Bill Frisell

Guitarist, composer

Why would a serious jazz guitarist be interested in composing accompaniments for slapstick genius Buster Keaton's silent movies? The answer, as Gene Santoro reported in the New York Daily News, is that Bill Frisell specializes in the unexpected. Santoro pointed out the appeal of Frisell's unique style of playing, noting that a typical set with the guitarist's band—which features bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron—"finds song fragments hurtling in and out of a continuous, unfolding narrative. Rhythms churn and change up, spaces yawn and collapse, and the leader's guitar ricochets from acoustic lyricism to airplane-level raunch." Although a talented composer himself—as evidenced by his work for Keaton—Frisell also has an ability to react to others' musical texts that has made him one of the most sought-after session players in contemporary music.

Frisell's collaborative instinct carried over to his own recordings. He has utilized his formidable improvisational skills "to hone a composition style in which weepy country melodies coexist with rumbling funk bass lines and kitschy Fifties rock … juxtaposed with graceful, surprisingly arresting dissonances," according to Tom Moon of Rolling Stone. His 1993 recording Have a Little Faith at first seems to promise the listener familiar songs, like Madonna's "Live to Tell," Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman," and John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me," but then treats those songs as places to begin his explorations.

Discussing Have a Little Faith's offerings, Frisell told Guitar Player, "I've played some of these pieces … for a really long time…. It's almost as if there's this pool of melodies that's part of your person." That pool also extends to such classical pieces as Charles Ives's "Three Places in New England" and Aaron Copland's "Billy the Kid," which helped define the American music consciousness. These disparate tunes are held together by the same subtleties of texture that make Frisell instantly identifiable to listeners.

Frisell's interpretations continued with 1994's This Land, an extension of Frisell's journey through the American musical heritage. According to George Varga in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Frisell's interpretations draw from "funk, rock, modern jazz, Dixieland, country and pioneering American composers." Critics such as Moon have asserted that this eclectic style is governed by rock and roll's disregard for convention, and Frisell, though not a rock musician, has pointed out that he chose in part to play the guitar because of the music he heard on the radio while growing up.

His choice of instrument has helped define the type of musician Frisell has become. In Guitar Player he confided, "It's harder to deny all the things that have happened on the guitar in the last 30 or 40 years than it would be if you played the saxophone. If I played the saxophone or trumpet, it would be a lot easier to fall into this classicism. Whereas with guitar, you could just do a Wes Montgomery thing, but if you're my age and grew up with the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix, you'd have to be more blatant."

Yet despite his many influences, Frisell continues to be identified as a jazz musician, an association he seems able to take or leave. He commented in Down Beat, "I don't really care. It doesn't matter what it's called. It bothers me that people use names to box things away. What [jazz musicians] do comes out of jazz, it has a lot of stuff that attracted me to jazz in the first place. But we don't confine ourselves to a certain era: we use everything we know. That's what all the great jazz players do."

In another Guitar Player piece, Frisell asserted that his best music, "writing or playing, comes from instinct…. The things I've studied intellectually have taken years to seep down, and now they come out naturally."

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Frisell began playing clarinet in his school marching band in Denver. According to an Elektra/Nonesuch biography, his exposure to the music of Otis Rush, B.B. King, Paul Butterfield, and Buddy Guy instilled in Frisell a passion for Chicago blues. In high school he played in bands covering James Brown tunes and other pop and soul classics, and later, after studying music at the University of Northern Colorado, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1978 Frisell moved to Belgium where he concentrated on writing music for a year before moving to New York City and staying for ten years.

In an interview with Joe Gore in Guitar Player, Frisell did not downplay his formal education, and he disagreed with "those who argue that conservatory educations hatch musical eggheads." The guitarist commented, "It's only the players' fault if they let themselves be programmed by the routines that [schools] establish. There are all kinds of things you can do with the 'rules' that a school might give you. For example, in the harmony class at Berklee, they'd have 'avoid notes,' notes you weren't supposed to use over a particular chord. Naturally, those were the first ones I'd check out."

For the Record …

Born on March 18, 1951, in Baltimore, MD. Education: Studied music at the University of Northern Colorado and Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA.

Jazz guitarist and composer. Began playing clarinet as a teen and played guitar in high school bands; moved to Belgium for a year to write music, 1978; moved to New York until 1989; moved to Seattle, WA; recorded Have a Little Faith, 1992, Nashville, 1997, Gone, Just Like a Train, 1997, and Bad Dog, Happy Man, 1999; issued Ghost Town, 2000, Blues Dream, 2001, The Willies, 2002, The Intercontinentals, 2003, Unspeakable, 2004, and East/West, 2005.

Awards: Grammy Award, Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for Unspeakable, 2005.

Addresses: Record company—Elektra/Nonesuch, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019, website: http://www.nonesuch.com/.

