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Bill Frisell: Beautiful Dreamers

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Savoy Jazz
Released: 2010.08.31
Time:
 63:17
Category: Jazz
Producer(s): Lee Townsend
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.billfrisell.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2016
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Love Sick (Bill Frisell) - 1:04
[2] Winslow Homer (Bill Frisell) - 3:32
[3] Beautiful Dreamer (Stephen Foster) - 3:02
[4] A Worthy Endeavor (Bill Frisell) - 5:24
[5] It's Nobody's Fault But Mine (Blind Willie Johnson) - 4:34
[6] Baby Cry (Bill Frisell) - 6:21
[7] Benny's Bugle (Benny Goodman) - 3:31
[8] Tea for Two (Vincent Youmans) - 4:28
[9] No Time to Cry (Bill Frisell) - 1:36
[10] Better Than a Machine (Bill Frisell) - 2:49
[11] Goin' Out of My Head (Teddy Randazzo / Bobby Weinstein) - 2:46
[12] Worried Woman (Bill Frisell) - 4:44
[13] Keep on the Sunny Side (A. P. Carter) - 2:26
[14] Sweetie (Bill Frisell) - 4:28
[15] All We Can Do (Bill Frisell) - 6:16
[16] Who Was That Girl? (Bill Frisell) - 6:16

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Bill Frisell - Guitar
Eyvind Kang - Viola
Rudy Royston - Drums

Lee Townsend - Producer
Adam Blomberg - Production Assistant
Adam Muñoz - Engineer, Mixing
Greg Calbi - Mastering
Michael Wilson - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded between March-April 2010 at the Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA.



'For a long time I'd had the dream of making a trio with Eyvind Kang and Rudy Royston. We've known each other for years and worked together in many situations. The idea came about as a result of the power and strength of the connection that happens when we play music together. It wasn't about the instruments, it was about the people. We played our first gig on June 7, 2008 in Eugene, Oregon and from the first note, it was working. Each time we get together the music feels new.....and old. Backwards and forwards. Up and down. Anything is possible. I can't wait to hear what happens next. Of course, the next thing on my mind was wishing, hoping we could make an album together of new music. I went to my friend Lee Townsend. Anyone familiar with my music needs no introduction to Lee. Over more than 20 years he has produced many of my albums. We were working together on another project at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley CA. and I started noticing the size, shape, sound, vibe of the room there. It was like it had been custom designed. The perfect set up and atmosphere to record this trio. The next thing I knew, we were in there recording and Savoy came along and wanted to put out the record! I'm so fortunate having the chance to play music with Eyvind and Rudy and having an audience willing to go along for the latest adventure. I'm the luckiest guy in the world being surrounded by all these folks who have so much faith and trust in the music, helping me to make my dreams come true. Beautiful dreamers.'

Bill Frisell



Bill Frisell recently signed with Savoy / 429 Records and released “Beautiful Dreamers” —a stunning recording consisting of new original compositions and striking reinterpretations featuring Eyvind Kang (viola) and Rudy Royston (drums). Produced by Lee Townsend, engineered by Adam Muñoz at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley and mastered with Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York, “Beautiful Dreamers” captures the magic of one of Frisell's most personal statements in seamless and stimulating musical dialogue with his band mates Kang and Royston.

When listening to Bill Frisell play, it’s easy to forget you’re hearing an electric guitar. Through touch, tone and voicings that are free of the usual six-string tropes, his instrument can sound, variously, like a pedal steel, a toy piano, a string quartet, a church bell, a plane in the distance, even a human voice.

