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Bill Frisell: Blues Dream

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Nonesuch Records
Released: 2001.01.16
Time:
 61:57
Category: Blues
Producer(s): Lee Towsend
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.nonesuch.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2002.03.13
Price in €: 15,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Blues Dream (B.Frisell) - 2:31
[2] Ron Carter (B.Frisell) - 6:45
[3] Pretty Flowers Were Made for Blooming (B.Frisell) - 3:20
[4] Pretty Stars Were Made to Shine (B.Frisell) - 1:41
[5] Where Do We Go? (B.Frisell) - 5:21
[6] Like Dreamers Do, Part 1 (B.Frisell) - 1:34
[7] Like Dreamers Do, Part 2 (B.Frisell) - 2:37
[8] Outlaws (B.Frisell) - 4:19
[9] What Do We Do? (B.Frisell) - 7:08
[10] Episode (B.Frisell) - 0:49
[11] Soul Merchant (B.Frisell) - 2:42
[12] Greg Leisz (B.Frisell) - 6:14
[13] The Tractor (B.Frisell) - 2:27
[14] Fifty Years (B.Frisell) - 1:31
[15] Slow Dance (B.Frisell) - 3:11
[16] Things Will Never Be the Same (B.Frisell) - 4:49
[17] Dream On (B.Frisell) - 3:06
[18] Blues Dream [Reprise] (B.Frisell) - 1:53

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


BILL FRISELL - Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Loops

with:
GREG LEISZ - Pedal Steel, Lap Steel, National Steel Guitar, Scheerhorn Resonator Guitar, Mandolin
RON MILES - Trumpet
BILLY DREWES - Alto Saxophone
DAVID PILCH - Bass
KENNY WOLLESEN - Drums, Percussion
CURTIS FOWLKES - Trombone

JUDY CLAPP - Recording Engineer, Mixing
TIM LAUBER - Assistant Engineer
JEFF SHANNON - Assistant Engineer
ADAM MUÑOZ - Assistant & Editing Engineer
GREG CALBI - Mastering
BARBARA DE WILDE - Design
GEORGE TICE - Photograpghy
MICHAEL WILSON - Photograpghy
KARINA BEZNICKI - Production

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2001 CD Elektra/Asylum 79615



From the beginning of Blues Dream, the listener knows that something special is going on. The spare notes of Ron Miles' trumpet and the relaxed guitar work of Greg Leisz lay the groundwork for a spacious sound on the title cut. This openness remains throughout the album, even when alto and trombone are added into the mix. The instrumental "Ron Carter" begins with the loose, electrified feel of an early Miles Davis fusion piece, with Bill Frisell's distorted guitar exploring the space of the piece without resorting to excessive volume. The short and sweet "Pretty Stars Were Made to Shine" leans heavier on the country side, with steel guitar and Chet Atkins' fingerpicking dominating. The arrangements on Blues Dream are a big change from last year's solo effort, Ghost Town. An essential part of the overall sound is Leisz' steel guitar and lap steel work. He also played with Frisell on Good Dog, Happy Man, and helps to set the mood and pace throughout Blues Dream. Ron Miles plays a smaller role, but it is fascinating how well his relaxed trumpet, with its carefully chosen notes, fits into the mix on the title cut and the short "Episode." Blues Dream is a perfectly chosen title: the material, steeped in the blues, is approached in a lazy, dreamlike fashion. Frisell's fondness for putting unusual combinations of instruments together adds to the overall effect, leaving the listener to wonder why no one has ever tried this before. Blues Dream is a lovely release that should satisfy Frisell fans as well as jazz, country, and blues fans looking for a genre-bending experience.

