AAJ Review: Bill Frisell: A Portrait, Emma Franz's Documentary Film

[jkelman]

My review of Emma Franz's documentary film, Bill Frisell: A Portrait, premiering this week at SXSW, today at All About Jazz.

Not long after the film Bill Frisell: A Portrait begins to roll, Bonnie Raitt - one of the many high profile names that lend their thoughts about one of the most influential guitarists and composers of the past forty years to the film, in this guitarist/singer/songwriter's case, having enlisted him as a guest on her last two albums (2012's Grammy Award-winning Slipstream and 2016 follow-up Dig in Deep - describes Frisell as ..."a unifying force amongst so many different musicians. I don't know that many people, in as wide a range of styles of music, that have as much respect for anybody as they do for Bill. He's universally loved."

Not long afterwards, producer Hal Willner - with whom Frisell has worked on many projects, including the guitarist's own Grammy-winning Unspeakable (Nonesuch, 2004) - expands upon the profound respect, admiration and love that he and many other share when it comes to Frisell and his music.

So, it's clear that Bill Frisell is a guitarist, composer and multiple bandleader who may be the nicest, most admirable guy - not just in jazz, but in music, period. But Bill Frisell: A Portrait - Emma Franz's captivating two-hour documentary about an artist who, at a healthy-looking age 65, is a long way from finished but, with hundreds of recorded appearances and a personal discography of nearly forty albums, is long overdue this kind of detailed look--reveals so much about Frisell the musician and the man. A deep thinker who nevertheless tries, when he plays and composes, not to think too much, Frisell may also be one of the most humble, generous and honest artists on any scene, and the beauty of Franz's film is that it comes about as close to capturing just who he is as anyone who has had the pleasure of getting to know him to even a small degree will know.

Continue reading here...

[mozo-pg]

Nice review. If you picked 1 or 2 of his best releases, which one would you pick? I realise this is like a needle in a haystack.

[jkelman]

Nice review. If you picked 1 or 2 of his best releases, which one would you pick? I realise this is like a needle in a haystack.

Thanks, as ever.

One or two is tough, but I'll give you the best I can that is a cross-section of his work, as he's done so much:

1. In Line (ECM) - his solo debut, half multi-tracked guitar pieces, half duets with Arild Andersen 1983
2. Have a Little Faith (Nonesuch, 1993) - his "covers record," but few artists do a cover record with composers ranging from John Hiatt and Bob Dylan, Aaron Copland and Charles Ives, to Madonna (his version of "Live to Tell" became a show-stopped around that time)
3. This Land (Nonesuch, 1994) - for me, the best album, compositionally speaking, that he's ever done (and that's saying something). If I had to pick 2 I'd pick Have a Little Faith and this...as the Americana thing he was to become know for was already in force here
4. Good Dog, Happy Man (Nonesuch, 1999) - IMO, his best pure Americana recording.
5. Blues Dream (Nonesuch, 2001) - Take Good Dog and add brass....
6. Unspeakable (Nonesuch 2004) - a collaboration with producer/sampler Hal Wilner that was totally new for Bill, yet still totally him.
7. Sign of Life - his second album with what became known as his 858 quartet, essentially a classical string quartet but with Frisell taking the place of one of the violins. Sublime stuff, arranged in real time by the entire quartet..a remarkable album if for no other reason than that.
8. When You Wish Upon a Star (Okeh, 2016) - Bill's first vocal-centric album featuring Petra Haden (Charlie Haden's daughter, with whom he'd collaborated in the past); with her ethereal voice, the tracks that feature her are, as to be expected, about as far away from conventional jazz vocal albums as you might get.

A couple of extras:

1. His first major label appearance with Eberhard Weber on the German bassist's 1979 album, Fluid Rustle; his playing a bit tentative, but you can already hear what would make him become such a giant. And the album, overall, is tremendous.
2. He has a terrific Live Download Series of downloadable shows (MP3 or CD Quality FLAC), many including groups that have never been recorded on any of his commercial releases. Priced very reasonably, I've got them all, and have reviewed 1-13 here and 14-17 here. I owe him a piece on 18-21...

Sorry for a much longer list. But his career has been so varied that I'd say these, at the very least, give a reasonable idea of the many things he has done (but far from all). That said, start with This Land and Have a Little Faith - two back-to-back releases that remain amongst my very favourite. They're also at a time when he was particularly edgy, though I disagree with some who feel he's lost that edge; he's grown into a broader-reaching guitarist, and while the more aggro stuff of his earlier days isn't as pronounced today, there are still plenty of examples of it. Just sayin'

Hope this helps!
John