This remarkable gift continues to serve him well on his 29th solo album, whether he’s covering Stephen Foster (“Beautiful Dreamer”), Benny Goodman (“Benny’s Bugle”) or Teddy Randazzo (“Goin’ Out of My Head”), or playing his own spooky, cinematic tunes like “Baby Cry,” “Winslow Homer” and “Better Than a Machine.” The striking originality of the arrangements Frisell creates with viola player Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston can even transform ancient Tin Pan Alley fare like “Tea for Two” or “Keep on the Sunny Side” into something startlingly fresh and modern.

billfrisell. com



Beautiful Dreamers is Bill Frisell's debut for Savoy Jazz. He left longstanding label Nonesuch in 2009, claiming he needed to release more than one record per year in order to to document his various bands, film score commitments, and commissions. This set features the guitarist in the company of violist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston on a program of ten originals and six covers. While this trio is well known for using various effects in concert to expand its sonic palette, and jamming on various tunes for long periods of time, here the musicians are virtually a mirror image of that incarnation, playing with restraint, brevity, and melodic sensitivity. Frisell's originals range between speculative, atmospherically mysterious numbers such as "Love Sick" and more rhythmically pronounced exercises that engage in contrapuntal play between the guitarist and Kang, as on "Winslow Homer," which also flirts with bluegrass while Royston lays down breaks inside hip-hop drums. "Better Than a Machine" is dedicated to the late Vic Chesnutt, and employs two of his themes in a perky, rockist tribute with some nice dissonance from Kang and power chords from Frisell. But they also underscore the covers, which are typical of Frisell; they reflect his wide interest in American music and his sense of humor. There's a parlor-room reading of Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer," an elegant version of "Goin' Out of My Head" that features killer pizzicato playing from Kang (and refers more to the original hit version by Little Anthony & the Imperials than the version by Sergio Mendes), the forlorn, wary blues of Blind Willie Johnson's "It's Nobody's Fault But Mine" stretched to the breaking point, and a swinging read of "Benny's Bugle." The blues also appears on "Worried Woman," with a direct quote from John Lennon's "I Found Out" and great rhythmic and harmonic interplay between all members of the trio. There's a sparkling cover of A.P. Carter's "Keep on the Sunny Side" that underscores Frisell's well-documented love of Americana and country music. At an hour in length, this can seem like an overly long exercise at times - "Tea for Two" feels like an eternity and some of Frisell's originals are a tad amorphous, like cues left off film scores - but these are minor complaints. Ultimately, Beautiful Dreamers is a wonderfully balanced trio exercise.

Thom Jurek - All Music Guide



Heralded as a sonic innovator since his seminal work for ECM Records in the mid-eighties, Grammy winning, perennial Best Jazz Guitarist award recipient Bill Frisell has developed a rich body of work over the past two decades, guaranteeing him a place in the history books alongside his heroes Jim Hall and Jimi Hendrix. Fastidiously documented by Elektra/Nonesuch since the early nineties, Frisell's twenty plus releases for the label encompass everything from soundtracks for silent films to genre-straddling collaborations with Nashville session musicians.

A departure of sorts, Beautiful Dreamers is Frisell's debut for Savoy and his first proper jazz album for an imprint other than Elektra/Nonesuch since 1988's Before We Were Born. Produced by longtime associate Lee Townshend, the record features Frisell's two year old working trio of violist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston. Similar to the enigmatic ambience of Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996), Frisell's first date with Kang as a sideman, this stripped down session eschews the electronic fireworks of the guitarist's early days in favor of an understated electro-acoustic sheen. Following a well-worn path through surreal Americana, this collection alternates bucolic panoramas with dark hued gothic vistas.

Ethereal and spare, with periodic interludes of spry activity, the sixteen tunes that comprise the album are models of brevity and sonic restraint—yet hardly indicators of the trio's expansive diversity, as suggested by contemporaneous concert reports. This paradox is symptomatic of almost all of Frisell's later period studio recordings. Far more dynamic on stage, Frisell's meticulously crafted studio albums often sound overly reserved in comparison with his live shows.