Ronnie Lankford Jr., All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



For those who have been wondering where Mr. Bill's musical wanderings would lead him in the wake of his first solo CD, Ghost Town, Blues Dream provides the ambitious answer. Nearly all Frisell's fascinations are here: the pastoralism of Have a Little Faith, a Nashville tinge, and the cinematic sounds of Quartet. There's also the electronic loop atmospheres of his ECM and early Elektra years and the alternating Ellingtonian and Salvation Army horns of his quintet period. All of this melded into 18 new compositions commissioned by the Walker Arts Center. A textural richness comes courtesy of Greg Leisz's various guitars backing Frisell's own guitar and a stunning integration of three horns: Curtis Fowlkes's trombone, Ron Miles's trumpet, and Billy Drewes's saxophones. As you listen to this string of broad-shouldered pieces, tributes to greats like Ron Carter, and strangely blues-inflected soundscapes, it's apparent that the solos of Ghost Town can operate as a sort of sketch or "cartoon" for this, the full painting; or a short that is then expanded into a feature. Frisell's career is taking on the aspect of a well-crafted movie or novel that explores different story lines before bringing them together for the finale (and this might be the prelude to the finale).

Michael Ross, Amazon.com



Kurz bevor diese CD erschien, war Bill Frisell mit seinem Trio auf Tour und führte da, am Bühnenrand sitzend, im kleinen schon mal vor, was diese Session aufdringlich durchdringt: Country und Bluegrass. Doch anders als der Bassist Charlie Haden, der ja schon als Kind in selbst produzierten Radioshows aus dem heimischen Farmwohnzimmer sang, nähert sich Frisell von CD zu CD sukzessive dem Folkgenre an. Dabei sind seine Sound- und Klangfarbenspiele, die man aus seiner langjährigen Zusammenarbeit mit Joe Lovano und Paul Motian kennt, in den Hintergrund getreten. Das urban Medidative und Sphärische in Frisells Musik ist in den vergangenen Jahren zunehmend einer spätpubertierenden Lagerfeueratmosphäre gewichen, zumindest auf seinen eigenen Platten. Dennoch hat diese Suche nach einer neuen Welt auch was. Auf seine Art authentisch klingt Frisell komischerweise genau da, wo man ihn am allerwenigsten vermutet - im Blues. Hier spürt man dann auch den Chicago Bluesfan, der mit Muddy Waters und Paul Butterfield schon immer mehr anfangen konnte als mit Country-Hymnen à la "Wayfaring Stranger". Im Mittelpunkt dieser CD steht Frisells Quartett mit dem National Steel Guitar Spieler Greg Leisz, bei einigen Titeln ist ein Bläsertrio um den Trompeter Ron Miles hinzugestellt, das aber eher eine unterstützende Funktion übernimmt. In dem ungemein vielschichtigen und spannenden Frisell-Katalog, den das Nonesuch-Label im Angebot hat, ist diese Aufnahme nicht die spektakulärste.

Christian Broecking, Amazon.de



Seit Jahren verspricht uns Bill Frisell ein lautes Album, seit Jahren bleibt er uns selbiges schuldig. Wie der Titel schon sagt, verschiebt sich auf seiner neuen Platte der Akzent ein wenig vom Country zum Blues, aber davon abgesehen hat der Gitarrist wenig Neues zu sagen. Von der Besetzung her ist es eine Kombination aus seinem Kammerquartett mit Ron Miles und Curtis Fowlkes, dem neuen Trio mit Drummer Kenny Wollesen und seiner Kollaboration mit Gitarrist Greg Leisz. Vielleicht sollte man von einer Platte, die einen Traum proklammiert, keinen Biss erwarten, doch muss man sich angesichts der letzten fünf Veröffentlichungen des Mannes, der einst mit Naked City Vulkanausbrüche auslöste, ein wenig wundern. Bill Frisell genügt sich offenbar selbst, und das ist überaus bedenklich. Hin und wieder ist der Ansatz einer spielerischen Aufwallung zu erkennen, aber der äußere Kontext scheint stets stärker als Frisells Durchsetzungsvermögen gegenüber sich selbst. Eine alles in allem enttäuschende Platte eines vorerst gestrandeten Visionärs, von dem man aber immer noch (eines Tages) Großes erwarten darf.

