Bill Frisell has crafted a Nonesuch catalog of more than 20 albums that DownBeat included among "the best recorded output" of the last decade. Now comes the first anthology of songs assembled from that rich catalog in The Best of Bill Frisell, Volume 1: Folk Songs, out this Tuesday. The Independent gives a perfect five stars to this album of "beautiful, ringing musicality: 15 pieces of fathomless depth played with the freshness and simplicity that only genius brings. Make your world anew and treat yourself." The Guardian gives the album four stars, calling it "a delectable collection." All About Jazz calls it "a thing of rare joy and beauty."
Over his 20-year tie with Nonesuch, Bill Frisell has crafted a catalog of more than 20 albums that DownBeat included among "the best recorded output" of the last decade. Now comes the first anthology of songs assembled from that rich catalog in The Best of Bill Frisell, Volume 1: Folk Songs, out this Tuesday.
The Independent gives the album a perfect five stars and explains Frisell's affinity for these "folk" tunes: "Unlike many musicians whose terrain is the area where jazz meets classical, Bill Firsell has no condescension towards more populist music forms, always displaying the genial adaptability that has made him a favoured collaborator with all manner of rock, jazz, pop, and country performers." Read the review at independent.co.uk.
In an earlier review for The Independent on Sunday, critic Nick Coleman says the collection is all about "beautiful, ringing musicality: 15 pieces of fathomless depth played with the freshness and simplicity that only genius brings. Make your world anew and treat yourself." That review is also at independent.co.uk.
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The Guardian gives the album four stars, with reviewer John Fordham explaining Frisell's connection to the folk genre in a paraphrase of Elvis Costello's liner note: "Frisell is always playing American folk songs, whatever style he's operating in—since he usually devotes himself to music made by 'American folk.'"
Fordham goes on to describe the album as "a delectable collection" and concludes: "Frisell keeps showing how the right sound and touch can upstage the most dazzling streams of notes."
Read the review at guardian.co.uk.
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In a review of the album for All About Jazz, Chris May also stresses the importance of and Frisell's success at moving beyond strict dividing lines between jazz and folk. "For in the right hands, like Frisell's," he writes, "country music takes on a new life, one that is irony-free and respectful of the genre's rich guitar playing and song writing traditions."
May continues: "His airy and atmospheric playing is beautiful beyond category, an eloquent denial of stereotypes. Ultimately, as the bandleader and composer Duke Ellington famously said: 'It's all just music.'"
Folk Songs, the review concludes, is "a thing of rare joy and beauty."
Read the complete review at allaboutjazz.com.
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