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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 (Keith Jarrett's classic songbook interpretations spring to mind). Not so guitarist Bill Frisell. From his early days as Manfred Eicher's pet six-stringed sessioneer at ECM he's been refining and expanding his palette with every release. His move into the more traditional areas of Americana over the last few years has seen him cross genre boundaries and become the missing link between Norah Jones and John Zorn (and how many times have you heard that sentence?). History Mystery, following last year's bluesy electronica of Floratone, does it again.
Some of history... was recorded with Floratone's producer Lee Townsend in the same studio, but it's mainly drawn from a series of live dates in Washington, Boston and Hanover with an octet that includes Kenny Wollesen on lithe drums and a whole heap of string action from Eyvind King, Jenny Scheinman and Hank Roberts. This format allows the mood to go all the way from Penguin Cafe-like quirkiness like Question #1 to the playful bop of Subconscious Lee. The double CD comprises two suites of music composed for differing purposes. The first was a multimedia collaboration - Mysterio Sympatico - with sleeve artist and comic book illustrator, Jim Woodring (whose work has graced Frisell's albums); the second was composed to accompany the Stories From The Heart Of The Land National Public Radio series.
Like the man himself, this is polite and unassuming music in many ways. Frisell has the notable knack of always sounding like himself, a lot of which is down to his mastery of the electronics. Everything on offer here balances traditionalism with some remarkably subtle bleeps and loops. Bill's tone is always clean and compressed though he does get a little heavy on tracks like Lazy Robinson, and he effortlessly moves from background to foreground, never grandstanding. While Frisell's own material dominates - and the standard is amazing - there are some covers which also demonstrate why he's such a great interpreter as well. Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come lazily drifting along on the horns of Greg Tardy and Ron Miles is wonderfully laid-back, but the highlight has to be his take on Boubcar Traore's Baba Drame. This hypnotic weave through the Malian's blues is spellbinding. And just so right...
The nature of these pieces' genesis does mean that they fit more into the 'soundtrack' end of his canon. Yet the whole album stands as yet another testament to the man's place at the very epicentre of modern American music. Yes, he's done it again... --Chris Jones
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14 reviews
35 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Cinematographic soundscapes.
13 May 2008
Format:Audio CD
Trying to pigeonhole Bill Frisell is a bit similar to abstract algebra or dwarf-tossing: it's not quite as easy as you might think. Even though the guy is obviously rooted in jazz, there's so much more his music encompasses.
If you had to pick one musician from the past 20 years who has really made a difference to the way we perceive sound, the guitarist Bill Frisell would surely come close to the top of the list. His unmistakeable electric guitar technique, in which ambient colour-wash effects are used to create dreamy soundscapes, often set to the contrastingly edgy, off-kilter, rhythms associated with the New York jazz avant-garde, would alone be sufficient to ensure a place in the history books.
Bill Frisell became one of the most influential guitarists ever for a style that initially sounded like a cross between a twangy '50s rocker, Jimi Hendrix, Ry Cooder and a tape-recording playing backwards.
Those might be distinctive qualities, but beneath all that, Frisell can be a resourceful, more or less straightahead jazz guitarist, and a full-on blues player, or a fastidious chamber-music explorer.
They're standard components of any Frisell project, history and mystery. Here they're presented as a subject rather than as a given. It's a two-CD job, featuring an octet incorporating strings, horns and reeds alongside the familiar rhythm section of Kenny Wollesen and Tony Scherr.
Plus, much of the material arose from collaborations with Seattle artist Jim Woodring.
This is the Bill Frisell who makes great soundtrack music; the one who rejoices in sieving the Hot Club de Paris out of Thelonious Monk. Essential for established Frisell's fan. Not a bad place to develop the taste.
"Bill Frisell with strings" might sound like a fantasy combination, but here the guitarist is performing with an octet containing violin, cello and viola. And in a spectral, oddball way, the results are often beautiful.
As is frequently the case with Frisell, the music here is a mélange of numerous idioms, from hillbilly to modern classical, with overall a wistful, elegiac mood (which is also typical of him).
It all seems to come to life on Thelonious Monk's "Jackie-ing", on which this strange but likeable band swing along like be-boppers from Mars
"Though guitarist Bill Frisell can seem indecisive in person, he has the surest touch as a musician. That is true for his playing, where he can invest a single note with meaning, and it's true in the way he organises his music and musicians. That slow response denotes a genuine thoughtfulness. And Frisell has rethought his ensemble lineup - a kind of roots-jazz-classical chamber hybrid, though with none of the hang-ups that might imply. The octet, recorded mainly live here, are particularly good at ultra-slow tempos on numbers such as Sam Cooke's smouldering "A Change Is Gonna Come", and the drawling groove of "Struggle", which foregrounds the string trio of Hank Roberts (cello), Jenny Scheinman (violin) and Eyvind Kang (viola).