Jazz thing (02/01) - Wolf Kampmann
© 2002 Jazz thing



All the tracks on Bill Frisell's Blue Dream are originals, commissioned by the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis. Even though the instrumentation varies from track to track, the album has the overall feeling of a suite, with a twilight mood dominating. Listeners who have bemoaned guitarist Bill Frisell's move away from jazz on his last several albums may be mollified this time out. Though there's still a strong roots feel to many tracks, he's leaning (as the album title hints) toward the blues - which is more amenable to most jazz fans than country and folk - and leaving more space for improvisation. There are also tracks featuring trumpeter Ron Miles, alto saxophonist Billy Drewes, and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, who texturally balance Greg Leisz (playing pedal steel, lap steel, National steel guitar, Scheerhorn resonator guitar, and mandolin). Even a short track such as "Soul Merchant" features simultaneous improvisations, with Fowlkes especially rumbustious. There's still some real down-home ditties, such as the uptempo mandolin feature "The Tractor," but even that one has a piquant set of horn riffs coming in halfway through. As a player, Frisell is at his slinky, sensual best. He's slowed down the development of his solos more than ever, mostly reveling in particular timbres in and of themselves. The way he contrasts his guitar tones with lush, legato horn progressions on several tracks is especially attractive. Drummer Kenny Wolleson is his usual versatile self, and upright bassist David Piltch is rock-solid, not least on the track titled, and dedicated to, "Ron Carter" - which has a certain avant-garde spice, especially in Miles' nearly free burblings near the beginning. Ultimately, this album ties together many disparate threads in Frisell's music. It still can't summarize everything he's capable of - there's none of the extreme noise terror he demonstrated in John Zorn's Naked City, for example - but with Blues Dream, a very wide range of influences and flavors cohere magnificently.

Steve Holtje - March 5, 2001
CDNOW Senior Jazz Writer
Copyright © 1994-2002 CDnow Online, Inc. All rights reserved.



Despite what its title might imply, Bill Frisell's latest album is far from the Stratocaster-fueled, wailing and soloing 12-bar workout you're likely to hear on a typical night at the House of Blues. In fact, the emphasis in Blues Dream is not so much on the blues part of the title as it is on the dreaming. Bill Frisell's music is indeed something of a waking dream, the soundtrack to a sleepwalk, a blurred ghost image of American music. There's a certain intellectual coolness about it, but also a certain earthiness; there's a genuinely cinematic quality about his guitar tones and arrangements, a larger-than-life vision that's as broad as the sky over the interstate. There isn't another musician (with the possible exception of Tom Waits) whose creations paint the pictures and tell the story. It's that lack of limits that makes Bill Frisell so special - he's like a filmmaker who uses guitar strings and recording tape instead of a megaphone and celluloid.

James Lien - Feb 19, 2001
CMJ New Music Report Issue: 702
© 1978-2002 College Media, Inc., Inc. All Rights Reserved.



For the past several years, Bill Frisell has been on an Americana kick, trading much of his singular flash for a more mature take on country, folk, and bluegrass far removed from his jagged jazz start. Predictably, while Frisell's refined, purposely restrained playing may not turn as many heads these days-although his trademark grace and lyricism remains intact, if subdued-his compositions have grown richer and more resonant almost by necessity. Blues Dream, Frisell's best collection since 1995's breakthrough Nashville, frequently incorporates blues as the base for a strong batch of evocative arrangements, though fans know he rarely settles for one style when a hybrid will do. Frisell leads his new sextet (pedal-steel player Greg Leisz, bassist David Piltch, trumpeter Ron Miles, saxophonist Billy Drewes, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, and drummer Kenny Wollesen) through 18 beautiful elegies and creative vamps, letting the small details of each piece shine where they might have been buried amid ornate playing. The material benefits significantly from the horn players, all of whom have worked with Frisell in the past and whose synchronized blasts and subtle solos lend the album its soulful quality. In company this strong, Frisell seems willing to regularly surrender the spotlight: "Pretty Flowers Were Made For Blooming" sounds like a cross between Impressions-era Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and "Amazing Grace," with Leisz's weeping guitar gliding gracefully through the other players' embellishments, while Frisell's spectral effects blur the song right into the upbeat twang-anthem "Pretty Stars Were Made To Shine." "Ron Carter," "Where Do We Go," and "Things Will Never Be The Same" find the band riding a groove, leaving ample room for Frisell to drop enjoyable little leads that show he hasn't lost his recognizable touch. The best moments, like "What Do We Do?" and the two parts of "Like Dreamers Do," stick in the Mayfield vein, showing that for all his genre exercises and ongoing country fixation, Frisell may be a soul man at heart.

