Bill Frisell

Pre-Release

Essential Albums

  • I Have the Room Above Her

Artist Playlists

About Bill Frisell

Born in Baltimore in 1951, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell possesses a warm, big-sky sound that might reflect the childhood he spent in Denver, Colorado. After switching from clarinet to guitar in elementary school, Frisell discovered jazz through Wes Montgomery and studied with Jim Hall at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Pat Metheny recommended him for a Paul Motion studio date, beginning a long association with the legendarily mellow ECM label that continued with Frisell's 1983 debut album, In Line, a collection of solos and duets with bassist Arild Andersen. Frisell quickly developed a reputation as a versatile, collegial, and prolific individualist. His musical vocabulary includes neck bending, hybrid picking, and digital looping, and he has a knack for shifting among different styles in a single solo. Among his more than 40 releases, keynote albums include 1992’s eclectic Have a Little Faith and 1997's folksy Nashville, as well as his work amid the adrenalized squonk of John Zorn's Naked City combo. A gifted trio leader, Frisell is also known for his film music, collaborations with Brazilian singer Vinicius Cantuária, and pop-oriented releases, like his albums devoted to the music of John Lennon (2011's All We Are Saying…) and, with 2014's Guitar in the Space Age, the surf tunes of his youth.

HOMETOWN
Baltimore, MD, United States
BORN
March 18, 1951
GENRE
Jazz

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