of seven concerts at our 2026 festival. He’ll join Ashley on a future podcast to talk about his curation. Meanwhile, here we shine a light on his warm exploratory sound, often enhanced by electronics. The conversation moves from his early influences, digs into his critically-acclaimed solo records Freedom Exercise and Unusual Object, and discusses his collaborations with Leon Bridges, Jeff Parker and producing Me'shell Ndegeocello's GRAMMY-winning The Omnichord Real Book.  Lastly, we hear about the origins of his collaboration with Carlos Niño and Nate Mercereau on Openness Trio, his experience at Big Ears 2025 and how his curiosity has evolved over the years.

Wild Up makes their Big Ears debut as one of the most innovative forces in contemporary music. Led by artistic director Christopher Rountree, the Los Angeles-based ensemble has spent more than a decade reshaping the possibilities of classical performance—merging composed and improvised music, conceptual art, minimalism, and audience-focused experimentation. Violinist-vocalist Darian Donovan Thomas and the group’s many composer-performers help shape projects that feel communal and alive.Here joined by veteran critic Peter Margasak, Rountree and Thomas focus on their history as an ensemble and aligning their creative energies towards two groundbreaking American artists: Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell. Their Eastman projects including "Femenine," developed over more than a decade—channel the music’s intensity, freedom, and disruption, creating performances that feel both fiercely present and deeply vulnerable. Their Arthur Russell work, the 90-minute dance-floor experience, “24→24 Music,” celebrates Russell’s emotional clarity and experimental spirit. Expect aural catharsis, vivid imagination, and boundary-breaking music-making from one of today’s most electrifying new music ensembles.

In this episode, journalist and author Liz Pelly (Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist) brings together two singular songwriters — Hayden Pedigo and S.G. Goodman — for a candid exploration of songwriting, place, and authenticity. From the wide-open stillness of West Texas, where Pegido draws inspiration from Sacred Harp singing and the power of silence, to Kentucky’s storytelling traditions that infuse S.G.’s gritty, heartfelt lyrics, these two artists trace the threads between "country" and modern experimentation. Along the way, they talk about how humor, vulnerability, and real life people shape their art — and what it means to stay true to yourself in a noisy, judgmental world.

Journalist Piotr Orlov (of Dada Strain) speaks with Brian Carpenter of Ghost Train Orchestra and collaborator Joan Wasser (a.k.a. Joan As Police Woman) about interpreting the works of Moondog—the blind composer, poet, and New York street icon whose rhythmic inventions, unforgettable melodies, and striking persona (not to mention an iconic Viking costume) made him an underground legend of 20th-century music. Hear this exciting project at Big Ears 2026.