All About Jazz: On "History, Mystery," Frisell Makes the Familiar New As Miles Davis Did

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Bill Frisell played the closing sets last night in his two-week residency at New York's Village Vanguard, with Paul Motion and Joe Lovano. This week, Bill heads to Pennsylvania for two shows with Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston. All About Jazz reviews History, Mystery, the latest release from this master of the "haunting, twang-inflected telecaster," comparing to Miles Davis his ability to take the familiar in ever new directions. One reason: "his brilliant orchestrations and ability to streamline what could be an unwieldy ensemble."

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Last night, Bill Frisell played the closing sets in his two-week residency at New York's Village Vanguard, with Paul Motion and Joe Lovano. This week, Bill heads to Pennsylvania for shows at Penn State and Lehigh University with a different trio, featuring Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston.

The Morning Call, out of Pennsylvania's Allentown/Bethlehem area, previews Bill's show this Friday at Lehigh's Zoellner Arts Center with an article on the guitarist "known for his unusual inspirational sources and his ability to draw fresh insights from seemingly straight-forward material." Read the piece at mcall.com. For tour information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

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All About Jazz reviews Bill's latest Nonesuch release, the two-disc History, Mystery, which was out earlier this year. Reviewer Matthew Miller says the new work from Bill—he of the "haunting, twang-inflected telecaster"—features both familiar material and "a new direction" for the celebrated guitarist. By way of explaining the paradox, Miller writes:

For an artist rooted in sound and atmosphere, change occurs, more often than not, through re-contextualization. Miles Davis embodied this over a career of brilliant juxtapositions and, in this way, Bill Frisell is his closest contemporary. 

He also suggests as a possible explanation that it "may well be a result of his brilliant orchestrations and ability to streamline what could be an unwieldy ensemble."

To read the review, visit allaboutjazz.com.

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Bill Frisell "History, Mystery" [album cover]
  • Monday, September 15, 2008
    All About Jazz: On "History, Mystery," Frisell Makes the Familiar New As Miles Davis Did

    Last night, Bill Frisell played the closing sets in his two-week residency at New York's Village Vanguard, with Paul Motion and Joe Lovano. This week, Bill heads to Pennsylvania for shows at Penn State and Lehigh University with a different trio, featuring Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston.

    The Morning Call, out of Pennsylvania's Allentown/Bethlehem area, previews Bill's show this Friday at Lehigh's Zoellner Arts Center with an article on the guitarist "known for his unusual inspirational sources and his ability to draw fresh insights from seemingly straight-forward material." Read the piece at mcall.com. For tour information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

    ---

    All About Jazz reviews Bill's latest Nonesuch release, the two-disc History, Mystery, which was out earlier this year. Reviewer Matthew Miller says the new work from Bill—he of the "haunting, twang-inflected telecaster"—features both familiar material and "a new direction" for the celebrated guitarist. By way of explaining the paradox, Miller writes:

    For an artist rooted in sound and atmosphere, change occurs, more often than not, through re-contextualization. Miles Davis embodied this over a career of brilliant juxtapositions and, in this way, Bill Frisell is his closest contemporary. 

    He also suggests as a possible explanation that it "may well be a result of his brilliant orchestrations and ability to streamline what could be an unwieldy ensemble."

    To read the review, visit allaboutjazz.com.

    Journal Articles:On TourReviews

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