Jazz Articles about Bill Frisell

John Zorn: Gnosis: The Inner Light

by Nenad Georgievski
June 19, 2023

John Zorn's album Gnosis: The Inner Light serves as a poignant memorial and homage to the creative genius of one of modern music's most visionary composers, Ennio Morricone, who played a vital role in shaping Zorn's musical path. Decades ago, Zorn captivated audiences with The Big Gundown (Nonesuch, 1986), a groundbreaking release that boldly reimagined Morricone's compositions. Now, with Gnosis: The Inner Light, Zorn once again pays tribute to the maestro's enduring influence, delving into mystical realms and creating a ...

Ben Wendel: All One

by Jerome Wilson
June 7, 2023

Saxophonist Ben Wendel came up with a unique approach for this album of duets. He plays with a different musician on each of these six tracks, but while his guests stick to their primary instruments, Wendel fills in the space around them with multiple saxophone and bassoon parts, electronic effects, and percussion. The most conventional results of this approach are heard in the two vocal tracks. Cecile McLorin Salvant's sensitive singing on “I Loves You Porgy" and Jose ...

Bill Frisell Interview: The Textural Minimalist Redefines American Music

by Mike Brannon
May 6, 2023

This article was first published at All About Jazz on March 2001. It's safe to say, the great American composer/improviser has a new face. Formerly more likely to have been two different people, one committed to the quiet focused existence of composition at a piano while the other roaming the stages of the world, expressing beauty and fighting personal demons. When one considers this prospect, Frisell might not be the first to mind, but rather a Copeland, Sousa, ...

Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan 'Small Town Duo' at Piacenza Jazz Fest 2023

by Danilo Codazzi
April 28, 2023

Big Ears Festival 2023

by Mark Sullivan
April 17, 2023

Big Ears Festival Knoxville, Tennesse March 30-April 2, 2023 The second full edition after the pandemic found the Big Ears Festival still growing in attendance. Organizers responded by increasing the number of venues, including new ones like the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and ones that had not been used for some time, like The Point. The city supported the festival by offering a dedicated free trolley line that stopped at most venues, giving festival attendees more ...

Julian Lage: View With A Room

by Dan McClenaghan
October 20, 2022

View With A Room looks in on two generations of American guitarists; the younger generation is represented by Julian Lage, the leader of the effort, and the older generation by Bill Frisell, who sits in on seven of the ten original Lage tunes ("Echo" is co-written by Lage and the set's bassist Jorge Roeder). Following up on Lage's 2021 Blue Note Records debut, Squint (and let's give the label's boss, Don Was, a big tip of the hat ...

Charles Lloyd: Trios: Chapel

by Dan McClenaghan
July 30, 2022

Blue Note Records has a history of boasting strong stables of players. In the 1950s and 60s, we could look to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter--and if ever there was an incomplete list compiled, that one is it. Time rolls on. Twenty years (or thereabouts) into the new millennium, the label hosts an all-star roster once again--pianist Gerald Clayton, saxophonist Melissa Aldana, sax man Immanuel Wilkins, guitarist Julian Lage, and--to ...