Song of the Day: Bill Frisell, "Shenandoah," 2004

The world's greatest guitar player. Bar none.

Erik's Random 10

It's not as if we haven't talked about Bill Frisell on this blog before. What's interesting about "The Gallows" and the Quartet album the song comes off of is the way this particular band handles rhythm. It is made up of Frisell on guitar, Ron Miles on trumpet, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, and Evyind Kang on violin. No traditional rhythm instruments. But each musician adapted to create very strong rhythms off their instruments. There's just not a lot of music out there with a trombone soloing over a violin rhythm. And this kind of creativity gets to the genius of Frisell.

1. Bill Frisell, The Gallows
2. Townes Van Zandt, Brand New Companion
3. Merle Haggard, Everybody's Had the Blues
4. George Jones, Still Doin' Time
5. Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers, Grandpa's Spells
6. The Gourds, Blood of the Ram
7. Sonny Sharrock & Nicky Skopelitis, The Pyre
8. Matthew Shipp, Patmos
9. Bonnie Prince Billy, I Send My Love To You
10. John Lee Hooker, I Can't Quit You Baby

Concert Review--Bill Frisell

Some days, you just feel lucky. Bill Frisell with Tony Scherr and Kenny Wolleson came through town last night. Instead of playing at one of the concert halls or college facilities, instead of playing in a larger venue in Dallas or Austin where he could have charged a lot more for tickets, he came into Denton and played at Dan’s Silverleaf, the little bar that I’ve gone on and on about for a while. Because of the university (UNT was the first school to offer a jazz degree), there is a deserved reputation for music, but it still seems hard to believe that a little place like Dan’s is going to draw a world-class name like Frisell. I’m not complaining, of course. How Dan is able to get people like this to come is beyond me, but more power to him.

The place was sold out and turning people away at the door. The last time I had seen that was for the Alan Holdsworth show a couple of years ago. I didn’t make the same mistake twice: I bought tickets in advance. There weren’t a lot of seats, but I paid the extra $5 for one and, at a very reasonable $25, sat about six feet from the stage. I’d seen Frisell before at a concert hall in Santa Fe, the name of which I don’t remember, with a larger group and at Yoshi’s in Oakland with the Intercontinentals, but those shows weren’t anywhere near this small or intimate. For anybody who has seen him, to say his show is awesome is redundant. For those who haven’t seen him, his show is awesome. Guitar, bass, and drums work very well for a jazz band, though it’s not used all that often, and Frisell does it the best. His old trio with Joey Baron and Kermit Driscoll is one of the best groups I’ve ever heard, and that doesn’t slight Scherr and Wolleson, who are both amazing in their own right. What Bill Frisell does to tie everything together is so great, though I can’t really put my finger on what it is. Unlike a lot of great guitar players, he doesn’t play a lot of notes, but those he does play are some of the most expressive I’ve ever heard. His guitar speaks and, it’s one thing on an album, but live it’s really something to witness. They played a little bit of everything; from jazz standards to Amazing Grace to some stuff that reminded me of Frippatronics, and every song was great. He gave a lot of time to Scherr, who often played the lead parts with the bass, his fingers doing complex dances along the strings in his solos. Frisell always gives a lot of time for his band to shine, and they were great. In my pantheon of guitar players, he ranks right at the top with Django Reinhardt, and I feel as lucky as I possibly can to have been granted the opportunity to see him. Thanks Dan.

Lyrad's Random 10

Bill Frisell is one of my favorite artists of all time. His guitar sounds are uniquely American, but not washed out with commercial style. Every few years, he seems to morph is style into something new and, often, something great. This is a traditional cover from an album that he made with Petra Hayden, the daughter of legendary bass player Charlie Hayden (from Ornette Coleman's band and his own Liberation Music Orchestra). She plays violin and occasionally sings on the album. The album is all covers ranging from the traditional song presented below to Tom Waits to Foo Fighters. It isn't his best album, but there are some very good cuts on it. Were it anybody but the Fris, I'd never had picked the album up but I'm glad I did. It's different from his usual offerings for, if nothing else, the vocals. It sometimes verges the easy listening realm, but Petra has a sweet voice and a good violin sound. In combination with Frisell, who plays a decided supporting role in these cuts, it is not just very listenable, but it's a valuable, relaxing album that I really don't listen to enough.

1. Petra Hayden & Bill Frisell--Bai-La Taigam
2. Dmitri Shostakovich--Ballet Suite No.3 for Orchestra (Moscow CO; Constantine Orbelian, cond.)
3. Blind Willie McTell--Stomp Down Rider
4. Henri Adrien Lous Kling--Characteristic Etudes (40) for French Horn; 5.Allegro (Stephen Hager, fr hn)
5. Merle Haggard--Swinging Doors
6. Francesco DeMasi--7 Winchester per un massacaro [seq. 6] (from the soundtrack to Seven Winchesters for a Massacre)
7. Joe Maphis & Zen Crook--Dueling Banjos
8. Oslo Kammerkor--Uventa Brudlaupssjau
9. General Patton vs. the X-Ecutioners--Get up, Punk! (Joint Special Operations Task Force)
10. Bill Monroe--Shenandoah Breakdown