More Than Just Music: Your Guide to FreshGrass | Bentonville 2024

Eric Mingus and the Sacred Roots Vocal Ensemble

1-2 PM ON SATURDAY, MAY 18 | RØDE HOUSE

Eric Mingus and vocalists use words and melody to trace the roots of our human connection, with emphasis on human migration; paying tribute to the fact that so often in forced migration, the only thing a person can carry with them is a song.

“Sacred Routes” honors the song as a means of universal communication; where language can fail, the song may still be understood. It features the human voice, along with percussive sounds made using the body (hand claps, foot stomps, etc) and handmade acoustic instruments crafted by Eric.

Mr Sun Plays Ellington’s Nutcracker

Mr Sun records and performs a new interpretation of Ellington’s legendary Nutcracker Suite. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite contains some of the most beloved and familiar melodies in the Western world. Mr Sun has seized upon the inspiration of Duke Ellington’s brilliant, sly, & urbane re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Suite as an opportunity to salute and re-invent this wildly multi-faceted work anew through the lens of the American String Band, a musical form which contains myriad styles and is presently engaged in a marathon upheaval of innovation and expansion.

On Mr Sun’s new recording, the pieces of the Suite range from close interpretations of Billy Strayhorn’s original charts to intense extrapolations based on the spirit of the material. On the recording, Mr Sun generally played original improvised solos, though some crucial musical statements by giants such as Johnny Hodges and Paul Gonsalves were transcribed directly and played in their spirit.  Most of Strayhorn’s startling original horn voicings have been preserved in bowed strings, with multi-mandolin parts adding a punchy edge.

AOIFE O’DONOVAN & HAWKTAIL FEATURING THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S CHOIR performs America, Come 

Inspired by the lives, letters and speeches of the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association Carrie Chapman Catt and United States President Woodrow Wilson during the summer of 1920, GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter Aoife O’Donovan joins the Pops for her musical exploration of voting rights for women.

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