Frisell's "Beautiful Dreamers" Recently Released on Savoy

Bill Frisell recently signed with Savoy/429 Records and released “Beautiful Dreamers” —a stunning recording consisting of new original compositions and striking reinterpretations featuring Eyvind Kang (viola) and Rudy Royston (drums). Produced by Lee Townsend, engineered by Adam Muñoz at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley and mastered with Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York, “Beautiful Dreamers” captures the magic of one of Frisell's most personal statements in seamless and stimulating musical dialogue with his band mates Kang and Royston.

When listening to Bill Frisell play, it’s easy to forget you’re hearing an electric guitar. Through touch, tone and voicings that are free of the usual six-string tropes, his instrument can sound, variously, like a pedal steel, a toy piano, a string quartet, a church bell, a plane in the distance, even a human voice. This remarkable gift continues to serve him well on his 29th solo album, whether he’s covering Stephen Foster (“Beautiful Dreamer”), Benny Goodman (“Benny’s Bugle”) or Teddy Randazzo (“Goin’ Out of My Head”), or playing his own spooky, cinematic tunes like “Baby Cry,” “Winslow Homer” and “Better Than a Machine.” The striking originality of the arrangements Frisell creates with viola player Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston can even transform ancient Tin Pan Alley fare like “Tea for Two” or “Keep on the Sunny Side” into something startlingly fresh and modern. Recorded at Fantasy Studios and produced by longtime collaborator Lee Townsend, this record doesn’t really sound much like jazz as much as compelling, emotionally resonant, genre-free music. Sure, it swings in places, and there’s some fiery improvisation. But after decades of trodding such a brave and singular path, maybe Frisell deserves his own genre. How about “friz”? - Bill DeMain, JazzTimes (Oct. 2010) "Magical!" .... Mike Hobart, Financial Times (London) “On Beautiful Dreamers, Frisell uses works by Stephen Foster, Blind Willie Johnson, The Carter Family and Benny Goodman, along with Burt Bacharach-style pop, as springboards for wiry, bluesy, and distinctly rocking works of his own. The two sets of compositions co-exist on Beautiful Dreamers as musical cousins. Their stylistically familial ties surface with every listen. And Beautiful Dreamers is an album you will want to revisit often..... Like so many Frisell groups, this trio unfolds its music with a sound that is light yet lush, in a manner that is purposeful but unhurried... But the highlight sits in the middle of the album with a Frisell original dedicated to the late songsmith Vic Chesnutt, titled “Better Than a Machine”. In this dreamscape recording of Americana accents, the tune beams as a blast of bright, poppish sunshine. It's indeed the moment when the already attractive Beautiful Dreamers becomes even lovelier.”  By Walter Tunis, www.kentucky.com

Bill Frisell Live In Montreal DVD

Released in July “Blues Dream Live ” the DVD featuring Bill Frisell’s live performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival, July 1st, 2002.   This DVD features Bill Frisell’s septet which includes Matt Chamberlain on drums, Billy Drewes on alto sax, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, Greg Leisz on steel guitars and mandolin, Ron Miles on trumpet and David Piltch on bass.

Buster Keaton with music from Bill Frisell on DVD

For a number of years, Bill has been performing his film scores for Buster Keaton movies live to enthusiastic audiences all over the world. Out now for the first time, his music for the Keaton classics Go West, The High Sign and One Week are being released with the films on DVD by Songtone/Tone Field Productions, available exclusively here. Bill's longtime musical colleagues Kermit Driscoll (bass) and Joey Baron (drums) join Bill in enhancing not only the well known slapstick and comedic aspects of Keaton's work, but the inherent pathos and social commentary, as well. Purchase a copy here!

"Evincing his best qualities as both guitarist and composer, Frisell harvests evocative, melancholy Americana from deceptively modest, episodic themes. Coloring the scenes with acoustic as well as his trademark electric, Frisell produces strangely cinematic motifs on guitar, and his rhythm cohorts - longtime bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron - provide abundant narrative drive." - Billboard

Bill Frisell "Solos" DVD now available exclusively from billfrisell.com and songtone.com

Bill's 2004 solo session from the atmospheric Berkeley Church in Toronto is now available for the first time on DVD. Beautifully shot by Director Daniel Berman, it includes such beloved original compositions as "Keep Your Eyes Open", "Throughout", "Ron Carter", "Boubacar" and "Poem For Eva" as well as songs by other composers that have long been associated with Bill's most powerful performances like "Shenandoah", "Wildwood Flower", "I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry", "Masters Of War" and "My Man's Gone Now". As such, it can be viewed as a definitive Frisell solo statement.

Click here for more info.

