Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Charles Lloyd’s Sangam featuring Zakir Hussain and Eric Harland will perform at this year’s Big Ears Festival.
(Photo: Courtesy Big Ears Festival)Knoxville, Tennessee’s Big Ears Festival has announced the daily schedule for its 12th edition, which runs March 27–30 in downtown Knoxville. Featuring nearly 200 concerts spread across 14 venues, plus films, conversations, exhibitions, workshops and interactive experiences, the genre-defying festival remains an iconic gathering of many of the world’s most influential and visionary musical creators.
Alongside the day-by-day schedule announcement, Big Ears has announced the additions of the improvising electronica outfit Darkside, Charles Lloyd’s Sangam (featuring Zakir Hussain and Eric Harland) and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, who will perform a special program that includes Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined featuring pianist Lara Downes along with Tyshawn Sorey’s 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning work Adagio (for Wadada Leo Smith) with special guests to be announced.
In addition, a limited allotment of single-day passes — both general admission and premier — are available alongside remaining four-day weekend passes.
To view the full festival lineup by day and to purchase passes, CLICK HERE. DB
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
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