Jazz Articles about Bill Frisell

About Bill Frisell

Album Review

When pianist, keyboardist, synthesist and composer Lyle Mays passed away at the far too young age of 66 following a long battle with a recurring (but, to this day, undisclosed) illness in February 2020, it was a major loss for his fans. It was an especially deep body blow to those who'd followed his decades-long work as performer and compositional collaborator with Pat Metheny in the guitarist's critically and commercially acclaimed Pat Metheny Group. Mays had been largely ...

Album Review

Skuli Sverrisson with Bill Frisell: Strata

Read "Strata" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
May 17, 2021

Approda finalmente in formato digitale (CD e piattaforme di streaming) l'album frutto della recente collaborazione tra il bassista islandese Skúli Sverrisson e il chitarrista Bill Frisell, già precedentemente pubblicato nel 2018 esclusivamente su vinile in una edizione a tiratura limitata per collezionisti andata rapidamente esaurita nonostante il prezzo non propriamente a buon mercato. Ora che il lavoro può godere di una diffusione più ampia potrà essere apprezzato da una platea più vasta, come sicuramente merita. Viene spontaneo ...

Radio & Podcasts

The Bill Frisell Songbook: Part 2

by Ludovico Granvassu
April 17, 2021

Bill Frisell's instrumental voice is instantly recognizable, whether displaying its skronky side in John Zorn's Naked City or his sublime and delicate voicings infused of high-end Americana. Equally distinctive are his compositions which more and more of his peers have been incorporating into their repertoires, in a process of metabolization that goes back to the 1990s but—as it always happens for musicians whose style is so distinctive—started to really take off later in Frisell's career and is now reaching a ...

Radio & Podcasts

The Bill Frisell Songbook: Part 1

by Ludovico Granvassu
April 13, 2021

Every generation has a number of defining musicians who stand out for their innovations and distinctive voices. For us growing up musically in the 1980s and 1990s and interested in forward looking music, Bill Frisell is one of these foundational figures. His instrumental style is certainly unique and has shaped the way the following generations have approached the guitar, and--more and more so--his compositions are being embraced by his peers. His tunes integrate sources as diverse as country music, rock, ...

Album Review

Charles Lloyd: Tone Poem

by Eric Gudas
March 30, 2021

Charles Lloyd and The Marvels' April 2017 performance at UCLA's Royce Hall, with guest vocalist Lucinda Williams, was nothing but highlights--from Lloyd's dance moves across the stage as one or other of his bandmates soloed, to Williams' impassioned performances on such songs as Bob Dylan's “Masters of War" and Jimi Hendrix's “Angel." They also played a song by Beach Boys. ("In My Room"). But the night really got going when the band played about fifteen minutes of Ornette Coleman material, ...

Album Review

Ron Miles: Rainbow Sign

Read "Rainbow Sign" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
March 19, 2021

Per il suo esordio su etichetta Blue Note, il trombettista Ron Miles riunisce nuovamente il quintetto stellare con cui aveva inciso il precedente I Am a Man, Bill Frisell alla chitarra, Brian Blade alla batteria, Jason Moran al piano e Thomas Morgan al contrabbasso. Il gruppo era a sua volta l'evoluzione di un trio con Frisell e Blade che aveva già realizzato due album, Quiver e Circuit Rider, per non parlare di Heaven in duo con Frisell oltre alle numerose ...

Album Review

Charles Lloyd & the Marvels: Tone Poem

by Vic Albani
March 15, 2021

Ecco il terzo lavoro di Charles Lloyd con i suoi Marvels, lo straordinario combo con Bill Frisell alla chitarra, Greg Leisz alla pedal steel guitar, Reuben Rogers al basso e Eric Harland alla batteria. Dopo I Long to See You del 2016 (con ospiti speciali come Norah Jones e Willie Nelson), e Vanished Gardens del 2018 (con -quella volta -un ospite speciale del calibro di Lucinda Williams) su Tone Poem Lloyd sceglie di lavorare senza ospiti e senza vocalist in ...