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Bill Frisell

Guitar in the Space Age

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The Making of Guitar in the Space Age
Bill Frisell: Guitar In The Space Age! - Nevers D'Jazz Festival 2014
1 Baja
2 Bryant's Boogie
3 Cannonball Rag
4 Lift Off
5 Messin' with the Kid
6 Pipeline
7 Rebel Rouser
8 Reflections from the Moon
9 Rumble
10 Surfer Girl
11 Telstar
12 The Shortest Day
13 Tired of Waiting for You
14 Turn, Turn, Turn
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"May you never hear surf music again." – Jimi Hendrix

"Space is the place." – Sun Ra

Just when you think you've got guitarist-composer Bill Frisell all figured out, confident in your expectations, this American original shakes things up with a heretofore unexpected glimpse into those layers of consciousness which inform his rootsy, inclusive, oh so personal style of musical outreach. Because while Bill Frisell is capable of routinely navigating the most harrowing ascents into the outer reaches of the improvisational Ionosphere without once ever flinching, there emerge at regular intervals suggestions of something more childlike and elemental; a sensibility which revels in expressions of earnest, unadorned directness-the aesthetic poetry of an impressionistic painter who is unafraid to distill things down to their most folkish, heartfelt essence. 

  • 'Four' stands among the tallest in Bill Frisell's storied catalog / glideMagazine
    Posted At: November 8, 2022 12:00 AM
    glideMagazine's Jim Hynes….Guitarist Bill Frisell, on his third recording for Blue Note, expands the quiet, explorative music he delivered on 2020’s Valentine through a much different instrumental configuration. Much of the music is about loss, the deep ties of friendship, and a few that point to renewal. The music leans far more into contemporary jazz than into the kind of folk and Americana we associate w...
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  • Philip Watson's Bill Frisell biography: 'Beautiful Dreamer' opens wide and allows you into the man in full / JazzTimes
    Posted At: May 24, 2022 12:00 AM
    A review of the Irish-based journalist's biography on the Baltimore-born guitaristJazzTimes - A.D. AMOROSI writes… Funny an Irish-based journalist who’s written about James Joyce’s Ulysses, wounded British soldiers, and Nick Cave is the man making the auspicious title claim of Bill Frisell, the Baltimore-born guitarist tied to jazz but equally respondent to folk, fusion, classical, and whatever Elvis Costel...
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  • Nobody plays guitar like Bill Frisell / The New Yorker
    Posted At: May 16, 2022 12:00 AM
    A visit with the legendary musician at his home in Brooklyn.

    The New Yorker's Paul Elie writes…“It’s, like, God, I still feel like I’m barely even scratching . . . just barely starting,” Frisell said. “That’s the nature of music: it just doesn’t end.” Bill Frisell owns sixty-three guitars, according to his biographer. Both parts of that sentence are surprising. It’s surprising that Frisell, whose rec...
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  • Bill Frisell wins JazzTimes: Critics Poll for 'Best Guitarist' and 'Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist'
    Posted At: February 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    For this annual companion poll to our Top 50 Critics' Picks, our regular contributors participated in this survey based on our yearly Readers' Poll. Contributors were asked to focus on artists' achievements during 2020 rather than assessing entire careers. Bill Frisell won for 'Best Guitarist' and 'Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist.' Bill Frisell's career as a guitaris...
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  • Watch Bill Frisell's 'Keep Your Eyes Open' / udiscovermusic.
    Posted At: July 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    Acclaimed guitarist Bill Frisell has released "Keep Your Eyes Open," the second single to be revealed from his forthcoming Blue Note album,   Valentine, featuring his trio with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston. Mixing originals new and old, jazz standards, traditional songs, and covers, Frisell's new album ‘Valentine' is set for release on August 14. "Keep Your Eyes Open," wh...
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  • Bill Frisell Trio was maybe all-time best RIJF show / Rochester City Newspaper
    Posted At: June 23, 2019 12:00 AM

    It's a stunning moment when an artist allows us inside his or her head, to that lifetime-retrospective rattling around in the brain. But that's what happened during the second show from the Bill Frisell Trio on Saturday night at the Temple Building Theater. This is the 18th Rochester International Music Festival. I've covered them all, and I would never pick an all-time best show. But this one would cert...
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  • Bill Frisell to perform in Vietnam for first time / Vietnam +
    Posted At: May 23, 2019 12:00 AM

    Guitarist Bill Frisell, widely known as one of the most versatile players in jazz history, will perform for the first time in Vietnam at the "Bill Frisell: Summer on Guitar" concert which will take place on May 26 at the Soul Live Project Complex in Ho Chi Minh City's district 3. The concert features Thomas Morgan on bass, Rudy Royston on drums, and Bill Frisell on guitar. The audience will experience a ...
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  • Bill Frisell chats with Guitar.com
    Posted At: May 2, 2019 12:00 AM

