Good Dog, Happy Man

Submitted by nonesuch on
genre
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

With keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz, and the rhythm section of Viktor Krauss (bass) and Jim Keltner (drums), Frisell “devotes himself to building seamless and personal collages of 20th-century Americana,” according to L.A. Weekly. Ry Cooder duets on an ethereal “Shenandoah.”

Description

Bill Frisell's release Good Dog, Happy Man further explores the musical ideas expressed in two previous recordings for Nonesuch, Nashville (1997) and Gone, Just Like a Train (1998). Good Dog, Happy Man reunites guitarist/composer Frisell with the rhythm section featured on Gone, Just Like a Train, bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer Jim Keltner, as well as multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, k.d. lang) on dobro, mandolin, Weissenborn, National steel guitar, and lap and pedal steel guitars, and Wayne Horvitz (Zony Mash, Naked City, The President) on Hammond B-3 organ.

With the addition of Greg Leisz and Wayne Horvitz and fuller orchestrations than on other recent recordings, Good Dog, Happy Man breaks new ground, blending Frisell’s warmly refined sound with such indigenous musical elements as country, blues, bluegrass, and rock. L.A. Weekly, in reviewing Gone, Just Like a Train, said, “What Frisell has begun to fashion on his latest releases is a sensibility as unmistakably American as that of Charles Ives or Duke Ellington, with the harmonic and tonal complexity of both and a seductive melancholy all his own.” The New York Times called Gone, Just Like a Train Frisell’s “simplest and best recording in years.”

The 11 original tunes on Good Dog, Happy Man celebrate Frisell's emergence as a composer who has created a genre unto himself. As with his preceding two albums, he continues in pursuit of a music that reveals a wide emotional range and that ultimately defies categorization. The one non-original composition on the album, a rendition of the traditional folk song "Shenandoah," is performed here with special guest Ry Cooder and dedicated to the guitarist Johnny Smith.

ProductionCredits
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Lee Townsend
Recorded at O’Henry Sound Studios, Burbank
Recording and mixing engineer: Judy Clapp
Assistant engineer: Jeff Shannon
Mixed at Different Fur Recording, San Francisco
Assistant Engineer: Adam Muñoz
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, NYC
Production assistance: Noel Grey and Louisa Spier

Design by Barbara deWilde
Photographs by Michael Wilson

 

Nonesuch Selection Number

79536

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
ns_album_artistid
38
ns_album_id
84
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 and music boxes
Greg Leisz, pedal steel, Dobro, lap steel, Weissenborn, National steel guitar and mandolin
Wayne Horvitz, organ, piano and samples
Victor Krauss, bass
Jim Keltner, drums and percussion
Ry Cooder, electric guitar and Ripley guitar (5)

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597953626BUN
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597953664
Label
LP+CD+MP3
UPC
075597982275BUN
  • 79536

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

    Bill Frisell's release Good Dog, Happy Man further explores the musical ideas expressed in two previous recordings for Nonesuch, Nashville (1997) and Gone, Just Like a Train (1998). Good Dog, Happy Man reunites guitarist/composer Frisell with the rhythm section featured on Gone, Just Like a Train, bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer Jim Keltner, as well as multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, k.d. lang) on dobro, mandolin, Weissenborn, National steel guitar, and lap and pedal steel guitars, and Wayne Horvitz (Zony Mash, Naked City, The President) on Hammond B-3 organ.

    With the addition of Greg Leisz and Wayne Horvitz and fuller orchestrations than on other recent recordings, Good Dog, Happy Man breaks new ground, blending Frisell’s warmly refined sound with such indigenous musical elements as country, blues, bluegrass, and rock. L.A. Weekly, in reviewing Gone, Just Like a Train, said, “What Frisell has begun to fashion on his latest releases is a sensibility as unmistakably American as that of Charles Ives or Duke Ellington, with the harmonic and tonal complexity of both and a seductive melancholy all his own.” The New York Times called Gone, Just Like a Train Frisell’s “simplest and best recording in years.”

    The 11 original tunes on Good Dog, Happy Man celebrate Frisell's emergence as a composer who has created a genre unto himself. As with his preceding two albums, he continues in pursuit of a music that reveals a wide emotional range and that ultimately defies categorization. The one non-original composition on the album, a rendition of the traditional folk song "Shenandoah," is performed here with special guest Ry Cooder and dedicated to the guitarist Johnny Smith.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Bill Frisell, electric and acoustic guitars, loops and music boxes
    Greg Leisz, pedal steel, Dobro, lap steel, Weissenborn, National steel guitar and mandolin
    Wayne Horvitz, organ, piano and samples
    Victor Krauss, bass
    Jim Keltner, drums and percussion
    Ry Cooder, electric guitar and Ripley guitar (5)

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Lee Townsend
    Recorded at O’Henry Sound Studios, Burbank
    Recording and mixing engineer: Judy Clapp
    Assistant engineer: Jeff Shannon
    Mixed at Different Fur Recording, San Francisco
    Assistant Engineer: Adam Muñoz
    Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, NYC
    Production assistance: Noel Grey and Louisa Spier

    Design by Barbara deWilde
    Photographs by Michael Wilson

     

More From Bill Frisell