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SOLD OUT - Bill Frisell Trio featuring Tony Scherr & Rudy Royston
Fri, 12 May, 8:00 PM CDT
Doors open
7:00 PM CDT
SPACE
1245 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202
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Description
Bill Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings, whose catalog has been cited by Downbeat as “the best recorded output of the decade”.
“Frisell has had a lot of practice putting high concept into a humble package. Long hailed as one of the most distinctive and original improvising guitarists of our time, he has also earned a reputation for teasing out thematic connections with his music... There’s a reason that Jazz at Lincoln Center had him program a series called Roots of Americana.” - New York Times
His latest recording is Valentine, on Blue Note, a trio album with Thomas Morgan (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums) that has been hailed as “a masterpiece” by Downbeat. “They consistently and strikingly play as one, voices intertwined, completing phrases as if sharing a single thought… Even overdubs are so perfect that everything feels utterly organic… the performances represent jazz playing at its most sublime.”
Frisell’s recent album, HARMONY and has been described in the New York Times as follows:
“The eminent guitarist improvises in smoky ringlets of melody, drawing the influence of classic jazz guitar into a palette based on early American folk music. HARMONY finds Frisell playing smoldering original compositions along with a few covers alongside vocalist Petra Haden, cellist Hank Roberts and guitarist and bassist Luke Bergman.”
Recognized as one of America’s 21 most vital and productive performing artists, Frisell was named an inaugural Doris Duke Artist in 2012. He is also a recipient of grants from United States Artists, Meet the Composer among others. In 2016, he was a beneficiary of the first FreshGrass Composition commission to preserve and support innovative grassroots music. Upon San Francisco Jazz opening their doors in 2013, he served as one of their Resident Artistic Directors. Bill is also the subject of a documentary film by director Emma Franz, entitled Bill Frisell: A Portrait, which examines his creative process in depth. He has received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.
Event Information
Age Limit
All Ages

Jazz
Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
Jazz
“It's hard to find a more fruitful meditation on American music than in the compositions of guitarist Bill Frisell. Mixing rock and country with jazz and blues, he's found what connects them: improvisation and a sense of play. Unlike other pastichists, who tend to duck passion, Mr. Frisell plays up the pleasure in the music and also takes on another often-avoided subject, tenderness." - The New York Times
"Frisell is a revered figure among musicians - like Miles Davis and few others, his signature is built from pure sound and inflection; an anti-technique that is instantly identifiable." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
Described as being at the very epicenter of modern American Music” (BBC), Bill Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 35 years and 250 recordings, including 40 of his own. Frisell’s recording catalog has been cited by Downbeat as “the best recorded output of the decade,” including his recent albums for Savoy - Sign of Life with the 858 Quartet, Beautiful Dreamers with his trio, and All We Are Saying, a new collection of John Lennon interpretations.
Frisell’s recording, Big Sur, was his debut for Okeh/Sony Masterworks and features music commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival and was composed at the Glen Deven Ranch in Big Sur. The album’s unusual instrumentation of strings and drums comes alive in a newly assembled quintet comprised of long-time associates from his groups, the 858 Quartet and Beautiful Dreamers.
Frisell’s Nonesuch output spans a wide range of musical expression, from original Buster Keaton film scores, to arrangements for extended ensembles with horns and strings (Blues Dream, Grammy-nominated History, Mystery and Grammy winner, Unspeakable), to collaborations with bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer Jim Keltner (Gone, Just Like a Train). Other releases include an album with Nashville musicians (Nashville), a solo album (Ghost Town), a collection of traditional American folk songs and originals inspired by them (The Willies), and two trio albums – one with jazz legends Dave Holland and Elvin Jones, the other with Ron Carter and Paul Motian. The GRAMMY- nominated The Intercontinentals combines Frisell’s brand of American roots music with Brazilian, Greek, and Malian influences. Disfarmer was inspired by the work of the mid-century rural Arkansas photographer Mike Disfarmer. Floratone is Frisell’s cooperative group of drummer Matt Chamberlain, long-time producer Lee Townsend and Tucker Martine, with whom he has recorded two albums. Silent Comedy (Tzadik) is a solo project filled with complex harmonies, delicate phrasing, and wild noises, produced by long-time musical colleague John Zorn.