Live In London, UK - November 15th, 2005

A Songline / Tone Field Production

REVIEW

All About Jazz

January 26, 2011

By John Kelman

005

Live Download Series #005, from a performance at The Barbican in London, England,
is another gem of a find—not just because it's an opportunity to hear
Frisell in a rare trio with Jenny Scheinman and Greg Liesz, but because the
set list, with the exception of some interconnecting improvisations, comes
entirely from the pen of John Lennon—alone or with Beatles-mate, Paul
McCartney. As British big band arranger Colin Towns proved recently, with
his stunning John Lennon—In His Own Write (Provocateur, 2011), Lennon
may have been "just" a pop song writer, but there's always been plenty of
possibility in his music, ranging from the simply lyricism of "Across the
Universe" to the agro- attitude of "Revolution."

With Liesz moving between pedal steel and supporting acoustic guitar, Frisell's
homage to Lennon is a little more direct than Towns,' though the guitarist's
characteristic patience in finding his way to a song is as clear as ever on
a 12-minute version of The Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." Frisell's
lengthy intro hovers around a pedal tone, with Scheinman and Liesz (on acoustic
guitar) joining in, but still allowing the song to evolve organically, as its
familiar form emerges around the four-minute mark. While individual voices
dominate, they're often fleeting, with Frisell's approach here—as with
so much of his music—more about collective interpretation.

The surprise of the two-disc, 90-minute set is "Revolution," with Frisell
strumming grungy rock and roll chords with reckless abandon, interspersed with
strange pitch shifts up into the stratosphere and down to the ocean's depths.
It's hard to imagine that a guitar, pedal steel and violin can rock out, but
Frisell, Liesz and Scheinman do just that, only to follow up with one of the
gentlest versions of the poignant "In My Life" on record. - John Kelman - All
About Jazz

For the complete Download Series review visit All About
Jazz here.