    The esteemed guitarist on being himself, letting go of theory, and why he's happy to blur the genre lines. Bill Frisell might well be one of the most-recorded guitarists of his generation. Possessing one of the most recognisably bell-like tones you'll ever hear, he's been lauded as among the most versatile players in jazz history. With the guitarist soon to hit the road following the recent release of hi...
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  • Public Radio Tulsa celebrates march birthdays, among other things
    Posted At: March 30, 2019 12:00 AM

    Tune in for the next broadcast of All This Jazz, starting at 9pm on Saturday the 30th, right here on KWGS-FM / Public Radio Tulsa. It'll be three hours of can't-miss modern jazz -- all of it introduced, chosen, contextualized, and presented by an actual person (rather than a robot)! In the third and thematic hour of our show, our theme will be March Birthdays. Thus we'll hear from Norah J...
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  • Bill Frisell returns for Give-a-Jam / Louisville Eccentric Observer
    Posted At: March 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Renowned jazz guitarist and composer Bill Frisell has a history of helping the homeless. He once did a string of shows supporting the progressive, Seattle-based, homeless advocacy newspaper Real Change. Now, Frisell is returning to Louisville for 2019's first Give-a-Jam, a benefit concert series for the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless. He told LEO Weekly when an opportunity comes "to actually help ...
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  • JAZZIZ wishes Bill Frisell 'happy birthday' with SONG OF THE DAY
    Posted At: March 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    Bill Frisell, whose career as a pathbreaking guitarist spans more than 40 years, was born on this day (March 18) in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. With more than 35 albums as a leader, Frisell has become one of the leading voices in jazz guitar, with a style that merges modern jazz with elements of folk, early rock and roll, country music, bluegrass, Americana and the avant-garde. Today's Song of the Day ...
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  • Bill Frisell readies four-night residency at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage / San Francisco Chronicle
    Posted At: February 25, 2019 12:00 AM

    Bill Frisell contains multitudes, but it's not often that several of his bandstand personae get to hang out in the same building. With music as variable as the weather, the protean jazz guitarist seems to introduce a new band or project every month. But most of the time, he's on the move with one ensemble focusing on a particular body of work. In a welcome change of pace, he plays a four-night reside...
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  • New Bill Frisell, Cuong Vu collaboration reflects a cross-continental sensibility / popMATTERS
    Posted At: October 2, 2018 12:00 AM

    In 2007, trumpeter and composer Cuong Vu moved from New York to Seattle, where he teaches music at the University of Washington. Bill Frisell, the versatile guitarist, made the same move years before, and he just returned to New York recently. But the two overlapped on the west coast for over decade-along with bassist Luke Bergman and drummer Ted Poor. Change in the Air is the hippest of their collaborat...
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  • John Zorn brings his multiconcert marathon to ARTIC, pairing 12 ensembles with iconic artworks / Chicago Reader
    Posted At: September 1, 2018 12:00 AM

    In recent years the sprawling variety and prolificacy of works by musician, composer, and community force John Zorn, have been showcased in appropriately ambitious, multiconcert marathon events presented all around the world with enormous casts of musicians. Last month I experienced one of the largest such efforts when Jazz em Agosto, in Lisbon, Portugal, turned over its entire ten-day lineup to Zorn's m...
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  • Watch Bill Frisell discuss fender mustangs in 'Carmine Street Guitars' trailer / Deadline Hollywood
    Posted At: August 31, 2018 12:00 AM

    Bill Frisell, a member of John Zorn's Naked City and the man who provided the music for the TV version of Gary Larson's The Far Side, talks Fender Mustang guitars and The Astronauts in this exclusive clip of doc Carmine Street Guitars, which premieres next week in Venice. The doc, which has its world premiere in Venice on September 3 before airing in Toronto and New York, was instigated by filmmaker and ...
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  • Hear Paul Simon's new version of 'Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War' / RollingStone
    Posted At: August 30, 2018 12:00 AM

    Paul Simon adds lush orchestral layers to "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" in a new version of the 1983 track. New York chamber ensemble yMusic offers textural elegance to the rerecorded take, which appears on the singer-songwriter's upcoming 14th LP, In the Blue Light out September 7th. 10 new versions of overlooked pieces from throughout Simon's catalog. Guitarist Bill Frisell...
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  • Mary Halvorson and Bill Frisell team for Johnny Smith tribute / Reverb Q&A
    Posted At: August 22, 2018 12:00 AM

