Jul 2 2017
Your Sunday Morning Jazz Album: Bill Frisell – “Ghost Town”
Sunday morning is when the serenity comes down. Sunday morning is the cocoon from the heavy exhaustion of too much Saturday night fun. Sunday morning is when the city agrees to use its inside voice. Sunday morning is when a hush settles in over the land. It is a time for sitting still and listening to quiet music and silently praying the aspirin and coffee do something to stop your head from exploding. Drama and stress are strictly forbidden on Sunday morning.
Your Sunday Morning Jazz Album is just for you, for times just like these. If you possess the freakish compulsion to get-up-and-go when the clock strikes Sunday morning, this music is not for you. Go and listen to a Spotify EDM playlist or something. But whatever you decide, just do it quietly and far away from those of us who appreciate the true solemn nature of a Sunday morning.
Bill Frisell‘s first solo album was everything. The 2000 release Ghost Town shined a light on all of the special qualities that defined the guitarist’s music to date and the many elements that would inform later projects. A variation of the Frisell original “Tales From the Farside” displayed his talent at couching ominous tones in a comforting ambiance. “What a World” and “Outlaw” show his penchant for loops and effects, and how he weaves together the multiple threads into a fabric far richer than what the individual strands might otherwise indicate. Renditions of “Wildwood Flower” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” highlighted the guitarist’s immense talent at personalizing the songs of others, and how Frisell works those seamlessly into the flow of this individualistic recording is the ultimate proof of that talent. These tunes are steeped in folk and Americana, but the flirtations with the avant-garde keep the ear wary. And all of this, even at its most ferocious, keys in on the potent tranquility that lies at the heart of the music of Bill Frisell.
Ghost Town, as much as any album featured as a Sunday Morning Jazz Album, embodies everything the soundtrack of a Sunday morning person truly needs.
You need this album today, right now.
- Artist-Title: Bill Frisell – Ghost Town
- Personnel: Bill Frisell (electric & acoustic guitars, 6-string banjo, loops, bass)
- Proper Use: 1) Watching the distant lights of the city skyline blink on as day replaces night, 2) Immersing yourself in the sound of whispering leaves as a cool springtime breeze cuts a path through the open window, or 3) Writing that letter to your dear friend, who you’d lost touch with so long ago.
Released in 2000 on Nonesuch Records.
Music from Seattle, WA.
Available at: Amazon
Ian
July 3, 2017 @ 2:09 pm
Like much of Bill’s stuff, I want to really like it, but it fails to hold my interest for long. I can’t explain it – there’s nothing offensive here and it’s a good Sunday Morning Album choice as a result, but I find myself wanting something a little more….not something louder, or something faster or more involved, but perhaps a little less ethereal. And I say that as a huge fan of the Nordic ECM approach where less is more.
At a jazz show a while back I was talking about Frisell with a fellow patron, who said he wished Bill would just play. I think that’s about it.
Thanks for the introduction, though, I played it through once and was glad for the prompt to try it.
davesumner
July 3, 2017 @ 6:31 pm
Hi, Ian. Thanks for stopping by to shoot the breeze.
It’s interesting. I think that the reason I like some of Frisell’s more introspective recordings (his ECM Records In Line for instance) is because he doesn’t do something more. My ear keeps expecting something, but instead he’ll just modulate the drone a bit. I’ve liked how he can create tension by withholding anticipated sound… not using silence so much as extreme restraint. But I totally hear what you mean about wanting something more. Frisell’s music has the space for expansion, that’s for sure.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on albums like “History Mystery” and “Quartet” and “Gone Just Like a Train.” I’m trying to remember what his Solos album was like. I feel like that was more of a sit back and play recording.
Cheers,
Dave
Ian
July 6, 2017 @ 10:11 pm
You’ve triggered a Frisell kick. Not really happening with the ones you mentioned, but I’m really quite enjoying Good Dog, Happy Man. It’s a bit poppier, I think, which helps ground the tunes while he’s meandering. I’m going to go back to Gone Like A Train since they seem to be cut from similar cloth. Maybe the secret is to be immersed in him for a little while, to learn to listen at his tempo.
Checking his discography, it’s funny to see the albums I have with him playing, an odd selection – Marc Johnson’s The Sound of Summer Running (with Metheny), Stefano Bollani’s Joy in Spite of Everything, Lyle Mays’ first album, David Sylvian (although I expected him to be on more than one, they just seem suited).
davesumner
July 6, 2017 @ 10:22 pm
Oh man, I’d totally forgotten about Good Dog, Happy Man. Did that one come out right after “Quartet”? I think it did. Gotta revisit that asap. If I remember correctly, Gone Just Like A Train was maybe heavier with the blues and twang than Good Dog. They do a version of “Egg Radio” on that album that floated my boat, I recall.
I was actually on the brink of revisiting Sound of Summer Running myself. I’ve always enjoyed that one, and it’s been awhile since I had it on. It literally fell off my CD shelf a month ago, and I’ve kept it out ever since, figuring I’d find some time to squeeze it in.
I’ll be posting a write-up of the new Frisell recording next week.
Cheers,
Dave