Joshua Klein
© Copyright 2002 Onion, Inc., All rights reserved.



A Reverie Of Eclecticism

With the twangy, kaleidoscopic blend of country blues, downtown jazz and so many other unexpected flavors and sounds on Bill Frisell's latest album, Blues Dream, one can't help but be reminded a little of the updated American folkloric music score in the Coen Brothers' latest film. In fact, so inclusive and rootsy is Frisell's musical embrace on this new effort (his 22nd in a 19-year recording career) that the category-defying, mood-setting guitarist might well consider an alternate title: O Brother, Where AREN'T Thou? Then again, it's no surprise to hear such a far-ranging pastiche from one who has gone from atmospheric solo excursions to noisy, drummer-free ensembles, and from swing-based big bands to collaborations with rock legends such as Ginger Baker and Elvis Costello. Here, Frisell kicks things off with the haunting, Delta blues-styled title track — slide acoustic steel guitar laced with breathy trumpet — and before the album's 18 tracks have spun, we've been visited by everything from electric Miles Davis, post-'70s fusion ("Ron Carter") and R&B ballads ("What Do We Do?") to country melodies ("Pretty Flowers Were Made For Blooming"/"Pretty Stars Were Made to Shine") and bluegrass workouts ("The Tractor"). Woven between are a series of Frisell's atmospheric miniatures, defined by his somnolent, signature loops — "Episode", "Fifty Years" and "Dream On" — pale watercolors resting among more vivid oil canvases. For those drawn to variety and surprise, Blues Dream is a satisfying achievement, and proof of guitarist Frisell's ability to attract complementary, like-minded sidemen to his cause. Expansive it most assuredly is, and different from the usual Frisell menagerie of styles in that he's working here with a full septet — meaning less of Frisell's guitar and more of his arranger imprint for his stellar supporting cast. Featured are multi-string instrumentalist Greg Leisz (whose ample credits include Beck and Dave Alvin), trombonist Curtis Fowlkes (from New York's adventurous Jazz Passengers), trumpeter Ron Miles (like Frisell, an alumnus of the Mercer Ellington Orchestra), newcomer alto saxophonist Bill Drewes, bassist David Piltch (longtime accompanist for singer Holly Cole) and drummer Kenny Wollesen (a founding member of New York's New Klezmer Trio).

As always, Frisell's often minimalist compositions start with texture and mood, frequently favoring outline over fully defined figures (although he remains a sap for a wistful country melody), and playing off unexpected juxtaposition and stylistic head knocking. For those drawn to variety and surprise, Blues Dream is a satisfying achievement, and proof of his ability to attract complementary, like-minded sidemen to his eclectic cause. There's no argument that Frisell's music is visually suggestive. Sporadically, his music has been linked to moving images: his 1995 album Go West was subtitled Music for the Films of Buster Keaton, and he can be heard on the new Finding Forrester soundtrack. Still, it'd be interesting to see some filmmaker come along and allow Frisell the chance to help shape the sound and style of an entire movie. O, Coen Brothers ... .

Ashley Kahn - Tues., January 30 2001



Guitarist Bill Frisell can be best summed up with the southern adage "You just ain't right!" In his 19-year career (which includes appearances on over 160 records) he has confounded conventional "wisdom" about the art of the guitar, and in doing so, has become a minor god in the cult of the six string. Listening to his newest release, it's easy to see why. The opening cut sounds much like the Dell pocket mysteries of the '50s looked: a dark, rainy street with a downtrodden vixen illuminated by lamplight, firing up a cigarette. Billy Drewes saxophone wails like a siren, and Frisell and steel wunderkind Greg Leisz enter with a creepy, Ry Cooder-ish blend of voices that is both pastoral and ominous. Then we move off the city street and into the Texas prairie with "Pretty Flowers Were Made for Blooming" and the following cut "Pretty Stars Were Made to Shine", which wouldn't sound out of place coming from a the bandstand at western swing night down at the local roadhouse. Even in such a familiar context, Frisell finds unique and unexpected avenues of musical discussion. With the sliding, moaning backing of Leisz, Frisell has amble room in which to paint tonal pictures. One has to tip the hat to Frisell for assembling such a responsive and talented group of musicians on the record. Of course Leisz is well known from just about every good "alt-country" release of the last decade, and he shines here. The horns of Ron Miles (trumpet), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone) and Drewes on saxophone mesh well with the laconic drumming of Kenny Wollesen and bassist David Piltch. Blues Dream is one of those rare instrumental records that neither bores or infuriates. Frisell plays like a man who would like to be spending the afternoon either in a Louisiana swamp or the control room of the Kind of Blue sessions, and this record reflects both and everything in between. Which might not be right, but it sure is good.

