Big Ears - Day Two

Not much time to post - barely time to eat, sleep or bathe.  But here's a quick recap of what we saw yesterday during the second day of Big Ears:

LONNIE HOLLEY

Atlanta's own Lonnie Holley, backed by the DC band The Messthetics (former members of the punk band Fugazi) at The Mill & Mine.

HAROLD BUDD

All the way across the festival area, over a mile from The Mill & Mine, we saw the legendary ambient composer Harold Budd (one of the main reasons we came this year), directing with his back to the camera on the left, and the harpist Mary Lattimore, in an Episcopal Church.

THE COMET IS COMING

All the way back to The Mill & Mine again, this time for The Comet Is Coming, one of the two bands fronted by the saxophone colossus Shabaka Hutchings performing this weekend.

ABSÎNT

All-star lineup assembled at The Standard (not far from The Mill & Mine) by Aurora Nealand, who for some reason played the whole set sitting on the floor and not visible in the photo above, and including, from left to right, guitarist David Torn, alto saxophonist Tim Berne, the top of Aurora's head in front of the posts, and guitarist Bill Frisell. Abstract-expressionist free jazz.  Afterwords, we finally ate some barbeque, our first meal since breakfast. 

PETER GREGSON

As a change of pace and to get to sit down for a while, we split the distance between The Standard/The Mill & Mine and the Episcopal Church for Bach's Cello Suites, performed by a chamber ensemble fronted by British cellist Peter Gregson.

ROOMFUL OF TEETH

Still the same seated venue as before (the fabulous Tennessee Theater; think The Fox in the Smokies) with the new-music vocal chorale Roomful of Teeth, performing Triptych, composed by Bryce Dessner of The National, featuring the writings of Patti Smith and Essex Hemphill and the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe. 

JLIN

Back up to The Mill & Mine again.  Despite the distance, we only stayed a short while for EDM producer Jlin, because we realized that the simultaneous set by Kara-Lis Coverdale over at The Standard was more to our liking.

KARA-LIS COVERDALE

Quieter and more melodic than before, the electronic music of Kara-Lin Coverdale was more to our liking than the dance music of Jlin.

FIRE! 

Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson is a powerhouse on the baritone, and we ended our long day at The Standard with an exhilarating set by his band Fire!.  The set was as loud and raucous as Harold Budd's earlier set was quiet and meditative.

According to the pedometer in our iPhone, we walked 4.7 miles yesterday.  It's going to be a long (and far) weekend!