There are only a few guitarists who are managing to fashion a strong original sound for themselves these days and Frisell is one of them. Ostensibly he has very little to do with the Charlie Christian tradition, though it’s probably buried deep in there somewhere and he doesn’t draw explicitly from rock or r’n’b. If anything, first impressions suggest that he has listened more to Nashville pedal steel guitarists or Wout Steenhuis’s Hawaiian lyricisms. One thing’s for certain – Frisell has embraced the newish guitar synth technology, with all the colouration that that connotes. He doesn’t play single-note solos in the conventional sense and prefers a chordal approach. His playing often sounds elementary – or is it measured understatement?
Though each of these tracks have a clear rhythmic undertow, this is not explicitly rhythmic music. All the compositions are Frisell’s and tend to be rambling and loosely ordered and stamped with that sense of other-worldliness that typifies the ECM label. Frisell is surrounded by eminent sidemen. Paul Motian flicks and splashes in his usual fashion, Kenny Wheeler’s cut-glass flugelhorn sounds like it should be playing the theme to Dynasty, Bob Stewart’s comments on the proceedings sound like those of a nervous elephant and Jerome Harris keeps a low profile.
This is an odd but fascinating release that bears further investigation. In the meantime, it would be a mistake to dismiss it as the incidental music it might at first seem to be.
Discography
Tone; Music I Heard; Rambler (21.05) – When We Go; Resistor; Strange Meeting; Wizard Of Odds (24.22)
Bill Frisell (g/g syn); Kenny Wheeler (t/c/flh); Bob Stewart (tu): Jerome Harris (b); Paul Motian (d). Recorded Power Station, NYC. August 1984.
(ECM 1287)