James Mann - PopMatters Music Critic
© 1999-2002 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.



Guitarist Bill Frisell's latest epic often refers to his previous albums, Ghost Town; Good Dog, Happy Man; and Gone, Just Like A Train. All the familiar Frisell elements are on hand-icily yawning guitar figures; country, blues, and jazz styles; spacious arrangements drenched in color and mood. Though written for a septet-including the exceptional horn section of Billy Drewes, Ron Miles, and Curtis Fowlkes; and second guitar voice Greg Leisz-the real star of this album is the music. Occasionally sounding like the Grand Old Opry by way of Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter-deranged country-jazz for sure -Blues Dream can also sound very homey and laid back, as if the band is performing this mysterious gumbo at some Midwestern high school auditorium on a warm Saturday eve. The music gets gorgeously bizarre, but there is always a sleepy dog and a piece of apple pie waiting at night's end. The down-home acoustic title track segues into "Ron Carter," which could have been called "Jimi Hendrix Down by the Riverside." As plump bass notes bump and horns create a warm bed, Frisell and Leisz weave a freakish tapestry of squirrelly conversation. "Like Dreamers Do" is given two treatments-the first, patrician and polite; the second, introspective and eerily expansive. "Outlaws" is a back-porch romp of lap steel and dobro. Ron Miles quotes Miles Davis in the beginning of "Episode," leading to another atmospheric gumbo reprieve in "Soul Merchant." "Greg Leisz" rises like stench over the bayou; a woozy brew of sleepy horns, distorted guitars, and sparse percussion. "The Tractor" is pure bluegrass two-step. Blues Dream is like one of those weird mornings when you wake up and aren't sure if you are still dreaming, if what just happened is a dream, or whether you should just forget it and go back to sleep.

Ken Micallef
Copyright © 2002 Yahoo! Inc. All Rights Reserved.



Bill Frisell started his recording career in Europe in the late 1970s writing and playing music evocative of space and place. Two decades later he is still doing essentially the same in a less abstract, more native and concretely American way. Nonesuch has just released his 14th recording with them and it uses a lot of the ideas Frisell has been exploring in recent years. By the early 1990s, Frisell began to outgrow the frenetic, noisy "Downtown" scene (of NYC) and wandered into the nation's interior where he became charmed with more rural flavored roots music and recovered his own vintage popular music inspirations. In his latest vision, the guitarist and his ensemble number seven, consisting of a jazz trio (Ron Miles trumpet, Billy Drewes alto sax, Curtis Fowlkes trombone) added to his current working quartet (slide man Greg Leisz, bassist David Piltch, drummer Kenny Wollesen and himself). Frisell has blended the various American tongues of jazz, country, bluegrass, instrumental R&B/rock, and now blues within any one composition and then altered the recipe proportions track to track with a hand of classical chamber music intricacy, patching together an entire album of singular, genre-rich delicacies. The approach has become pastiche; post-Ivesian, illustrious and easy-going. His music these days makes you relax yet contains subtle structural logic and solo-surficial/group-interactive nuances worthy of the closest inspections. Although Frisell warms his palette in places with the familiar groove and friendly melodic phrase, he understands the anthemics of film music and preserves a heart-hungry distance in the result. What do we see by the light of these sounds? An impersonal dream described by professionals? testifying perhaps to empty roads only occasionally disturbed by a fleeting auto for example? Or something personal; pain's past? yearning's still hopeful future? Both exquisite metaphor and inevitable victim of the search for the right horizon, "Blues Dream" in large measure mirrors that peculiarly American lonesomeness even while becoming a sometimes moving and pithy canon to behold.

Steve Taylor
© 2000 Hollow Ear/FNI Multimedia.
 

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