John Paul Jones is set to appear twice at next year’s Big Ears Festival next month in Knoxville, Tenn., organizers confirm.

The Led Zeppelin multi-instrumentalist will deliver a solo improvisational show along with his previously announced performance as half of Sons of Chipotle, the duo that also features Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen. It’ll be their first U.S. performance.

“Big Ears will host the rare opportunity to experience John Paul Jones’ fertile, musical imagination as it unfolds,” according to a news release, which adds that the first set would include “grand piano, mandolin, and electronics, in an improvised solo performance responding only to the sounds and textures that emerge.”

Event publicity noted that Sons of Chipotle are “known to be curious minds, always ready to learn and to discover. When they improvise, borders disappear, they are free to migrate beyond prejudices, across continents. In a world where walls are being built and people are told where they cannot go, Sons of Chipotle want music to be a place of openness.”

Jones also took part in a one-off experimental performance last March with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer Steve Noble in a charity fundraiser in London, England. But he's confirmed that there are no plans to record any further solo albums after the disappointment of 1999 LP Zooma.

“No, no, no, I can’t be arsed,” Jones said in 2018. “We toured the world, sold out shows, then promoters started insisting I get a bloody singer. It was instrumental music, but I’m not Jeff Beck. I remember a promoter saying, ‘We can’t grow it.’ Oh, well, fuck you all.”

The 2020 edition of Big Ears takes place March 26-29. Further details and ticket information is available via the festival website.
 
 

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