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Featured Release
Bill Frisell
Disfarmer
The late Michael Disfarmer was an odd, curmudgeonly character in rural Arkansas, who, despite his anti-social character, chose to record the stark images of his fellow townspeople, during the 1940s and '50s, in black-and-white photo portraits. Frisell has set the images to music for this recording, to which the Observer gives four stars, calling it "brilliantly" done; the BBC finds it "quietly impressive ... a patchwork quilt sewn with empathy, warmth and a sense of weary pathos."
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Bill Frisell
Disfarmer
The late Michael Disfarmer was an odd, curmudgeonly character in rural Arkansas, who, despite his anti-social character, chose to record the stark images of his fellow townspeople, during the 1940s and '50s, in black-and-white photo portraits. Frisell has set the images to music for this recording, to which the Observer gives four stars, calling it "brilliantly" done; the BBC finds it "quietly impressive ... a patchwork quilt sewn with empathy, warmth and a sense of weary pathos."
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Bill Frisell
The Best of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1: Folk Songs
The first in a series of compilations drawn from Bill Frisell's catalog spotlights his idiosyncratic excursions into country and traditional folk. The Guardian calls it "a delectable collection," and The Independent gives five stars to this album of "beautiful, ringing musicality: 15 pieces of fathomless depth played with the freshness and simplicity that only genius brings. Make your world anew and treat yourself."
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Bill Frisell
History, Mystery
On this two-disc set, Frisell re-assembles material he composed for the theatre piece Mysterio Sympatico and NPR's Stories from the Heart of the Land. Performing with an octet, Frisell "plays electric guitar with serene assurance" (New York Times).
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Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian
Frisell convened in a Manhattan studio with two jazz greats, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Paul Motian. The New Yorker says, “The all-star threesome performs like a seasoned band, and Frisell remains the only six-string poet of his generation.”
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Bill Frisell
Further East / Further West (MP3s)
Frisell performs in a trio setting on these live recordings from New York’s Village Vanguard and Yoshi’s in Oakland, featuring both originals and standards. This special digital-only release includes other sets from the engagements captured on the two-CD set East/West, which Salon.com declared “one of the best of his career ... Frisell is a wonder.”
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Bill Frisell
East/West
Frisell performs in a trio setting on these live recordings from New York’s Village Vanguard and Yoshi’s in Oakland, featuring both originals and standards. Salon.com declares this double-disc package “one of the best of his career ... Frisell is a wonder.”
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Bill Frisell
Unspeakable
Vintage sound samples are the jumping-off point for this playful, eclectic, and groove-oriented collaboration with producer Hal Willner. U.S. News & World Report calls this 2004 Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy winner “soulful, salty, soothing, spacey—and great fun.”
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Bill Frisell
The Intercontinentals
Frisell’s band of world-music adventurers hails from Greece, Mali, and Brazil—“as diverse a lineup as any musical globalist could wish for,” says the Los Angeles Times. “The great beauty of this album is the consistent surprises it offers.”
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Bill Frisell
The Willies
A chance music-club encounter sparked Frisell’s bluegrass and country blues explorations with banjo player Danny Barnes and bassist Keith Lowe. “Over the length of 16 tracks,” says The Independent (UK), “the album accumulates a subtle resonancy that rings and rings.”
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Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones
Jazz greats Dave Holland (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums) join the guitarist-composer for this set of Frisell originals, plus a pair of standards. They complement “the guitarist's offbeat charm and unerring taste,” says Billboard, “with their muscular authority.”