The Unpredictable World of Bill Frisell (By Resnicoff, Matt; MAGAZINE ARTICLE Guitar Player)

Article excerpt

THE STUDENT SITS IN HIS teacher's music room, hunched over handwritten charts laid on a small table. "Sorry, William," the teacher says as they work through a twisted melody in one of the young man's compositions. It's mid-afternoon in Greenwich Village, a few hours before a recital of sorts, which, it so happens, will take place several blocks away at one of the most historically charged rooms in jazz lore. The calm rehearsal continues with a few more smiles, a few more deliciously lush-toned clams. "I'll get it right tonight," the elder player promises. "Can I have another crack at it?" * The teacher is Jim Hall, and William is Bill Frisell, who Jim will introduce to a packed Village Vanguard this evening as "the Thelonious Monk of guitar." From a critic, that comparison would be one easy way to reconcile the lyric beauty of Frisell's playing with his mischievous love of dissonance. Coming from Hall, a giant who's shared this stage with piano legend Bill Evans, the analogy is a benediction of the deep voice Frisell gives his instrument. No matter what he's playing or who he's playing with, Frisell creates his own little world of shimmering sound, one that everyone these days seems to want to co-opt for their own records.

That high demand supports Frisell's greatest eccentricity, an almost childlike openness reflected not only in how he plays and carries himself, but in the incongruous musicians he associates with. His creamy, underwater tones grace a newly issued 1991 Live set, with Joey Baron and Kermit Driscoll; then there's his electronically manipulated half-hour solo on Safety In Numbers/American Blood, and his music for three Buster Keaton films. After some successfull duets in London with Elvis Costello, Bill rejoined his former teacher on Hall's new Dialogues, which he helped Jim celebrate by flying in to New York for two late sets. His next gig is tomorrow night in Berlin, where for the first time he'll re-create onstage the multi-idiomatic barrage that made Going Back Home, by Cream founder Ginger Baker, one of last year's most exciting albums.

Seeing Bill Frisell perform, you may wonder why his hair sticks straight up in front while he's onstage. It's not static electricity - when a musician travels 250 days a year, he often finds himself preparing tough material hours before playing rooms like the Vanguard. So during sound checks, Bill plows his hand nervously up through his hair, giving it a distinctive crest. Offstage, his hair is as flat as his rural, Garrison Keillor affect; he speaks very slowly, often pausing at odd moments to unfurl a wide, endearingly shy grin. You can't help but be drawn into his world.

You've done a ton of records recently, but you surprised people with Going Back Home.

It was great. I mean, Ginger Baker - I went to hear him when I was like 14. That music is what got me going, so to actually be playing right up next to that was really cool.

Did it help that Charlie Haden was on the date?

A lot, because I shook Ginger's hand once, ten years before. I don't think he ever heard note I played, and I just walked in and said, "Hi, I'm Bill, the guitar player." [Mimics Baker's embittered grumble] "Right...."[Laughs.] I don't know what he thought. But the attitude was really cool: "Well, let's try to play some music." It was cool that Charlie was there, because I'd done a few things with him so there was a hookup. It could have been a disaster. But part of what gets me off is trying to deal with new situations. That's how I learn.

That must require more confidence than you emit personally. Do you go into sessions thinking, "Well, I've got stuff that will always work," or do you start from scratch?

Some of both. It's lame if you go in and show everybody what you know; that's not music. It's more about people getting together, just communicating. [Grins.] But I think back 20 years, and I'd go into situations absolutely terrified.

Did that change how you were playing or how you were thinking about the social aspect of playing? …

Article details
PUBLICATION:
Guitar Player

VOLUME/ISSUE:
Vol. 30, No. 1

PUBLICATION DATE:
January 1996

CONTRIBUTORS:
Resnicoff, Matt

SUBJECTS:
Frisell, Bill--Interviews

Jazz musicians--Interviews

Guitarists--Interviews