The languid lyricism of tunes like Stephen Foster's winsome "Beautiful Dreamer" and the sonorous "Who Was That Girl?" set the tone for the majority of the session, with moments of vibrant clarity often found in the work of other authors. A delightfully quirky version of the sixties pop standard "Goin' Out of My Head" and stirring covers of Benny Goodman's "Benny's Bugle" and Blind Willie Johnson's "It's Nobody's Fault But Mine" convey as much buoyant energy as Frisell's own jaunty originals "Winslow Homer" and "Better Than a Machine." Whether careening through the ebullient "Keep On the Sunny Side" or delicately underscoring the melancholy swells of "No Time To Cry," Kang and Royston provide sympathetic accompaniment and nuanced interplay to Frisell's subtly melodic, harmonic and rhythmic eccentricities.

Since the turn of the Millennium, Frisell has become renowned for his cinematically eclectic interpretations of blues, country and folk forms, having long gravitated away from the uncompromising eighties-era Downtown scene led by composer John Zorn. Despite the shift to a new label, Beautiful Dreamers fits seamlessly into the arc of Frisell's oeuvre, opening a new, albeit familiar chapter in his discography.

Troy Collins - August 25, 2010
© 2016 All About Jazz



When listening to Bill Frisell play, it’s easy to forget you’re hearing an electric guitar. Through touch, tone and voicings that are free of the usual six-string tropes, his instrument can sound, variously, like a pedal steel, a toy piano, a string quartet, a church bell, a plane in the distance, even a human voice.

This remarkable gift continues to serve him well on his 29th solo album, whether he’s covering Stephen Foster (“Beautiful Dreamer”), Benny Goodman (“Benny’s Bugle”) or Teddy Randazzo (“Goin’ Out of My Head”), or playing his own spooky, cinematic tunes like “Baby Cry,” “Winslow Homer” and “Better Than a Machine.” The striking originality of the arrangements Frisell creates with viola player Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston can even transform ancient Tin Pan Alley fare like “Tea for Two” or “Keep on the Sunny Side” into something startlingly fresh and modern.

Recorded at Fantasy Studios and produced by longtime collaborator Lee Townsend, this record doesn’t really sound much like jazz as much as compelling, emotionally resonant, genre-free music. Sure, it swings in places, and there’s some fiery improvisation. But after decades of trodding such a brave and singular path, maybe Frisell deserves his own genre. How about “friz”?

Bill Demain - October 2010
© 1999–2015 JazzTimes



As Bill Frisell approaches 60, it is reassuring that he retains the same exploratory, genre-hopping approach he has adopted throughout his career. Frisell has never been a straightforward jazz guitarist but, after releasing 21 eclectic albums in as many years on Nonesuch, Beautiful Dreamers marks his debut on the renowned Savoy Jazz label.

The album features the country-tinged trio that Frisell put together in 2008 with long-time associate Eyvind Kang on viola and drummer Rudy Royston. The time they have spent playing together means they sound easy in each other’s company, and the music reflects their comfort. On much of it, they could be relaxing together on the porch, trading licks and having fun. In particular, the flowing interactions of the guitar and viola echo a range of music from Django Reinhardt with Stéphane Grappelli through to bluegrass.

Maybe in deference to Savoy’s jazz heritage, in true jazz fashion the 16 tracks here are peppered with cover versions alongside new Frisell compositions. Of those covers, the most surprising is a faithful version of Benny’s Bugle by Benny Goodman. Frisell does justice to the part originally played by guitar legend Charlie Christian, although his mellow guitar tone is warmer and softer than Christian’s was.

On covers of familiar pieces like Stephen Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer, Tea for Two and Goin’ Out of my Head, the trio do not adopt the standard jazz ensemble approach by playing the theme upfront followed by solos. Instead, they are more restrained and economical, teasing out the well-known melodies or allowing them to slowly emerge from the threesome’s playful improvisatory approach.

There are also more up-tempo moments here to punctuate the laidback mood, delightful as that is. On the Frisell original Winslow Homer, the trio slowly build an infectious dance rhythm, propelled by Royston. In similar fashion, another Frisell piece, Better Than a Machine, maintains a danceable toe-tapping groove throughout.

Taken together, Frisell’s run of Nonesuch albums has been one of the most consistently excellent bodies of work in recent decades. Now, Beautiful Dreamers extends it further. The future looks bright for this trio.

