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Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan: Epistrophy
by Mario Calvitti
Il ritorno di Bill Frisell nel 2017 in casa ECM come titolare, anche se in coabitazione col contrabbassista Thomas Morgan, era stato accolto con entusiasmo, e il loro disco Small Town, registrato dal vivo al Village Vanguard di New York, unanimemente considerato uno dei migliori album dell'anno. Viene pubblicato ora, preannunciato dallo stesso chitarrista nel corso di un'intervista che ci aveva concesso nell'estate 2017, un altro album con materiale tratto dagli stessi concerti, il che non potrà che far piacere ...
Continue ReadingBill Frisell | Thomas Morgan: Epistrophy
by John Kelman
When ECM Records released Small Town in 2017, beyond capturing the profound intimacy and musical ability to “finish each other's sentences" shared by the first recorded document of guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan in a duo setting, one of the biggest walk-aways was the hope that this would not be a one-off. Two years later, Epistrophy captures another 68 minutes (running literally 34 seconds longer than Small Town) of intimate interaction, culled from the same March, 2016 run ...
Continue ReadingBig Ears Festival 2019
by Mark Sullivan
Big Ears Festival Knoxville, TN March 21-24, 2019 The major focus of this year's Big Ears Festival was a celebration of ECM Records' 50th anniversary, which included a number of live performances (representing both the main label and the classical music imprint ECM New Series) as well as a panel discussion “ECM @ 50" (covered in a separate article here). There were about 20 concerts, the largest group of ECM artists under one banner ...
Continue ReadingBill Frisell Trio at Dublin's National Concert Hall
by Ian Patterson
Bill Frisell Trio National Concert Hall Dublin, Ireland February 21, 2019 It was a swift return to the National Concert Hall stage for Bill Frisell, following his guest appearance in May 2018 at the finale of fiddler Martin Hayes' residency. This time Frisell was leading his trio of Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen, long-time collaborators in the guitarist's on-going quest to celebrate music without borders. This concert was just that--a celebration of music pure ...
Continue ReadingSkuli Sverrisson with Bill Frisell: Strata
by Karl Ackermann
On their two previous third-season releases, Andy Zimmerman's Half Light and Lionel Loueke's Close Your Eyes (both 2018), Newvelle Records pushed the envelope just a bit away from the deeply melodic formula that they have favored across seventeen albums to date. While those vinyl releases incorporated more elements of improvisational complexity, they were hardly foraying into the avant-garde. On Strata the duo of bassist Skúli Sverrisson and guitarist Bill Frisell bring us back to the purely melodic model.
Continue ReadingSkuli Sverrisson: Strata
by Franz A. Matzner
A contemplative affair, Skuli Sverisson and Bill Frisell's Strata unfolds like a slow burning fire. The hovering notes and somber guitar lines evolve gradually, emerging like wind carved monuments visible through a hovering mist to reveal a stark, melancholic, and aridly beautiful landscape. The album demonstrates a fluid, masterful interaction between the two artists and maintains a distinct, consistent sound across its 10 selections. Throughout, economical choices sinuously articulate the work's overall pathos. With nothing wasted, the emotive ...
Continue ReadingBill Frisell: Music IS
by Ian Patterson
Widely touted as Bill Frisell's second solo recording, and his first since the darkly introspective Ghost Town (Nonesuch, 2000), Music IS is, in fact, the guitarist's third, with the oddly overlooked Silent Comedy seemingly having slipped by most folk. That outing, on John Zorn's Tzadik label, was unique in Frisell's discography for being freely improvised, whereas Music IS revisits and reworks classic Frisell compositions, all the way back to his first ECM recordings as leader in 1983/4. This set of ...
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