REVIEW
All About Jazz
January 26, 2011
By John Kelman
Recorded at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the second
installment of Frisell's Download Series presents the guitarist at his
most intimate...and most vulnerable. By 2007, Frisell had honed his ability
to self-accompany with looping to such a sophisticated extent that it's
hard to believe there's only one guitarist delivering a subtle but attention-grabbing
version of Curtis Mayfield's classic, "A Change is Gonna Come." Frisell's
remarkable patience allows the song's form to evolve slowly, almost inevitably,
with his warm tone—expanded by plenty of reverb—making even
the moments where he is playing without loops rich and room-filling,
even at low volumes.
Since Frisell released the award-winning Nashville—an album that
drew no small line in the sand for the guitarist, as he seemed to desert
the more angular direction of his previous albums in favor of eminently
lyrical and structurally simplified Americana (there is, however, often
far more to his seemingly simple music than meets the eye). Frisell comes
under fire, periodically, for "deserting jazz," even though it would
have been impossible to record an album like Nashville without the broader
vernacular he'd developed from his earliest days, with saxophonist Jan
Garbarek and bassist Arild Andersen. He continues to pay tribute to personal
favorites, like pianist Thelonious Monk , on albums like Bill Frisell,
Ron Carter, Paul Motian, and here he delivers a solo version of "Crepuscule
With Nellie" that's homage in its wry edge, but all Frisell in its chocolaty-rich
warmth. There are no loops here; just Frisell with no shortage of reverb
to fatten up the sound, managing a remarkable feat of self-accompaniment,
largely through implication. Frisell similarly turns Monk's "Evidence" into
a surprising mélange of dense voicings and languid single-note
phrases, later in the set.
Frisell returns to Dylan with a medley that combines a bluesier
acoustic version of "Masters of War," bringing a different kind of energy
to this protest song, and an initially atmospheric take on "A Hard Rain's
Gonna Fall," underscored by an ethereal acoustic loop and a drop-D tuning
that gives it a hint of Celtic flavor, before finding its way to the
familiar melody. Frisell also turns to Stephen Foster for a look at "Hard
Times," first recorded by the guitarist on the rather unexpected Bill
Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001); unexpected
because, rather than being the hard-swinging jazz session most were anticipating—Jones
inspiring the guitarist to deliver his first "jazz" record in five years—it,
instead, drew the legendary bassist and drummer into Frisell's sound
world. Clearly an especially good night for Frisell, this solo performance
dovetails nicely with the more recently released DVD, Solos (Original
Spin, 2010). - John Kelman - All About Jazz
For the complete Download Series review visit All
About Jazz here. |