    Guitarists Mary Halvorson and Bill Frisell have two of the most distinctive musical voices of their respective generations. Each has found a rare and unparalleled way of approaching the instrument, with such unique approaches to melody, harmony, and their respective sounds, and it's no surprise that they've both inspired the future of guitar music. At the impetus of composer and Tzadik records pr...
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  • Skuli Sverrisson, Bill Frisell and more on WBGO's 'Take Five'
    Posted At: August 13, 2018 12:00 AM

    Look Sharp with NATE CHINEN and New Music on 'Take Five,' featuring Christian Sands, Mark Turner, Bill Frisell and more.  Newvelle Records, the audiophile subscription vinyl label, is now into its third season. For those who have the proper resources - a working turntable, and some discretionary funds - it's a fabulous fount of new music that can't be heard any other way. The latest...
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  • Carmine Street Guitars documentary set for world premier at Venice Film Festival / Variety
    Posted At: July 26, 2018 12:00 AM

    New documentary "Carmine Street Guitars" will have its world premier at the Venice Film Festival. The Ron Mann-directed film chronicles a week in the life of Greenwich Village guitar maker Rick Kelly and his apprentice Cindy Hulej. Kelly's method is unique: he builds his guitars out of wood salvaged from old New York City buildings constructed in the 1800s or as he calls it, "the bones of old New Yor...
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  • Bill Frisell Trio set for Boulder Theater / Westword
    Posted At: June 13, 2018 12:00 AM

    When guitarist Bill Frisell, who grew in Denver and is now based in Brooklyn, was beginning his career as a professional musician in the early '80s, he played a solo show for the first time and told himself he never wanted to do it again. But the next year he did another solo gig and one the year after that, and it gradually became easier. The chameleonic Frisell clearly knows how to get inside whate...
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  • Set for Boulder Theatre, Bill Frisell chats with KGNU
    Posted At: June 13, 2018 12:00 AM

    Almost every day, Bill Frisell gets up in the morning, has some coffee, and writes music. At this point, there are piles and piles and piles of single pages of staff paper filled with his graceful script. "I don't know where the melodies come from," says Frisell. "I try not to judge anything and just let them be." Frisell's mantra, or motto so to speak, is, "Music is Good" – a statement said t...
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  • Bill Frisell indeed sounds like no other. Highlights from the Discover Jazz Festival / BurlingtonFreePress.com
    Posted At: June 11, 2018 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} Bill Frisell, left, talks with William Ellis, professor in the music department at St. Michael's College, during a "Meet the Artist" session in FlynnSpace as part of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival on June 7, 2018.  An audience member mentioned how unique the guitar giant's tone is, and that he sou...
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  • Bill Frisell releases spellbinding solo guitar album / Chicago Reader
    Posted At: June 1, 2018 12:00 AM

    Few musicians have built as distinctive a sound world as guitarist Bill Frisell. Though he's ostensibly a jazz guitarist, since the early 80s he's funneled a wide variety of influences and ideas from country, rock, noise, and various international traditions into an aesthetic as American as anything forged by Sousa, Presley, or Copland. Though specific projects such as film scores or songbooks constantly...
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  • Bill Frisell - Music IS sincere guitar artistry / 91.5KIOS: Last Call 'Pick of the Week'
    Posted At: May 22, 2018 12:00 AM

    Guitarist Bill Frisell is back with another album, and this one is a solo date. Frisell is a one-man band with electric and acoustic guitars, loops, bass, ukulele and music boxes. He roams freely through his influences, which range widely from country, to folk & rock & jazz. The satisfying results will please almost any listener who is interested in sincere guitar artistry. Highlights of disc inc...
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  • Frisell,Morgan,Royston, set for NAJS: summer jazz kickoff / 91.3KUAF
    Posted At: May 22, 2018 12:00 AM

    Bill Frisell Trio featuring Thomas Morgan & Rudy Royston June 14 will kick off the 91.3KUAF - jazz summer concert series. This concert is presented by the Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society and Walton Arts Center as part of the 20th season of Summer Jazz Concerts and the Artosphere Festival. On Frisell, The New York Times wrote; "It's hard to find a more fruitful meditation on American mus...
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  • Bill Frisell Trio, set for 'Sound,' chats with 103.3 - The Duluth Alternative
    Posted At: May 17, 2018 12:00 AM

    Grammy award-winning guitarist Bill Frisell brings his Trio, featuring Tony Scherr & Kenny Wollesen to 'Sound' in Duluth MN on May 18. Frisell explores the musical possibilities of his own multi-faceted compositions and time-honored jazz and folk songs with this ever-evolving constellation of extraordinary musicians. Their diverse backgrounds and talents provide a wide-open climate to interpr...
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  • Bill Frisell knows what Music IS / NWADemocrat & Gazette
    Posted At: April 22, 2018 12:00 AM

