Jazz Articles about Jim Hall

All About Jazz Reader Q&A: Jim Hall

by AAJ Staff
March 16, 2009

This article first appeared in November 1998. Questions were gathered from All About Jazz Bulletin Board members. From: Ken Brown Did you or do you now have a daily structure to your guitar practice? If so, how do you structure the different possible topics?

JH: My practice --since time is limited--is usually very specific (e.g. the pieces I'm currently performing), and includes “speed improvement" and “ear-stretching" stuff--whatever that means to you.

From: Ken ...

Jim Hall: The Elegant Guitarist

by R.J. DeLuke
March 16, 2009

There's good news and better news for the many fans of guitar great Jim Hall--counted among them a number of established guitarists who are, themselves, eminent. It would be hard to find a guitarist who doesn't look up to Hall and whose playing has not been influenced by him in some way. Players relish Hall's rich sound--the interesting melodic and harmonic ideas, the way he lets music breathe, the phrasing. The good news is that his most recent recording, the ...

Jim Hall / Bill Frisell: Hemispheres

by John Kelman
February 10, 2009

The magic that occurs when student meets teacher on equal footing years down the road is rare enough. With Jim Hall--one of the most influential guitarists of the past half century--his spare approach, a reference point for younger guitar icons including John Abercrombie, John Scofield and Pat Metheny, has resulted in more magic than most. Hall and Metheny met successfully on Jim Hall & Pat Metheny (Telarc, 1999) and, while the elder guitarist also met briefly with Bill Frisell on ...

Jim Hall / Bill Frisell: Hemispheres

by Eyal Hareuveni
February 2, 2009

The first and lasting impression of this full-length collaboration between master and genre-bending guitarists Jim Hall and Bill Frisell is one of relaxed intimacy and indeed, this no-frills approach is one of the strengths of this project. Great affinity between great musician focused on creating music, who have the time and space to establish such rapport, and then share their creative process is the corner stone of fan-friendly label ArtistShare. The result is a much more satisfactory and successful process ...

Jim Hall / Bill Frisell: Hemispheres

by Lyn Horton
January 14, 2009

Supported by the fan-funded alternative ArtistShare label, the two-disc release Hemispheres is collaboration between guitarists Jim Hall and Bill Frisell, joined by bassist Scott Colley and drummer Joey Barron on disc two. The recording documents how projects evolve when artists pull together without a plan necessarily to create unique product: a perfect recipe for invention.

It goes without saying that Hall and Frisell are masters of their instruments. Each has a specific direction and distinguishing channel in which to thrive. ...

Jim Hall / Bill Frisell: Hemispheres

by Mark F. Turner
December 31, 2008

Hemispheres is a wonderful collaboration between two esteemed veteran guitarists, Jim Hall and Bill Frisell. Though each has travelled different yet celebrated paths, this is their first full length (double CD) release together. Hall's masterful playing, tempered by a smooth rotund tone, has been appreciated since the 1950s in performances with such names as Chico Hamilton, Ella Fitzgerald and later collaborations with Pat Metheny and Greg Osby. Frisell (a former student of Hall) is considered to be ...

Jim Hall - Enrico Pieranunzi: Duologues

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 5, 2006

La collaborazione fra Jim Hall e Enrico Pieranunzi risale agli anni ottanta quando ebbero occasione di suonare in duo a Roma per diverse serate. Chi ricorda quelle magiche notti era già ben preparato agli ottimi risultati che la loro collaborazione era in grado di offrire e questa incisione effettuata a Milano a metà settembre del 2004 non può che confermare e semmai aggiungere ulteriori elementi di gratificazione. Jim Hall ha da tempo superato la soglia dei settant'anni ma rimane assolutamente ...