The 30-track, double CD is studded with gems such as "Baba Drame" (by Boubacar Traoré), "Waltz for Baltimore" and "Monroe", appropriately reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman".. ".Guardian
Artist Bill Frisell : guitar (with Eybind Kang - viola; Ron Miles - cornet; Hank Roberts - cello; Jenny Scheinman - violin; Tony Scherr - bass; Greg Tardy - clarinet / tenor sax; Kenny Wollesen - drums)
If you had to pick one musician from the past 20 years who has really made a difference to the way we perceive sound, the guitarist Bill Frisell would surely come close to the top of the list. His unmistakeable electric guitar technique, in which ambient colour-wash effects are used to create dreamy soundscapes, often set to the contrastingly edgy, off-kilter, rhythms associated with the New York jazz avant-garde, would alone be sufficient to ensure a place in the history books.
Bill Frisell became one of the most influential guitarists ever for a style that initially sounded like a cross between a twangy '50s rocker, Jimi Hendrix, Ry Cooder and a tape-recording playing backwards.
Those might be distinctive qualities, but beneath all that, Frisell can be a resourceful, more or less straightahead jazz guitarist, and a full-on blues player, or a fastidious chamber-music explorer.
They're standard components of any Frisell project, history and mystery. Here they're presented as a subject rather than as a given. It's a two-CD job, featuring an octet incorporating strings, horns and reeds alongside the familiar rhythm section of Kenny Wollesen and Tony Scherr.
Plus, much of the material arose from collaborations with Seattle artist Jim Woodring.
This is the Bill Frisell who makes great soundtrack music; the one who rejoices in sieving the Hot Club de Paris out of Thelonious Monk. Essential for established Frisell's fan. Not a bad place to develop the taste.
"Bill Frisell with strings" might sound like a fantasy combination, but here the guitarist is performing with an octet containing violin, cello and viola. And in a spectral, oddball way, the results are often beautiful.
As is frequently the case with Frisell, the music here is a mélange of numerous idioms, from hillbilly to modern classical, with overall a wistful, elegiac mood (which is also typical of him).
It all seems to come to life on Thelonious Monk's "Jackie-ing", on which this strange but likeable band swing along like be-boppers from Mars
"Though guitarist Bill Frisell can seem indecisive in person, he has the surest touch as a musician. That is true for his playing, where he can invest a single note with meaning, and it's true in the way he organises his music and musicians. That slow response denotes a genuine thoughtfulness. And Frisell has rethought his ensemble lineup - a kind of roots-jazz-classical chamber hybrid, though with none of the hang-ups that might imply. The octet, recorded mainly live here, are particularly good at ultra-slow tempos on numbers such as Sam Cooke's smouldering "A Change Is Gonna Come", and the drawling groove of "Struggle", which foregrounds the string trio of Hank Roberts (cello), Jenny Scheinman (violin) and Eyvind Kang (viola).
The 30-track, double CD is studded with gems such as "Baba Drame" (by Boubacar Traoré), "Waltz for Baltimore" and "Monroe", appropriately reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman".. ".Guardian
Artist Bill Frisell : guitar (with Eybind Kang - viola; Ron Miles - cornet; Hank Roberts - cello; Jenny Scheinman - violin; Tony Scherr - bass; Greg Tardy - clarinet / tenor sax; Kenny Wollesen - drums)
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
music for grownups
23 Jun 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Miles Davis once said that the secret to playing jazz was capturing the feel of children's rhymes like "Patty Cake." Bill Frisell captures it perfectly, and his music is simple, playful, and fun. It's also serious and complex. No contemporary jazz artist (other Keith Jarrett) puts me in touch with the poignancy of life the way Bill does, with the sweetness of being alive, with delight in what's transient and beautiful in the face of great loss and inevitable death. Bill (like Keith) understands how important it is to keep jazz connected to its roots in blues and American popular song. ("All Blues" would be a good title for Bill's entire oeuvre.) I think this is why I resonate more to his music than to trickier cutting edge jazz, which sometimes sounds like an unfun puzzle. History, Mystery has the kind of artistic scope of Blues Dream, but it's even larger, more natural, and more satisfying. It contains echoes of The Intercontinentals, but sounds deeper, less concepty, and more settled. The pairing of guitar and violin has an illustrious history: Rheinhardt and Grapelli, McLaughlin and Goodman, McLaughlin and Shankar, Abercrombie and Feldman. Add Frisell and Scheinman to that list.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Miniatures writ large
22 July 2008
Format:Audio CD
Bill Frisell leads an octet over the 30 mostly short songs that make up "History, Mystery". He has a very good group -- Ron Miles on trumpet, Greg Hardy on sax, Jenny Schienman, Eyvind Kang & Hank Roberts on strings, Tony Scherr on bass, and Kenny Wollesen drumming. The songs generally have a creative dreaminess about them. The closest touchstone to this CD is Frisell's "Have A Little Faith". One thing contributing to dreaminess is that many of the songs show up more than once, so there's 40 seconds of "Answer #1" then later 110 seconds of "Answer #2". For all of the interesting miniatures, the longer songs with longer solos stand out -- "Baba Drame", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Struggle", and "Waltz For Baltimore". Greg Hardy's solo in "A Change Is Gonna Come" is a highlight of the CD. Given that this CD has more players, Frisell's guitar is downplayed and he also doesn't step on his distortion pedal. It's more about Frisell the bandleader and composer and not the guitar hero. At 90 minutes, it's a long CD, but it doesn't seem long, which is a compliment. Bill Frisell fans should absolutely pick this one up. Anyone curious about Frisell would find this a good starting place as well.
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