Walker Mimms
Walker Mimms lives in New York and Nashville.
For some weeks this spring, the Catholic world had no Pope. It was during this spiritual vacuum, in late April, that the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour asserted his stewardship over a different global religion, African pop, with a blistering Sunday night at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn.
It’s the most expensive free jazz tour of all time. At least in my book, and likely in yours. At 160 dollars this May, André Benjamin hit about the middle of the price point he has been asking from ticket buyers in support of his recent flute album, New Blue Sun (Epic, 2023).
After two years of pandemic silence, the Big Ears Festival came roaring back in March. Hordes of musicians carpetbagged Knoxville’s sleepy downtown for a long weekend of experiment and extravagance.
