Big Ears

Background

Painted Bride Art Center proudly presents Big Ears, an ambitious residency program that brings together New York-based drummer/composer John Hollenbeck with a dozen of Philadelphia’s most extraordinary jazz musicians. A call to artists, followed by a rigorous selection process, has yielded a group of local musicians that transects age, gender, ethnicity, and musical heritage. They are united by what Bride music curator Lenny Seidman describes as “big ears”, an ability to absorb, process, and take on the sounds of others around them.

After an initial meeting this summer, the participating musicians will develop and refine ideas for the residency throughout the fall. Their musings will be chronicled at bigearsphilly.com throughout the fall. A series of “meet the artists” events in January and February will allow audiences to personally engage with the musicians along the way.

At the beginning of January, the artists will come together for an intensive week in residency at the Bride, where, under Hollenbeck’s direction, they will begin to lay the foundation for new compositions. Hollenbeck will then work independently on compositions that reflect the varied musical ideas of each artist.

Big Ears includes performances from Hollenbeck’s own New York-based large ensemble on the evening of February the 28th. In the following week, Hollenbeck shares and refines his new compositions with the Philadelphia musicians. The Philly artists and Hollenbeck unveil their new work in public performances at the Bride on March 6th.