Bill Frisell
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| Bill Frisell | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | William Richard Frisell | |
| Born | March 18, 1951 (age 56) | |
| Genre(s) | Jazz | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar | |
| Website | http://www.billfrisell.com/ | |
William Richard "Bill" Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is, along with John Scofield and Pat Metheny, one of the best-known and perhaps best-regarded jazz guitarists of the last decade. His playing, on both his own records and his collaborations with others, has covered an impressive range of styles.
Unlike most jazz guitarists, who tend to prefer a clean, unaltered tone, Frisell uses a wide range of effects (delay, distortion, reverb, octave shifters, and volume pedals, to name a few) to coax unique sounds from his instrument.
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[edit] Biography
Frisell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent most of his youth in the Denver, Colorado area and went to the University of Northern Colorado to study music. His original guitar teacher in the Denver area was Dale Bruning, with whom Frisell has released a duo album. After graduating from Northern Colorado, where he studied with Johnny Smith, Frisell went to Berklee School of Music in Boston and studied with Jim Hall. This experience was to make a lasting impression on his playing.
Frisell's major break came when Pat Metheny, unable to make a session, recommended him to Manfred Eicher of ECM Records. Frisell became their in-house guitar player, and worked on several albums, most notably Jan Garbarek's 1981 Paths, Prints. Frisell's first solo release was In Line, and was solo guitar except for some tracks featuring Arild Andersen on bass.
Frisell's first group to receive much acclaim was his quartet with Kermit Driscoll on bass, Joey Baron on drums, and Hank Roberts on cello (later slimmed down to a trio when Roberts left). Many other albums with larger ensembles were recorded with this group as the core.
In the 1980s Frisell lived in New York City and was an active participant in the city's thriving music scene. He forged an early partnership with John Zorn—including as a member of quick-change band Naked City—and performed or recorded with many others. He also became known for his work in Paul Motian's group – originally a quintet, but which slimmed down to an unusual and influential bassless trio of just Motian, Frisell and Joe Lovano.
In the 1990s Frisell made two of his most celebrated albums: first, Have a Little Faith, an ambitious survey of Americana of all stripes, from Charles Ives and Aaron Copland (the entirety of Billy the Kid) to Bob Dylan and Madonna (a surreal version of "Live to Tell"); and second, This Land, a complementary set of originals. He also branched out into performing soundtracks to the silent films of Buster Keaton with his trio, and contributed to Ryuichi Sakamoto's album Heartbeat.
In the mid-1990s, Frisell disbanded his trio and moved to Seattle, Washington. He continued the trend marked by Have a Little Faith by more explicitly incorporating elements of bluegrass and country music into his music. His friendship with Gary Larson led him to provide music for the TV version of The Far Side (released on the album Quartet along with music written for Keaton's Convict 13).
Between 2003 and 2005 Frisell acted as musical director for Century of Song, a series of concerts at the German arts festival RuhrTriennale. Frisell invited artists including Rickie Lee Jones, Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega, Arto Lindsay, Loudon Wainwright III, Vic Chesnutt, Van Dyke Parks, Buddy Miller, Ron Sexsmith and Chip Taylor to perform their favourite songs in new arrangements.
In 2005, Frisell won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his album Unspeakable.
[edit] Discography
- Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian (2006)
- Richter 858 (2005)
- East/West (2005)
- Unspeakable (2004)
- The Intercontinentals (2003)
- The Willies (2002)
- With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (2001)
- Blues Dream (2001)
- Ghost Town (2000)
- Good Dog, Happy Man (1999)
- Nashville (1997)
- Gone, Just Like a Train (1997)
- Quartet (1996)
- High Sign/One Week (1995)
- Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton (1995)
- American Blood/Safety in Numbers (1995)
- This Land (1992)
- Have a Little Faith (1992)
- Live (1991)
- Where in the World? (1990)
- Is That You? (1989)
- Before We Were Born (1989) ECM
- Lookout for Hope (1987) ECM
- Smash & Scatteration (1984)
- Rambler (1984) ECM
- In Line(1983) ECM
[edit] TV Appearances
- SOLOS: the jazz sessions (2004) Bravo! Canada