    I've interviewed four American presidents. Norman Mailer. Madonna. Tom Cruise. They can work out well and make great pieces, but I hardly ever get excited about doing interviews. Because I was talking about Bill Frisell. The occasion was a show he was scheduled to play at Little Rock's Ron Robinson Theater -- a show that wound up being canceled because of bad weather. So while I talked to Fri...
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  • Bill Frisell 'Music IS' could also be titled - 'Music Frisell Is' / 88.9KUCI - Irvine
    Posted At: April 16, 2018 12:00 AM

    Certain artists play themselves through their instruments. In a strange way their instruments are peripheral to their performances and their compositions are vehicles for their passing humours. In these sixteen short pieces for electric guitar and effects Frisell presents a summation of a musical and more urgently a personal vision. Like Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier" or Coltrane's "A Love Suprem...
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  • Bill Frisell releases long overdue solo album / Jazz Weekly
    Posted At: April 16, 2018 12:00 AM

    Guitarist Bill Frisell releases a long overdue solo album, collecting material ranging from his earliest albums to fresh new material. Because of his experimentation with sounds and colors, any return to an "old" song is bound to have radical re-interpretations, and Frisell doesn't disappoint. His effects on "In Line" and "The Rambler" from his first ECM album, as well as his return to "Ron Carter" featu...
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  • Bill Frisell - Music IS...good / Something Else! Reviews
    Posted At: April 13, 2018 12:00 AM

    Bill Frisell recently released Music IS, a solo studio project, via Okeh / Sony Music Masterworks – but it almost had a slightly different title. Frisell's mantra is "music is good," a saying which comes from his banjo-playing friend Danny Barnes. "That is something that I can say is always true. It is so perfect. Everything I need to know is that phrase," Frisell says. "I almost called the album t...
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  • Bill Frisell releases long-awaited solo album / jazztrail
    Posted At: April 9, 2018 12:00 AM

    Venerated guitarist Bill Frisell, one of the most emblematic figures of Americana and folk-jazz, releases his long-awaited solo album, Music Is. The 16-track recording includes brand new compositions and old material irresistibly dressed with the sonic possibilities of our times. In addition to the electric and acoustic guitars, Frisell plays ukulele, electronic loops, bass, and music boxes, in a lush fu...
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  • There are beautifully reflective pieces on Bill Frisell's Music IS / Elsewhere
    Posted At: April 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    When Elsewhere profiled Bill Frisell in advance of his appearances at the Wellington Jazz festival in 2017 we headed the piece "Guitarist Without Portfolio". Among his vast catalogue are recordings for ECM, albums with titles like Richter 858, Guitar in the Space Age, Music for the Films of Buster Keaton, Nashville . . . And everywhere his mercurial and meticulous guitar seems to fit perfectly. ...
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  • Ahead of AthensGA date, flagpole highlights Bill Frisell
    Posted At: April 4, 2018 12:00 AM

    Sixty-seven-year-old Bill Frisell, one of the world's most influential guitarists, recorded his live album Small Town in 2016 at the world's most famous jazz club, the Village Vanguard in New York. When Frisell arrives to play Hendershot's on Friday April 6, in a trio with bassist Thomas Morgan-his duo partner from Small Town-and drummer Rudy Royston, he'll be in an actual small town, though one with a v...
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  • Acoustic tracks, bass and ukulele broaden the sonic palette, on Bill Frisell - Music IS / Audiophile Audition
    Posted At: April 4, 2018 12:00 AM

    Bill Frisell is a guitarist for all seasons. He fits in as the ultimate guitar sideman. His tastes are eclectic and cover rock, country, jazz, and bluegrass. His use of variable timbre is well known and he can combine beautiful melody with a rapid progression into dissonance. On one session he can cover John Lennon (All We Are Saying in 2011) and then play on a John Zorn Tzadik label that can satisfy the...
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  • A 'who's who' for John Abercrombie: Timeless concert / Brooklyn Vegan
    Posted At: March 29, 2018 12:00 AM

    On March 26, Brooklyn venue Roulette hosted ‘John Abercrombie: Timeless – A Tribute to His Life and Music,' a benefit concert in honor of the late jazz musician who passed on in August of 2017 at 72 years old. Abercrombie was an innovative and prominent guitarist recorded over 40 albums as a leader or co-leader and the majority were released by the revered label ECM where he remained a fl...
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  • Bill Frisell Q&A with Premier Guitar
    Posted At: March 27, 2018 12:00 AM

    "They're sort of floating around out there, and we don't even know where they're coming from or how far they are or what's going on." Bill Frisell is talking about melodies and stars, but what he's saying illustrates a lot about his sound. From the tones he conjures out of his guitar to his improvisational vocabulary, Frisell draws from ideas that seem to be floating around in the musical cosmos. At any ...
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