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Bill Frisell: Silent Comedy

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Tzadik Records
Released: 2013.02.26
Time:
 50:27
Category: Jazz
Producer(s): John Zorn
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] Bagatelle (B.Frisell) - 3:11
[2] John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (B.Frisell) - 8:51
[3] Babbitt (B.Frisell) - 3:38
[4] Silent Comedy (B.Frisell) - 2:02
[5] Lake Superior (B.Frisell) - 4:34
[6] Proof (B.Frisell) - 3:55
[7] The Road (B.Frisell) - 5:20
[8] Leprechaun (B.Frisell) - 3:41
[9] Ice Cave (B.Frisell) - 6:38
[10] Big Fish (B.Frisell) - 5:26
[11] Lullaby (B.Frisell) - 3:14

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Bill Frisell - Guitar

John Zorn - Producer
Marc Urselli - Engineer, Mixing
Heung-Heung "Chippy" Chin - Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2013 CD Tzadik - TZ 7641

Recorded and mixed December 2, 2012 at EastSide Sound, NYC.



Bill Frisell, one of the most influential and respected guitarists in the world today takes a serious step toward the avant-garde to create a solo guitar CD unlike anything you’ve heard before. Filled with complex harmonies, bizarre voicings, rich orchestral sonorities, intense screams, delicate phrasing, wild noises and an incredible simultaneity, Silent Comedy raises the bar on what is possible from a solo guitarist. You will never think of Bill Frisell in the same way again—revelatory and absolutely riveting!

tzadik.com



Only once before in a discography that runs to 35-odd albums has leader Bill Frisell released a solo guitar album—the brooding Ghost Town (Nonesuch Records, 2000). Thirteen years on, Frisell returns to the solo format, though the difference between the two offerings is like night and day. Whereas Ghost Town was a series of mostly acoustic compositions embellished with overdubs, Silent Comedy's real-time, loop-heavy electric improvisations employ no post-production. And, where Ghost Town was introspective and darkly poetic, Silent Comedy is restless, jagged and harsh at times. It represents, without a doubt, the most avant-garde experiment of Frisell's career.

All seems in place with the first notes of "Bagatelle," which are instantly recognizable as Frisell, and the loops that follow are well embedded in the guitarist's musical DNA. A little delay and pedal effects turn a single note into a gothic harmonium or accordion. It's an atmospheric and not atypical Frisell cinematic vignette. However, the frenetic Jimi Hendrix-like feedback of "John Goldfarb, Please Come In" suggests that Frisell got out of bed not only on the wrong side, but in a parallel universe.

Shards of motifs and islands of rhythmic pulse alternate with pools of silence. Single notes—clean, distorted, fleeting and sustained—mingle with swathes of reverb and delay, phrases like snatches of memory and a little sci-fi twiddling, for almost nine minutes. The intermittent chugging rhythm gathers momentum towards the end and creates the sensation of something foreboding looming, or perhaps receding into the distance, like Pathé comedy actors at film's end. The energy and drama, however skewed the montage, are unmistakable.

The dark-hued "Bobbitt" is a drifting sci-fi meditation though rarely has Frisell consistently eschewed melody, rhythm and traditional form to quite the degree he does here, and throughout Silent Comedy. That said, Frisell is as ever playing, only on this outing it's edgier, more abstract conceptually and more risqué than anything he's committed to record before. The title track is a fidgety miniature, with oblique suggestion of the cat-and-mouse humor that's a staple of black and white slapstick.

A wisp of a tune inhabits the power chords and searing distortion of "Lake Superior." This is Noise as though hijacked by guitarist Neil Young and filtered through Frisell's Americana prism. The altogether more sedate "Proof" follows a stuttering, stumbling logic all its own, and the seeds of a recognizable melody never quite germinate. Similarly, on "Leprechaun" Frisell pursues a scratchy, jittery course, where kernels of motifs are like little staging posts between abstract improvisations.

On more impressionistic numbers "The Road" and "Ice Cave," Frisell employs drone as a canvas over which he lays sparse colors—a floated chord here and there, or single notes resonating like little chimes. Within the skeletal structures of these numbers, devoid of overt pulse, there's an abiding sense of peace and reverie. Ambient numbers they may be, but they also serve up a little sonic respite from the dissonance and angular experimentation around them.

"Big Fish" is an oddly appealing mixture of serenity and restless exploration; in its heavier melodic and harmonic structure this number perhaps comes closest to a more readily recognizable Frisell blueprint. "Lullaby" is anything but; Hendrix-type guitar cries, repeated minimalist motifs fading in and out and bubbling sci-fi sounds combine in edgy abstraction.

On the inside cover Frisell is enjoying a good laugh; could Silent Comedy be Frisellian slapstick? Is it a metaphorical custard pie in the face of those who bemoan the country, folk and chamber pastoralism that has dominated Frisell's recorded output for the guts of the last two decades, yearning instead for a return to the guitarist's more freewheeling electric days? What's certain is that in the context of Frisell's body of work, Silent Comedy is as striking an anomaly as Zero Tolerance for Silence (Umvd/Ryko, 1994) was at the time in guitarist Pat Metheny's discography. It'll be interesting to see if Silent Comedy marks a shift towards greater experimentation in Frisell's future projects.

