Bill Frisell and Ambrose Akinmusire at NoMad Jazz Festival

Bill Frisell and Ambrose Akinmusire
Baruch College
NoMad Jazz Festival
New York NY
August 3, 2026

It's not uncommon to describe jazz duets as musical conversations. But the term, suggesting some silences and even disagreements, isn't quite right for an encounter as uninterrupted and musically telepathic as that of Bill Frisell and Ambrose Akinmusire at Baruch College on Monday night.

Akinmusire recently (once again) won top honors as the best trumpeter in the prestigious Downbeat Critics Poll, with Frisell a strong second place as the best guitarist. Given their reputations, and the special artistic connection between the two musicians, their rare joint appearance as part of the NoMad Jazz Festival was highly anticipated by New York jazz fans.

And, it turns out, also by Frisell himself. In an onstage chat after the performance, the guitarist reflected on his 15-year musical friendship with the trumpeter, with whom he said he felt an immediate artistic chemistry. "I [Our duets] don't happen very often, but it's always a very special thing to play with him. I had looked forward to tonight's show for a long time." 

The artistic relationship played out Monday in an 85-minute performance that was nearly continuous, moving from piece to piece, interspersed with brief improvised interludes from Frisell. ("I never quite know where those will go," he said after the show.) 

Within the pieces, Frisell and Akinmusire sustained passages of amiable improvisation before seamlessly locking into themes in unison. The sound was approachable, in the main, with a lot of pillowy tones from Akinmusire laid atop Frisell's ethereal guitar landscapes. The performance leaned to gentle chamber jazz, but a melange of shifting influences and subtle playing ensured that even the more serene moments never became sleepy or monotonous.

Neither musician draws especially explicitly from jazz's mainstream traditions. Frisell has long been a stylistic adventurer, and his playing Monday, while harmonically sophisticated, featured wisps of the blues, Americana folk, and more. The guitarist also judiciously used an array of effects pedals at his feet. At one point, for instance, he slyly recorded a repeating figure and set it to play in a loop, adding embellishments over it as Akinmusire played over the bed of twin guitar tones.

Akinmusire's trumpet style falls between the tradition rooted in hard bop and more avant trumpet schools, especially that of the European players associated with ECM Records, like Tomasz Stańko and Enrico Rava. On Monday, he often produced long, flowing lines that were reflective, and even meditative, in mood.

Yet Akinmusire also employed—although sparingly—a repertoire of alternative sonic shadings. Creamy lines occasionally ended with a sharp, wake-up squawk. At one point, for a mesmerizing minute or two, he sustained a gentle rattle from the trumpet's valves. At another, Akinmusire placed a hand into the instrument's bell and then shook the horn, creating a different rattling tone.

The setlist was dominated by originals from both men, including selections from Owl Song, their 2023 album together, which was released under Akinmusire's name and entirely comprises compositions by the trumpeter.  A handful of standards were also included, including, to close, Duke Ellington's "Isfahan," from Far East Suite (RCA Victor, 1967), followed by a gorgeous "Tenderly," the Walter Gross ballad.

This duo program was a jazz highlight of the year to date, and a feather in the cap for Rio Sakairi, the artistic director of New York's The Jazz Gallery, who also selected the acts for the NoMad Festival.

Those selections also included high-quality lunchtime shows. Peter Bernstein played soul-jazz with a quartet with similarly swinging guitarist Matt Chertkoff—perfect fare for the pedestrian concourse on Broadway near the park. John Ellis & Double Wide's New Orleans-inflected set (in suitably steamy weather) inside the park on Friday drew on fellow Big Easy native Matt Perrine, whose sousaphone powerfully drove the band along, and a fine band featuring longtime Ellis sidekick Alan Ferber on trombone and the ever-dependable Carmen Staaf on keyboards and accordion.

Running until August 8, the second annual event now turns to promising free programs in Madison Square Park on Friday and Saturday, with the Saturday program headlined by a Jazz Gallery All-Star Band that includes Miguel Zenon and Kendrick Scott.