Bill Frisell's most recent Nonesuch release, 2008's History, Mystery, is up for a Grammy Award next month for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, the same month Nonesuch will release a collection of Bill's work titled The Best of Bill Frisell, Volume 1: Folk Songs. This week, he is the subject of a feature article in the latest issue of The New Yorker, which describes him as "the fearless and adaptable guitarist Bill Frisell, whose varied endeavors have drawn him into free-form extemporizations, symphonic collaborations, hard and soft rock, country, and accompaniments for Buster Keaton silent films ..."

While 2008 may go down as one of the more turbulent years in recent (or distant) memory, or, more optimistically, a time of change, there is much to celebrate in the year in music. Nonesuch artists across all genres have contributed to that and, accordingly, have made their way onto many critics' lists of the year's best. For the final Nonesuch Journal article of the year, we offer an overview of just some of that year-end critical praise.

The Grammy nominations are in, and a big congratulations goes out to the many Nonesuch artists whose work has been recognized by the Recording Academy, the organization behind the awards. Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Toumani Diabaté, Youssou N'Dour, Stephen Sondheim, Jonny Greenwood, and Isabel Bayrakdarian were all recognized for their recent Nonesuch releases, as were producers Danger Mouse and Judith Sherman for their work on Nonesuch albums this year.

Fresh off yesterday's five-star review in The Guardian, Bill Frisell's tour-closing concert at the Barbican earns another five stars, from the Financial Times. For the show, the Frisell Trio performed Bill's "spot-on score" that gave "a zesty sheen" to the films of Buster Keaton, Jim Woodring, and Bill Morrison, with the Trio's musical efforts "equal partner in the audiovisual experience." The paper sums up Bill's works as "a soundscape pregnant with humour, menace and the struggle to survive."

Bill Frisell concluded his Trio tour—playing music to the films of Buster Keaton, Bill Morrison, and Jim Woodring—at the Barbican in London on Saturday as part of the London Jazz Festival. The Guardian gives a perfect five stars to the performance, in which the Trio gave "all the light and shade needed to underpin three very different film-makers' visions ... Best of all were the Buster Keaton movies The High Sign and One Week, integrating music and vision so brilliantly it was impossible to think of the event as pure film or just jazz."

Bill Frisell has been traveling across Europe with Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen playing film music to the films of Buster Keaton, Bill Morrison, and Jim Woodring. The trio will take the show to the Barbican in London this Saturday night as part of the London Jazz Festival. In a feature profile, The Times (UK) calls the mild-mannered guitarist "a one-off ... the Clark Kent of jazz guitar—beneath his mild exterior lurks a supernatural talent," and his latest release, History, Mystery, "delightful."

Bill Frisell begins an eight-set residency at Yoshi's Oakland tomorrow night with guitarist Russell Malone. The two performed together last night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in what the Grand Rapids Press 3-1/2 star review describes as a "singular evening of comparing and contrasting electric-guitar styles." Frisell played a duo set of a different sort late last month with drummer Matt Wilson at the Monterey Jazz Festival, in what the All About Jazz reviewer names among his "personal highlights from the festival." Label mate Joshua Redman had opened the festival with "a rousing trio set, hearkening back to the Sonny Rollins' trio recordings from the late fifties."

Bill Frisell played the closing sets last night in his two-week residency at New York's Village Vanguard, with Paul Motion and Joe Lovano. This week, Bill heads to Pennsylvania for two shows with Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston. All About Jazz reviews History, Mystery, the latest release from this master of the "haunting, twang-inflected telecaster," comparing to Miles Davis his ability to take the familiar in ever new directions. One reason: "his brilliant orchestrations and ability to streamline what could be an unwieldy ensemble."

Bill Frisell joins drummer Paul Motian and saxophonist Joe Lovano for a rare two-week stint at New York's Village Vanguard beginning tonight. New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen describes them as "a blue-chip trio that’s shadowy, slippery and as open-ended as a koan," and says, "There’s no better place to see them than at the Village Vanguard." You can listen to Wednesday night's set as it unfolds live, on NPR station WBGO, Jazz88 FM, for the new series Live at the Village Vanguard.

Bill Frisell joined trumpeter Ron Miles's quartet last week for a three-night residency at the Jazz Standard in New York City that New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen says "confirmed the strength of their rapport," showcasing a partnership that goes "beyond sensitivity or even shared intuition." The pair's recording history includes Bill's latest Nonesuch release, History, Mystery. Bill performs again in the City in early September for a two-week residency at the Village Vanguard with Paul Motian and Joe Lovano. 

The 2008 JVC Jazz Festival New York got under way earlier this week and continues through June 28 at venues throughout the City, including Carnegie Hall, where the Brad Mehldau Trio will play this Sunday in Zankel Hall in a program titled "A Taste of Genius," and the Greenwich Village club Le Poisson Rouge, where Bill Frisell's new trio will make its New York debut this Thursday.

Works by John Adams, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Frederic Rzewski, Bill Frisell, John Zorn, John Cage meet the music of Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's second annual 8 Days in June music festival, which kicks off tonight. It's a multidisciplinary affair aiming to examine the relationship between music and the explosive changes of the 20th and 21st centuries and harness the "The Power of Change."