With producer John Zorn at the helm, Silent Comedy was always going to sound different to the lyrical music that has characterized the guitarist's collaborations with producer Lee Townsend. That the results are so radically different will no doubt be a source of both delight and frustration for Frisell fans. But this music should have much broader appeal, particularly for those interested in improvisation and sound manipulation.

It's highly unlikely that Frisell is having a laugh at anybody's expense with Silent Comedy; far more likely is the scenario that he simply had a lot of fun playing as a one-man orchestra with license to roam.

Ian Patterson - August 22, 2013
© 2016 All About Jazz



It is exciting to hear guitarist Bill Frisell stepping outside of the comfort zone of his well worn "Americana" context. What at first seemed like an interesting arena for him to explore has become something of a box that has hemmed in his more adventurous instincts, developing into a series of pleasant but forgettable albums. This however, is different as he sits solo and improvises on electric guitar in real time using effects and loops to create an otherworldly and at times quite caustic sound world. "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home" demonstrates many of the techniques he will use on this album, juxtaposing blasts of snarling feedback with ominous silence, and developing a taught narrative which builds to an eerie strummed finale. "Babbit" develops science-fiction like sounds, sending coded signals out into the cosmos, with a lot of reverberation attached, and looping that makes the music unusual and very fresh. Grating feedback opens "Lake Superior" giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. He's getting close to Nels Cline territory here, which is very exciting to hear. Waves of pure sound crash against the listener in a majestic manner, downshifting to a sinister and portentous shade but never quite resolving, leaving the listener with a vague sense of unease. "The Road" continues to mine the vibe of uneasy apprehension, setting up a looped drone for Frisell to drop processed notes against. This performance has a late night and cinematic feeling to it as if it could be used to build tension in a crime drama set on dark and forlorn streets. I enjoyed this album quite a bit. I have always been a Frisell fan, but have been a little disappointed by some of his recent albums which have focused on the pastoral aspects of his style. This goes in an entirely different direction and is a bracing set of powerful, challenging improvisations that are awash with fascinating ideas executed in a spirited fashion.

jazzandblues.blogspot.co.at



For all the self-generated hype that Tzadik releases carry on their spine inserts, the one that accompanies Bill Frisell's Silent Comedy is pretty close to accurate. This really is the guitarist as you've never heard him before - at least on record. He's improvising live in a studio with no edits or overdubs. Some of the 11 pieces included here carry traces of his signature bell-like tone, but this is a very free recording. The set's longest cut, "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home," is a meld of spaced-out sonic effects, harmonic invention, skeletal phrasing, and aggressive skronk that moves from halting melody to pure dissonance. Despite "Lake Superior"'s pastoral title, the cut is anything but; it's a monstrous Wall of Sound with digital and analog effects meddling around on a drone and employing a full range of distortion and feedback. Using a very limited harmonic palette, Frisell's guitar alternately takes on the tones of a harmonium, a Wurlitzer, and chimes to offer elemental sound contrasts that almost feel like counterpoint - all in a gorgeous wail. While "Proof" is more conventional, with Frisell's instantly recognizable tone investigating a vamp from all sorts of musical viewpoints, the very next cut, "The Road," utilizes a broad array of tools in his effects box to create a restrained drone as the tonal backdrop, while a wah-wah offers a repetitive bassline melody but then breaks it down to an alternating series of small, moment-to-moment chord voicings, shimmering single notes, spacious delays, and even rumbling lower-string cascades woven together in a seamless fit. In the title track and in "Leprechaun," those effects are used with a requisite warmth and sense of humor. While "Ice Cave" walks a little too close to ambience for its own sake, "Big Fish" combines it with an inherent sense of melodic invention to create a tune that is nearly hummable, but traverses a fascinating musical terrain. This set will most likely appeal to guitar and improv freaks, as well as Frisell's most devoted fans. That said, given its intimate nature, it should resonate wider and deeper than that. He is doing things - on the fly - with his electric guitar and effects boxes that feel more like a conversation with a listener than merely an expression himself for his own sake.

Thom Jurek - All Music Guide



Guitar hero Bill Frisell reveals his experimental side in his first release on Tzadik! A composer/performer of unparalleled gifts, Bill is one of the most influential and respected guitarists in the world today. Using his Nash Telecaster and a small arsenal of effects pedals, he takes a serious step toward the avant-garde to create a solo guitar CD unlike anything you've heard before. Eleven improvisations recorded in real time with no overdubbing this CD raises the bar on what is possible from a solo guitarist. At times sounding like he has eight hands, the music is filled with complex harmonies and voicings, rich orchestral sonorities, intense screams, delicate phrasing, wild noises and an incredible simultaneity. You will never think of Bill Frisell in the same way again revelatory and absloutely riveting!

Amazon.com



Silent Comedy is an album of solo guitar improvisations by Bill Frisell which was released on the Tzadik label in 2013. In his review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek notes that "This set will most likely appeal to guitar and improv freaks, as well as Frisell's most devoted fans. That said, given its intimate nature, it should resonate wider and deeper than that. He is doing things - on the fly - with his electric guitar and effects boxes that feel more like a conversation with a listener than merely an expression himself for his own sake".

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