John Eyles - 2010
BBC Review



Bill Frisell might have moved from a genre-bending label (Nonesuch) to a famously jazzy one, but Beautiful Dreamers is no nostalgic midlife return to the four-four beat. Frisell formed this unusual trio (with viola player Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston) two years ago, to explore country-steeped impressionism, chugging barndance music, brooding folk-blues and whimsical covers of pop tunes - though a Benny Goodman/Charlie Christian tribute on Benny's Bugle is pretty firmly jazz-rooted, and a playful Tea for Two catches a hint of Reinhardt/Grappelli swing. Frisell disguises the title track until halfway into it, and its airily abstract brush-patterns and meandering buildup give it a sombrely mysterious air that characterises much of the set - most absorbingly in the wounded viola cries and tango-like touches of All We Can Do, and the minimal melody and poignantly tingling textures of viola and guitar on Who Was That Girl? The least idiom-specific tracks like those, diverted from familiar song-shapes, are the most eloquent - but Frisell would find it hard to do anything unmusical if he tried.

John Fordham - 16 September 2010
© 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited



"Like so many Frisell groups, this trio unfolds its music with a sound that is light yet lush, in a manner that is purposeful but unhurried... But the highlight sits in the middle of the album with a Frisell original dedicated to the late songsmith Vic Chesnutt, titled “Better Than a Machine”. In this dreamscape recording of Americana accents, the tune beams as a blast of bright, poppish sunshine. It's indeed the moment when the already attractive Beautiful Dreamers becomes even lovelier.”

www.kentucky.com



"Die Folk-Aspekte stehen wesentlich mehr im Vordergrund als die Jazz Momente. Man kann sich in diesen kompakten, kurzen Nummern fallen lassen. Sie riechen nach Erde, Heu und frischem Moos sowie Spaß an der Arbeit. Und doch wirkt die CD in ihrer ganzen Beiläufigkeit ehrlich und angenehm. Es ist unüberhörbar, dass Frisell hier einen Neuanfang markiert."

Jazzthing, 11/2010-01/2011



Bill Frisell plays the guitar like Miles Davis played the trumpet.

New Yorker



Frisell is the Clark Kent of electric guitar…..soft spoken and self effacing. In one of the biggest leaps of imagination since the Yardbirds and Jimi Hendrix, he coaxes and slams his hovering split toned ax in shapes of things to come…

Spin



Beautiful Dreamers is an album by Bill Frisell which was released on the Savoy label in 2010. In his review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek notes that "While this trio is well known for using various effects in concert to expand its sonic palette, and jamming on various tunes for long periods of time, here the musicians are virtually a mirror image of that incarnation, playing with restraint, brevity, and melodic sensitivity... Ultimately, Beautiful Dreamers is a wonderfully balanced trio exercise". Writing for All About Jazz Troy Collins stated "Ethereal and spare, with periodic interludes of spry activity, the sixteen tunes that comprise the album are models of brevity and sonic restraint—yet hardly indicators of the trio's expansive diversity, as suggested by contemporaneous concert reports... Beautiful Dreamers fits seamlessly into the arc of Frisell's oeuvre, opening a new, albeit familiar chapter in his discography". JazzTimes Bill DeMain observed "this record doesn’t really sound much like jazz as much as compelling, emotionally resonant, genre-free music. Sure, it swings in places, and there’s some fiery improvisation. But after decades of trodding such a brave and singular path, maybe Frisell deserves his own genre. How about “friz”?"

wikipedia.org



Ein wunderbares neues Album des legendären Jazz-Gitarristen und Grammy-Gewinners BILL FRISELL. "BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS" besteht aus 10 eigenen Songs und 6 Coverversionen (mit u.a. von Blind Willie Johnson, Benny Goodman and Stephen Foster), die FRISELL zusammen mit Eyvind Kang (Viola) und Rudy Royston (Schlagzeug) aufgenommen hat. Produziert wurde das Album von Lee Townsend.

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