Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Bill Frisell: When You Wish Upon a Star

6

Bill Frisell: When You Wish Upon a Star

By

View read count
Bill Frisell: When You Wish Upon a Star
There's something undeniably powerful about the music of one's youth, whether it be the theme tune to a much loved children's TV show, the pop music of our teens or the soundtracks to the classic films that signpost the passing of the years. When You Wish Upon a Star pays tribute to well-known film and television theme tunes from the 1950s to the 1970s and represents the latest foray from Frisell, following his John Lennon tribute All We Are Saying... (Savoy, 2011) and Guitar in The Space Age! (Sony, 2014), down the musical highways and byways of his youth, with Petra Haden, Eyvind Kang, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston equal partners in Frisell's journey.

Heartfelt nostalgia, and elegantly portrayed without a doubt, but only occasionally does the music catch fire, such as on the two-part adaptation of Elmer Bernstein's "To Kill a Mockingbird," which smoulders and sparks enticingly. It's the first of several mini-suites, alongside "Psycho" and "Once Upon a Time in the West": the former—which Haden interpreted on Petra Goes To The Movies (Anti Records, 2013)—flits between urgent rhythms, tense melodic arcs and dreamy atmospherics; the latter's greater episodic nature allows more scope for the quartet to explore, carving a trail that embraces wistful lyricism, epic cinematic grandeur and playfulness in turn. In the final segment, Haden's wordless vocals Kang's viola weave delightful harmonic lines while Frisell adds judicious brush strokes.

Haden's wordless singing adds emotional nuance to the extended instrumental passages and she shines in her own right on several tracks. Framed by Frisell and Kang's intuitive interplay, Haden's crystalline delivery seduces on "You Only Live Twice"—the John Barry/Leslie Bricusse Bond theme originally sung by Nancy Sinatra. The title track and "Moon River" were previously interpreted by Frisell and Haden on their duet album Petra Haden and Bill Frisell (Sovereign Artists, 2005) and whilst there's no escaping the chemistry at work, a stab at previously unworked material might have lessened the gnawing feeling across the recording that a little more adventure wouldn't have gone amiss.

They don't write TV theme tunes anymore like Jay Livingstone/Ray Evans "Bonanza"; Thomas Morgan's chugging bass evokes the shadow of Johnny Cash on a rousing, country-ish rendition that will evoke memories—for those of a certain age—of The Ponderosa Ranch, ten gallon hats and the pursuit of social justice; you didn't have to be there in the 1960s/1970s to appreciate what is still a great tune, but it's also true that an emotional connection with the TV shows and films that Frisell and co revisit here lends the performances added poignancy.

The sole Frisell original, "Tales from the Far Side" is an atmospheric reworking of a tune that appeared on Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996), with Haden's ethereal vocal and Frisell's pedal-driven guitar stamping new authority on old ground. Two of the most satisfying tunes are opposites in conception; the loose-improvisational footing of "The Godfather" provides fertile ground for exploration, while Haden's heavenly layered harmonies and Rudy Royston's clippity-clop rhythm on "Happy Days" closes the album on delightfully sunny note that, should you chance to sing along, cannot help but make you smile -and that may just be the whole point.

Track Listing

To Kill a Mockingbird, Pt. 1; To Kill a Mockingbird, Pt. 2; You Only Live Twice; Psycho, Pt. 1; Psycho, Pt. 1; The Shadow of Your Smile; Bonanza; Once Upon a Time In the West (theme); Once Upon a Time in the West (As a Judgement); Once Upon a Time in the West (Farewell to Cheyenne); When You Wish Upon a Star; Tales from the Far Side; Moon River; The Godfather; The Bad and the Beautiful; Happy Trails.

Personnel

Bill Frisell
guitar, electric

Bill Frisell: electric and acoustic guitar; Petra Haden: voice; Eyvind Kang: viola; Thomas Morgan: bass; Rudy Royston: drums, percussion.

Album information

Title: When You Wish Upon a Star | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Okeh

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Bill Frisell Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.