The eclecticism and uniqueness of Frisell's playing and composing—perhaps the result of his curiosity about unconventional sounds—is the most often cited aspect of his work. His early 1990s releases, including This Land, Have a Little Faith, and the Buster Keaton film music collections Go West and The High Sign/One Week, earned accolades from magazines ranging from Rolling Stone to Down Beat for their refreshing experimental guitar stylings. In his 1994 review of This Land, Rolling Stone's Josef Woodward praised, "More than almost anyone else in the last decade, Frisell brought a new voice to the fraying realm of the electric guitar."

Frisell's virtuosic and understated playing has been, for critics and listeners alike, a welcome relief in the world of contemporary music. Varga declared, "An artist, not an acrobat, Frisell is one of those rare guitarists who consistently avoid fast licks and overwrought solos. In their place, he offers atmospheric swells, delightful country inflected twangs, bluesy punctuations, surging power chords and wonderfully creative lines that never go where you expect but are always perfectly timed and executed."

Frisell continued to record frequently in the mid-to-late 1990s, issuing sound tracks, albums with his band, and a solo album. In 1995 Elektra/Nonesuch issued Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton and High Sign/One Week, musical scores to accompany Keaton's classic silent movies. Frisell followed with the Bill Frisell Quartet in 1995, and the much acclaimed Nashville (1997), an album that would make an appearance on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. Working with members of the bluegrass group Union Station (well known for its work with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss), Frisell began an in-depth exploration of country music roots. He continued his exploration on Gone, Just Like a Train (1997) and Good Dog, Happy Man (1999), both of which also charted on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

In 2000 Frisell released a true solo album, Ghost Town, an experiment that allowed him to play the various instruments that comprised each track. The album featured his own compositions along with classic songs by the Gershwin brothers and Hank Williams. Frisell followed in 2001 with the beautifully recorded Blues Dream, an expansive, atmospheric set with trumpeter Ron Miles and guitarist Greg Leisz.

In 2002 Frisell returned to his exploration of American roots music on The Willies, an album that offered versions of traditional folk songs like "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man." Joined by banjoist Danny Barnes and bassist Keith Lowe, Frisell mixed jazz, folk, and country to create a carefully woven tapestry. In 2003 he expanded his exploration of roots music with The Intercontinentals, a set that drew connections between American and other folk music from around the world. "This is a remarkable album," wrote Thom Jurek in All Music Guide, who added that it "sets a new watermark for Frisell's sense of adventure and taste, and displays his perception of beauty in a pronounced, uncompromising, yet wholly accessible way." Frisell continued to broaden his vision on Unspeakable in 2004 and the two-disc live album East/West in 2005. "Where so many conventional jazz guitarists define themselves by how many notes they can play," wrote Chris Kelsey in All Music Guide, "Frisell has carved a niche by virtue of his sound. His ability as an original, lyrical player of melody combines with a unique (if much imitated) sound to make him one of the most singular musicians of his generation."

Selected discography

In Line, ECM, 1982.
(With Eberhard Weber) Later That Evening, ECM, 1982.
(With Paul Motian Trio) It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago, ECM, 1984.
(With Vernon Reid) Smash and Scatteration, Rykodisc, 1984.
(With Marc Johnson) Bass Desires, ECM, 1985.
(With Various Artists) Steal This Disc, Rykodisc, 1987.
Lookout for Hope, ECM, 1988.
Rambler, ECM, 1988.
ECM Works, ECM, 1989.
(With Hal Willner) Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music for Vintage Disney Films, A&M, 1989.
Before We Were Born, Elektra/Musician, 1989.
Is That You?, Elektra/Musician, 1990.
Where in the World?, Elektra/Musician, 1991.
Hal Willner Presents Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus, Columbia, 1992.
Have a Little Faith, Elektra/Nonesuch, 1993.
This Land, Elektra/Nonesuch, 1994.
The High Sign/One Week: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton, Elektra/Nonesuch, 1995.
Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton, Elektra/Nonesuch, 1995.
Nashville, Elektra/Nonesuch, 1997.
Gone, Just Like a Train, Nonesuch, 1997.
Bad Dog, Happy Man, Nonesuch, 1999.
Ghost Town, Nonesuch, 2000.
Blues Dream, Elektra/Asylum, 2001.
The Willies, Nonesuch, 2002.
The Intercontinentals, Nonesuch, 2003.
Unspeakable, Nonesuch, 2004.
East/West, Nonesuch, 2005.

Sources

Periodicals

Boston Phoenix, April 1, 1994.

CMJ (College Music Journal), April 4, 1994.

Down Beat, March 1992; April 1993; August 1994; June 1995.

Guitar Player, July 1992; June 1993; May 1994.

Musician, March 1993; June 1994; November 1994.

New York Daily News, February 24, 1994; April 1, 1994.

Pulse!, June 1994.

Rolling Stone, May 13, 1993; September 22, 1994.

San Diego Union-Tribune, April 7, 1994.

Online

"Bill Frisell," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusicguide.com/ (July 5, 2006).

Additional information for this profile was provided by Elektra/Nonesuch publicity materials.