For his most recent Nonesuch release, Disfarmer, Bill Frisell created a set of songs inspired by the haunting images of the late American photographer Michael Disfarmer. It isn't the first time Frisell's music would prove well matched to a visual element. His first such project arose some 15 years ago, when he devised scores for three films by early film star Buster Keaton—The High Sign, One Week, and Go West—which were released on Nonesuch back in 1995. A DVD of those films is now available through billfrisell.com, while the original audio recordings can be found in the Nonesuch Store.

JamBase's Dennis Cook spoke with the guitarist—"an originator and an inspiration of the highest order"—about the Keaton films and takes a look at his larger body of work, including Disfarmer, which Cook describes as "one more remarkable piece of work that adds to the diversity and intrinsic curiosity that resides firmly in all of Frisell's music, a player for whom the whole expanse of sound is open and eagerly explored."

In his introduction to the interview, Cook aims to describe the experience of hearing Frisell's work and the ultimately uncategorizable music he makes. Cook writes:

The first time you hear Bill Frisell play will change the way you hear guitar forevermore. His approach is so textured, nuanced and wholly individual that it stands the instrument on its head and makes one rethink all of their preconceptions. While generally tucked into the jazz section, Frisell actually draws on the gusto of Western swing, African modal exploration, Sonic Youth worthy avant-garde-ism and a healthy chunk of Hendrix's wild, intense ability to suss out strange connections others simply miss.

Read more as well as the interview with Frisell at jambase.com.

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All About Jazz, in its DVD review, also aims to distill the extensive and varied career of the guitarist who remains as ever "idiosyncratic and able to take even the most conventional idea on its side." Reviewer John Kelman writes:

His tone is so warm, so enveloping, that it's sometimes difficult to get past the instant appeal of it to the actual note he's playing; but get to those notes and what's always there is as profoundly personal approach to lyricism, even at its most jagged, that's as much Robert Johnson as it is Jim Hall.

Read the complete article at allaboutjazz.com.

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Here newsweekly, out of New Brunswick, Canada, recognizes the successful connection between music and imagery on Disfarmer, saying that Frisell has created "the perfect soundtrack" to the photographer's documentation of mid-20th century America, "the definitive soundtrack to such an important time in history." The review concludes: "Disfarmer is a hauntingly beautiful record and well worth hearing for yourself." Read more at herenb.canadaeast.com.