"Like David Lynch, post jazz guitarist Bill Frisell has a knack for insinuating an odd haze around the most wholesome aspects of Americana. Disfarmer, named after the cranky Arkansas photographer who created gripping images of his neighbors, finds Frisell teamed with steel guitarist Greg Leisz, violinist Jenny Scheinman and bassist Viktor Krauss for a set of 26 evocative miniatures. Each one flits by like a half-remembered dream, yet paradoxically their sum amounts to one of Frisell's loveliest, most consistently affecting recent creations." - Steve Smith, Time Out, New York

"The music of omnivorous guitarist Bill Frisell reflects an eclectic range of influences .... On "Disfarmer," he draws inspiration from the Depression-era portraits of little-known Arkansas photographer Michael Disfarmer. The result is a provocative soundscape that features a mixture of acoustic and electric guitars.... Creatively restless, Frisell is best suited for exploring vast territory and responding with imaginative integrity, which is evidenced on "Disfarmer." - Dan Ouellette, Billboard

"Exquisite." - Independent on Sunday

"Frisell's filmic themes summon up the ghosts of a lost America. The results are gently beautiful." The Times

"The tunes prove so hauntingly evocative that they conjure the spirits of long-vanished people and places without the need for visual accompaniment." - Metro

"The hymns and hoedowns of 'Disfarmer' are both affectionate and atmospheric." - Daily Telegraph

"You practically feel the Arkansas soil slipping through your fingers." - The Sun

"Frisell's pacing is magnificent, and the album sweeps along with purpose like a gorgeous, spacious epic. It is full of sounds that suggest settings and characters, including the mysterious eccentric who inspired the recording." - Houston Chronicle

In the small mountain town of Heber Springs, the Arkansas artist known as Disfarmer captured the lives and emotions of the people of rural America between 1939-1945. Critics have hailed Disfarmer's remarkable black and white portraits as "a work of artistic genius" and "a classical episode in the history of American photography.Disfarmer's work has captivated the imagination of the celebrated guitarist and composer Bill Frisell, who has been inspired to write and perform music in concert with multiple projected images from this treasure trove of period portraits. Three long-time musical collaborators, violinist Jenny Scheinman, bassist Viktor Krauss and steel guitarist Greg Leisz, will share the stage in interpreting Frisell's music. Set and lighting designer Alex Nichols is on board to spearhead the visual treatments of the program.

This piece was premiered at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio in March of 2007.   This project periodically tours and dates are posted on Bill's Tour page.

Lee just finished Night of 1000 Stars by San Francisco band Blame Sally, creating an eclectic and undeniably original brand of folk pop that plays on the "indie edges of Americana".  Bringing together the four unique voices and musical personalities of Renee Harcourt, Monica Pasqual, Jeri Jones and Pam Delgado, Blame Sally has forged a cohesive musical identity that is compelling and instantly recognizable.  Night of 1000 Stars was engineered by Shawn Pierce and Adam Muñoz and mastered by Greg Calbi.

Doug Wamble

Lee recently finished producing the eponymously titled new album by singer-songwriter and guitarist Doug Wamble.  Released on the E1 Music label,  the music on Doug Wamble is rootsy, urbane and rhythmically vital featuring Doug's rich, soulful voice, his distinctive songwriting, his astonishing guitar playing and his excellent band.   Recorded in New York and mixed in Nashville with Jason Lehning and mastered with Greg Calbi, guests include Carrie Rodriguez, Charlie Hunter and Jonah Smith.

Floratone

Floratone is a studio-intensive collaborative project with drummer Matt Chamberlain, Bill Frisellproducers Lee Townsend and Tucker Martine featuring deep grooves, glistening melodies, ambient atmospheres and rich sonic textures. String and horn colors are provided courtesy of special guests Viktor Krauss, Ron Miles and Eyvind Kang. It is released on Blue Note Records. Check out Floratone.com for more information.

REVIEWS

The Decade In Review: Jazz And The Mash-Up

It's difficult to frame the last 10 years in jazz around its "most important" recordings: What strikes me as most important about this decade is that musically, anything went. In the age of the mash-up and the iPod shuffle -- where musically different artists can sit comfortably against each other -- jazz's continual flexibility to incorporate any number of sounds and distill them within a jazz framework is what's made this decade so refreshing.

So what defines "importance?" The musician in me wants to say that the most important albums were the ones that we believe to be the most musically skillful or adventurous, or those which introduce us to a new exciting voice in jazz -- Jason Moran, The Bad Plus and Brian Blade Fellowship come to mind. But what about albums with mass crossover appeal like Norah Jones' Come Away With Me; or recordings pegged to an event, such as Terence Blanchard's A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina); or Ornette Coleman's Pulitzer Prize-winning recording Sound Grammar? What about albums that explore a high-concept multimedia project like Bill Frisell's Disfarmer and Dave Douglas' Keystone? I think those are all good choices. They all brought attention to the music in creative new ways, and all capture their own snapshots of the 2000s.

