1965: Sound, Fire & Revolution

A vital conversation, from Big Ears to your podcast feed

What do we mean by “revolution,” as it relates to improvised music?

It’s obviously a question worth considering today, no less than it was 60 years ago. When I was thinking about what talks and panels held the most promise for the 2025 Big Ears Festival, this was the idea that came first and most readily — because of the challenges before us, and those that the music have powerfully memorialized.

Nels Cline, Chad Taylor, Melvin Gibbs, myself at Big Ears on March 30. (The Gig)

So in collaboration with

Matt Merewitz

, who oversaw the logistics for this year’s talk series, I convened a panel with three astute and uncompromising artists who could speak with authority to the subject: drummer Chad Taylor, bassist Melvin Gibbs and guitarist Nels Cline. We had an electric, perceptive discussion at the Blue Note Lounge pop-up — with robust turnout, especially for 10 a.m. on a Sunday.

Now the panel is available as a podcast episode, produced by Merewitz, with a host intro by my friend and former colleague Sarah Geledi. I’m elated that this is available to a public beyond the intrepid early-risers in the room. There are so many arresting moments in this conversation — too many for me to single out highlights. I’ll just note something that you can hear in the recording: it was a real pleasure to conduct this panel live with an audience, in a space set up for focused listening.

I will pause here, in the interest of banging the drum for these brilliant artists, to mention some music you should know about. On the panel, Melvin alludes to a 2026 release by Harriet Tubman in collaboration with Georgia Anne Muldrow. Earlier today, we got word of an upcoming album by Chicago Underground Duo, Chad’s long-running band with cornetist and electronics artist Rob Mazurek. And this will sound cryptic, but there’s exciting news dropping soon about a project involving Nels.

For more about my path through Big Ears this year, including some excellent photos of this very panel, I refer you (again) to a post on The Gig from March 31.

Thanks again to the entire Big Ears team, especially Ashley Capps and Bryan Crow, and to Matt for facilitating these talks and sharing my hope that they can reach a wider audience. If you enjoy this conversation, I hope you’ll share some feedback.

And I hope you’re hanging in during this frankly insane moment in the human timeline. Thinking seriously about 1965 is one way to trace a lineage, and ground our reality in a struggle that others took up with admirable courage. It’s not the answer, clearly, but it gives us tools for comprehension, along with some incredible music.