Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones

Submitted by nonesuch on
genre
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

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.”

Description

For his 15th Nonesuch release, Bill Frisell has teamed up with two of the most revered figures in contemporary jazz, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Elvin Jones, for the first time on record. An impromptu meeting of these three unique voices resulted in instant musical chemistry, as they revisited—and often transformed—Frisell’s compositions and a pair of standards.

According to Frisell, co-producer Michael Shrieve—a former member of Santana and a highly creative drummer with whom Frisell has worked—first suggested playing with Jones. “Michael has known Elvin since he was a little kid,” Frisell explains, “and is currently writing a book about him. Out of the blue he told me that I should play with Elvin. I had met Elvin once, about 15 years ago, but I never thought I’d get a chance to play with him.”

Seeing that Shrieve was perfectly serious about the suggestion, Frisell and co-producer Lee Townsend quickly decided on the right bassist for the project. “I had played a little bit with Dave,” Frisell says, “and we’d talked about doing more work together. And Dave had worked with Elvin, so I thought he might be able to tie it all together. The whole thing was like a dream, to be able to play with these guys.”

Each of Frisell’s collaborators on the eponymously titled release can rightfully claim the tag “legendary.” British-born bassist Dave Holland was a mainstay in Miles Davis’s bands immediately prior to and during the Bitches Brew era, and also worked in more avant-garde settings with Chick Corea and Anthony Braxton. In recent years Holland has become one of the most celebrated composers and bandleaders in jazz.

Born in Pontiac and raised in Detroit as part of an enormously gifted musical family, Elvin Jones became one of the most popular and influential drummers in jazz history through his work in the John Coltrane Quartet. He, too, has been a celebrated bandleader, and numerous younger musicians— including Nicholas Payton, Javon Jackson, and Ravi Coltrane—have received their bandstand seasoning as members of his Jazz Machine.

In selecting the tunes for the session, Frisell and Townsend picked some of his most enduring compositions, which were then transformed by the band in the studio. “I wanted to bring Dave and Elvin into my world,” Frisell said. “Strange Meeting,” originally a martial tango, is recast here as a breezy bossa nova. Bluesier material and a folk ballad by Stephen Foster, “Hard Times,” were also chosen because Frisell had always heard the blues in Jones’s playing. “I wasn’t sure how he would react,” Frisell says, “but Elvin got really excited about this stuff—he said that it took him back to the music he used to listen to as a kid in Detroit, like Big Bill Broonzy. And selfishly, if someone has a tune, who wouldn’t want to hear what it would sound like if Elvin Jones played it?”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Lee Townsend and Michael Shrieve
Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City and Different Fur Recording, San Francisco
Recording Engineers: Joe Ferla, Adam Muñoz and Rory Romano
Mixed at Different Fur Recording, San Francisco
Mixing Engineer: Joe Ferla
Edited by Adam Muñoz
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York City

All compositions by Bill Frisell (Friz-Tone Music/BMI) except "Moon River" by Henry Mancini (Famous Music Corporation/ASCAP) and "Hard Times" by Stephen Foster

Design by 27.12 design, ltd.
Art by Jim Woodring

Nonesuch Selection Number

79624

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
ns_album_artistid
38
ns_album_id
437
ns_album_releasedate
ns_genre_1
0
ns_genre_2
0
Album Status
Artist Name
Bill Frisell
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Bill Frisell, electric and acoustic guitars, loops
Dave Holland, bass
Elvin Jones, drums

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597962420BUN
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597962468
  • Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones
    by

  • 79624

Track Listing

News & Reviews

  • Ambrose Akinmusire's Nonesuch debut album, Owl Song, featuring guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley, has received critical acclaim since its release in December, including being named among the year's best by the New York Times, Jazzwise, and the Irish Times, which says: "Akinmusire is a generational talent ... From the first notes of the opening title track you know you are in a place of great beauty." DownBeat says: "A quiet rush of gorgeous sound where space, tone and beauty come together in one of the most impactful albums of 2023 ... This is one of the most interesting recordings to come along in a very long time by one of the most interesting artists of our time." The Wall Street Journal says: "It sounds like a tiny, joyous celebration ... Gorgeous details abound." The Financial Times calls him "the standout trumpeter of his generation" and says: "The one-off ensemble becomes a heavenly match." Record Collector says: "Akinmusire opens a fresh chapter in his career with the quietly magnificent Owl Song, arguably his most accomplished recording yet."

