Jazz Articles about Bill Frisell

About Bill Frisell

Album Review

C'è qualcosa di epico in Big Sur, ultima fatica discografica di Bill Frisell. Sarà per quel suo scorrere placido come un fiume, dall'incidere maestoso tra morbide anse e paesaggi mozzafiato. Sarà per l'aria di contemplazione e di rinnovato stupore verso le la bellezza delle cose semplici che si percepisce dalla prima all'ultima nota. Sarà perché i diciannove brani si legano uno all'altro in una sorta di suite dell'anima e dei sentimenti che per oltre un'ora ammalia l'ascoltatore. Sarà.... ma Big ...

Album Review

Bill Frisell: Big Sur

by Troy Collins
July 5, 2013

Along with household names like Pat Metheny and John Scofield, Bill Frisell is one of the most distinctive American guitarists of his generation. Despite his penchant for abstraction, Frisell's phrasing, touch and tone are as singularly unique and readily identifiable as those of his more conventional peers. Though his vast discography includes bold experimental solo albums and erstwhile membership in John Zorn's infamous Naked City, Frisell's abiding fascination with Americana has found him fine-tuning his encyclopedic interpretations of American folk ...

Album Review

Bill Frisell: Big Sur

Read "Big Sur" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 2, 2013

Big Sur, the mountainous coastal region of California lends itself to various geographical definitions--it isn't easy to pin down definitively. So, it was an inspired idea by the Monterey Jazz Festival to put guitarist Bill Frisell in a cabin in the area and commission music, because with Frisell, musical borders are delightfully amorphous. The suite that Frisell premiered at the 2012 MJF provided the blueprint for this album, which inhabits a strangely alluring space somewhere between modern chamber and country ...

Extended Analysis

Bill Frisell: Big Sur

by John Kelman
June 11, 2013

Most, if not all, musicians value the relationships--both musical and friendship--that they build over the years, but few are as loyal as guitarist Bill Frisell. One look at his various releases over the past couple of decades and it becomes instantly clear that, once he has established a successful working and personal relationship with another musician, he rarely ever calls on anyone else. With the exception of Rudy Royston--who, since first collaborating with the guitarist in 2007, has regularly split ...

Multiple Reviews

Bill Frisell: Live Download Series #14-17

by John Kelman
January 4, 2013

DS#001-013 | DS#014-017 In a previous All About Jazz article, the first thirteen installments of guitarist Bill Frisell's remarkable Live Download Series were reviewed. Beginning in 2009, Frisell and Songline/Tonefield Productions began making available high quality, download-only (but in formats including 320K MP3 and lossless FLAC) live performances dating as far back as 1989, when the guitarist was on the road to support his Elektra/Musician debut, Before We Were Born, released the same year. What has made this ...

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Multiple Reviews

Bill Frisell: Live Download Series #1-13

by John Kelman
January 4, 2013

DS#001-013 | DS#014-017One of the biggest problems facing contemporary jazz musicians is that they often have far more projects on the go than could ever be recorded and released commercially by conventional record labels--even small and relatively responsive indie labels. Special projects abound, or personnel changes for a tour are forced when members of a regular group are unavailable, the plight of the 21st century working musician being how to remain viable and available. Of course, it's not ...

Album Review

Floratone: Floratone II

Read "Floratone II" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 17, 2012

Il secondo capitolo del progetto Floratone, giunto a cinque anni di distanza dal precedente, ne conferma le linee generali, a cominciare dal processo di realizzazione che rappresenta tuttora la sua caratteristica principale. Anche qui il punto di partenza è costituito da una sessione di registrazione in studio che ha visto protagonisti Bill Frisell e il batterista Matt Chamberlain improvvisare spontaneamente in duo, senza niente di predeterminato. I nastri contenenti le diverse ore di musica che ne sono usciti sono stati ...