COMPOSERS: Bill Firsell,Paul Motian,Ron Carter
LABELS: Nonesuch
ALBUM TITLE: Bill Frisell
WORKS: Bill Firsell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian
PERFORMER: Bill Frisell (guitar), Ron Carter (bass), Paul Motion (drums)
CATALOGUE NO: 7559 798 972
There’s no doubt that guitarist
Bill Frisell is a true master of
understatement. He doesn’t so
much swing the music as swirl it,
carrying the tunes forward in little
eddies. For this, his 21st album
for Nonesuch, Frisell has formed
a mutual admiration society with
a like-minded rhythm section.
So attuned was the trio in the
art of subtlety that the album was
recorded ‘live’ in the studio, with
no rehearsal. The programme
is very Frisellian – ‘You Are My
Sunshine’, for example, is played at
a snail’s pace, Carter’s bass burbling,
Motian’s brushes pitter pattering
softly in the background. Monk’s
‘Misterioso’ is similarly reduced,
gently warped out of shape. The
familiar melody in Hank Williams’s
country number ‘I’m So Lonesome
I Could Cry’ appears gradually,
eventually shimmering clearly like
water-borne phosphorescence.
Frisell’s output is diverse and
consistently interesting: this lovely,
peaceful trio session is no exception.