Big Ears Festival - July 15, 2026

Big Ears Artists Recognized by DownBeat

A look at this year's Critics Poll and the artists who helped...

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Big Ears Artists Honored in DownBeat's 74th Annual Critics Poll

Each year, DownBeat's Critics Poll recognizes many of the most adventurous voices in jazz and improvised music. This year's results include a remarkable number of

artists who helped shape Big Ears 2026, reflecting the creative community that continues to define the festival.

For the complete results of the 74th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, along with features on many of this year's honorees, explore the upcoming August issue of the magazine.

DownBeat

Mary Halvorson

Artist of the Year

Guitarist of the Year

Group of the Year (Amaryllis)

Big Ears audiences encountered Mary Halvorson in three distinct settings this spring, each offering a window into a different aspect of her work. She led Canis Major, joined Ches Smith’s Clone Row, and performed with Marc Ribot’s SHREK. A formative mentorship with composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton encouraged Halvorson to pursue a musical language entirely her own. Whether composing for her own ensembles or responding in the moment as a collaborator, she balances carefully crafted structures with improvisation, shaped in part by her distinctive use of guitar effects and pitch shifting. That ability to inhabit several musical worlds at once has made her a recurring and welcome presence at Big Ears.

Since the festival, she has released Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings, a duo album with trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, and taken Canis Major into the studio to record its debut for Nonesuch. The three DownBeat honors arrive as those projects continue to evolve beyond Knoxville.

Hear ‘Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings’

Patricia Brennan

Album of the Year (Of the Near and Far)

Vibraphonist of the Year
Rising Star Group of the Year

Patricia Brennan returned to Big Ears leading her own Septet, filling Jackson Terminal with a vivid combination of vibraphone, marimba, electronics, horns, and rhythm section. The performance placed her compositions at the center after earlier festival appearances with Mary Halvorson’s Amaryllis and Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio in 2024.

Born and raised in Veracruz, Brennan draws on classical training, Latin percussion, and improvisation in music that continually expands the role of mallet instruments. That exploration continues on Talamanti, her newly released duo album with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and the first release from Brennan’s Antlia Records.

Hear ‘Talamanti’

James Brandon Lewis

Tenor Saxophonist of the Year

James Brandon Lewis has consistently arrived in Knoxville with new collaborators and new ideas. His 2026 appearance with Dave Douglas' GIFTS Quintet followed earlier festival performances with his trio, The Messthetics, and Ches Smith's Laugh Ash, each revealing a different facet of his work.

That continued artistic evolution is on display in his recent quartet release, Omni, and throughout the music that earned him this year's DownBeat recognition.

Hear ‘Omni’

Our congratulations to all of the artists, composers, and collaborators from the Big Ears community recognized in this year's DownBeat Critics Poll.

Thank you for continuing to create music that

rewards curiosity.

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