  • "This is my reaction to being assaulted by information," composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire says of his Nonesuch debut album, Owl Song, due December 15, featuring a trio with two musicians he has long admired, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley. "This record is me wanting to create a safe space. Part of the challenge was: Can I create something that's oriented around open space, the way some of the records I love the most do?" You can hear "Owl Song 1" here now. The New York Times says: "Akinmusire has been making some of the most intimate, spellbinding music of his career." Pitchfork has called his work "music that seeks peace not just despite a world of unrest, but within it."

Buy Now

  • About This Album

    For his 15th Nonesuch release, Bill Frisell has teamed up with two of the most revered figures in contemporary jazz, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Elvin Jones, for the first time on record. An impromptu meeting of these three unique voices resulted in instant musical chemistry, as they revisited—and often transformed—Frisell’s compositions and a pair of standards.

    According to Frisell, co-producer Michael Shrieve—a former member of Santana and a highly creative drummer with whom Frisell has worked—first suggested playing with Jones. “Michael has known Elvin since he was a little kid,” Frisell explains, “and is currently writing a book about him. Out of the blue he told me that I should play with Elvin. I had met Elvin once, about 15 years ago, but I never thought I’d get a chance to play with him.”

    Seeing that Shrieve was perfectly serious about the suggestion, Frisell and co-producer Lee Townsend quickly decided on the right bassist for the project. “I had played a little bit with Dave,” Frisell says, “and we’d talked about doing more work together. And Dave had worked with Elvin, so I thought he might be able to tie it all together. The whole thing was like a dream, to be able to play with these guys.”

    Each of Frisell’s collaborators on the eponymously titled release can rightfully claim the tag “legendary.” British-born bassist Dave Holland was a mainstay in Miles Davis’s bands immediately prior to and during the Bitches Brew era, and also worked in more avant-garde settings with Chick Corea and Anthony Braxton. In recent years Holland has become one of the most celebrated composers and bandleaders in jazz.

    Born in Pontiac and raised in Detroit as part of an enormously gifted musical family, Elvin Jones became one of the most popular and influential drummers in jazz history through his work in the John Coltrane Quartet. He, too, has been a celebrated bandleader, and numerous younger musicians— including Nicholas Payton, Javon Jackson, and Ravi Coltrane—have received their bandstand seasoning as members of his Jazz Machine.

    In selecting the tunes for the session, Frisell and Townsend picked some of his most enduring compositions, which were then transformed by the band in the studio. “I wanted to bring Dave and Elvin into my world,” Frisell said. “Strange Meeting,” originally a martial tango, is recast here as a breezy bossa nova. Bluesier material and a folk ballad by Stephen Foster, “Hard Times,” were also chosen because Frisell had always heard the blues in Jones’s playing. “I wasn’t sure how he would react,” Frisell says, “but Elvin got really excited about this stuff—he said that it took him back to the music he used to listen to as a kid in Detroit, like Big Bill Broonzy. And selfishly, if someone has a tune, who wouldn’t want to hear what it would sound like if Elvin Jones played it?”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Bill Frisell, electric and acoustic guitars, loops
    Dave Holland, bass
    Elvin Jones, drums

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Lee Townsend and Michael Shrieve
    Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City and Different Fur Recording, San Francisco
    Recording Engineers: Joe Ferla, Adam Muñoz and Rory Romano
    Mixed at Different Fur Recording, San Francisco
    Mixing Engineer: Joe Ferla
    Edited by Adam Muñoz
    Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York City

    All compositions by Bill Frisell (Friz-Tone Music/BMI) except "Moon River" by Henry Mancini (Famous Music Corporation/ASCAP) and "Hard Times" by Stephen Foster

    Design by 27.12 design, ltd.
    Art by Jim Woodring

More From Bill Frisell