One record that really exemplifies that for me is the Bill Frisell/Matt Chamberlain/Lee Townsend/Tucker Martine project Floratone. Taking the Teo Macero approach to production, Townsend and Martine crafted a stunning album from the free studio improvisations of Frisell and Chamberlain. Floratone's lush production brings in hints of New Orleans jazz, swampy R&B, surf rock and electronic music. But it also feels like an inventive and foward-thinking tapestry of sounds that could have only happened in this decade. -- Michael Katzif,  NPR.org

Most Innovative recording of 2007: "They shaped this record that's really not a jazz record at all. It's really this swamp language that I found incredibly interesting and beautiful and very different." -- Tom Moon, 2007: The Year in Review from All Songs Considered

“Taking a page from the Miles Davis/Teo Macero playbook, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Matt Chamberlain teamed up with longtime production pals  Martine and Townsend to create this studio-collaged musical masterpiece  - but Floratone doesn't sound anything like Bitches Brew or In a Silent Way....  The 11 compositions flow one into another like segments of a steady-moving river - in turns brooding, swampy, choppy, effervescent, and translucent. Chamberlain's tasteful grooves and accents provide the deepwater impetus, while Frisell's soulful vamps, plucky palm-mutes, shimmering harmonics, textural twang, and spacey atmospherics weave together into so many currents and undercurrents, as the horn and string lines glide majestically over the surface.  As intriguing as it is enjoyable, Floratone is easily one of the best records of 2007.”  Guitar Player

“Call it Ambient Americana Sound Sculpting ... The music on Floratone is largely based around Chamberlain’s behind-the-beat grooves and Frisell’s left-of-center blues-drenched chords and phrases...  it’s  not about soloing per se; rather it’s about collective interpretation, exploring all possible nuances.

Floratone shares much, in fact, with Teo Macero’s collage-like approach to sculpting In a Silent Way, though with modern digital editing the integration is so seamless that it’s often impossible to differentiate between live performance and studio construction. Not that it matters. The greatest success of Floratone is how organic, how natural the music sounds, the considerable  technology behind it notwithstanding. Despite all the electronic textures used from conception to final realization, it’s a distinctive, extremely appealing and visual collection of sonic landscapes.

There are those who believe that democratic/leaderless projects  are inherently doomed to failure. Floratone is a modern  masterpiece—a completely equitable collaboration between Frisell, Chamberlain, Townsend and Martine—that lays such claims to  waste.”    John Kelman,  All About Jazz


“This is some of the most vital and exciting guitar work Bill Frisell has ever committed to tape.... Listening to these unlikely swirls of sound is almost like the beginnings of some exotic new language, rising like steam from a swamp.  They're like nothing  else..... it's some of the most riveting instrumental  music to emerge this year.”  Tom Moon, NPR’s All Things Considered

"The fine-tuned soundscapes maintain a satisfyingly hypnotic menace."  UK Financial Times

“A soundscape bonanza infused with a melange of jazz, country, dub reggae, funk, rock and ambient music.”  Dan Ouellette, Billboard

Bill Frisell "History, Mystery" (Grammy Nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Album)

Bill Frisell explores a fuller palette of orchestral colors and timbres than any he has previously written for. "History, Mystery" features an Octet of strings, horns and rhythm section with some of his closest collaborators - Jenny Scheinman (violin), Eyvind Kang, (viola), Hank Roberts (cello), Ron Miles (cornet), Greg Tardy (clarinet and tenor saxophone), Tony Scherr (bass) and Kenny Wollesen (drums).  Employing a symphonic sensibility of recurring thematic elements, "History, Mystery" premieres many new Frisell compositions as well as a few of his arrangements of favorite pieces by other songwriters.  Producer Lee Townsend and engineer Shawn Pierce recorded the group in various combinations and contexts, live and in the studio, to construct and shape the album.

"Some artists, as they grow older, have a tendency to retreat into a safety zone that displays their skill but doesn't expand their repertoire or provide impetus for keeping up. Not so guitarist Bill Frisell ... [H]e's been refining and expanding his palette with every release.... The whole album stands as yet another testament to the man's place at the very epicenter of modern American music. Yes, he's done it again." - Chris Jones, BBC.

The Guardian, in a four-star review of History, Mystery, says the album is "studded with gems," featuring a line-up of musicians that reviewer John L. Waters calls "a kind of roots-jazz-classical chamber hybrid, though with none of the hang-ups that might imply." Waters sees "a genuine thoughtfulness" from Bill, who, he writes, "has the surest touch as a musician." It is an attribute "that is true for his playing, where he can invest a single note with meaning, and it's true in the way he organizes his music and musicians."

The Independent calls History, Mystery the Jazz Album of the Week, with the paper's Tim Cumming calling it "extraordinarily eclectic" delivered in "an all but seamless suite that's full of musical contrasts, rich textures, lengthening shadows, and unexpected turns." Cumming says "it's consistently engaging" with a closing guitar solo that's "just wonderful." His colleague Nick Coleman adds that on this collection, listeners will find the "Frisell who makes great soundtrack music; the one who rejoices in sieving the Hot Club de Paris out of Thelonious Monk."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock) “I've always admired (Frisell’s) spirit of adventure, his willingness to experiment and the depth of his talent and ambition... There's something about History, Mystery that just sucked me in right away..... It's artful, but warm and accessible. There are smatterings of jazz, blues, a little country, some tango and reverb rock ... but the seamless, natural-sounding integration of these diverse influences is engaging and often majestic.  The music has a spacious, cinematic scope that is enriched by a superb group of musicians... The sound is vintage and modern, warm and inviting.” - Ellis Widner

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