Photo by Monica Jane Frisell
Bill Frisell is 72 years old today.
A guitarist, composer and arranger, Frisell has been one of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s. His eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music and noise music. He is known for using an array of effects to create unique sounds from his instrument.
Born in Baltimore, Frisell spent most of his youth in the Denver area. He studied clarinet with Richard Joiner of the Denver Symphony Orchestra as a youth, graduated from Denver East High School and went to the University of Northern Colorado to study music.
His original guitar teacher in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area was Dale Bruning, with whom Frisell released the 2000 duo album, Reunion.
After graduating from Northern Colorado, where he studied with Johnny Smith, Frisell went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he studied with Jon Damian and Jim Hall.
Frisell's major break came when guitarist Pat Metheny was unable to make a recording session, and recommended Frisell to Paul Motian, who was recording Psalm (1982) for ECM Records. Frisell became ECM's in-house guitar player, and worked on several albums, most notably Jan Garbarek's 1981 Paths, Prints.
Frisell's first solo release was In Line, which featured solo guitar as well as duets with the bassist, Arild Andersen.
Frisell's first group to receive much acclaim was a quartet with Kermit Driscoll on bass, Joey Baron on drums and Hank Roberts on cello (later slimmed down to a trio when Roberts left). Many other albums with larger ensembles were recorded with this group as the core.
In the 1980s, Frisell lived in the New York City area and was an active participant in the city's music scene. He lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the rents were cheaper and the city was accessible via public transportation.
He forged an early partnership with John Zorn — including as a member of quick-change band, Naked City — and performed or recorded with many others. He also became known for his work in Motian's trio, along with saxophonist Joe Lovano.
In 1988, Frisell left New York City and moved to Seattle. In the early 1990s, Frisell made two of his best-reviewed albums: first, Have a Little Faith, an ambitious survey of Americana of all stripes, from Charles Ives and Aaron Copland (the entirety of Billy the Kid) to John Hiatt (the title song), Bob Dylan ("Just Like a Woman") and Madonna (a lengthy, psychedelic rock-tinged version of "Live to Tell").
The second was, This Land, a complementary set of originals. During this time he performed with many musicians, including the more up and coming, such as Douglas September on the album, 10 Bulls. He also branched out by performing soundtracks to silent films of Buster Keaton with his trio, and contributed to Ryuichi Sakamoto's album, Heartbeat.
In the mid-1990s, Frisell disbanded his trio. He continued the trend marked by Have a Little Faith by more explicitly incorporating elements of bluegrass and country music into his music. His friendship with Gary Larson led him to provide music for the TV version of The Far Side (released on the album, Quartet, along with music written for Keaton's Convict 13).
Since 2000, Frisell has lived on Bainbridge Island, Washington, near Seattle.
Here, Frisell performs the music for the 2014 film, The Great Flood