Ghost Town

Criticism of this most latest effort from Bill Frisell seems tofocus on what the cd is not.Agreed:This is absolutely not BadMehldau.Nor is it Wes Montgomery or Joe Pass.And it isn't 'jazz' in the very narrow sense of where one might find a Barney Kessell record.So what?I believe that the defining characteristic(s) of a great musician have to do with possessing a unique sound and an ability and willingness to communicate an original musical vision.And Frisell is a unquestionably a unique and highly gifted performer. He is a great musican and artist. Well grounded in idioms as diverse as bop, country, pop, free improv and bluegrass Frisell has created a synthesis of those (and other) forms which is completely his own.Recognizable from the first note, this cd plays very much like one of his solo concerts though augmented by studio overdubs. Deceptively simple, the attention to melody, the rich and often unexpected harmonics and the spare, thoughtful improvisations all work to create very wonderful music.A particular highlight for me is the medley 'Ghost Town/Poem for Eva'. Lovely melodies, elegantly conveyed. Think of 'Poem for Eva' as the best tune the Everly Brothers failed to write.Bill Frisell compiled one of the very best bodies of recorded work during the 1990's. This begins the 2000's at the same high level.

Bill Frisell has shown once again that he is one of the very few jazz-based improvisors who is not afraid to be himself. I say jazz-based since he is obviously categorized as a jazz guitarist, but has long since risen above such pigeonholing. It's unfortunate, yet expected, that some people ( some of the so-called "reviewers" here ) cannot let go of labels, and just listen to the music. On the Pat Metheny note ( from below ): I'm sure they have drawn ideas from each others work as any contemporaries do, but to state that Bill Frisell owes a huge debt to Pat Metheny is ridiculous. Then again, a "Metheny-Head" could probably find a way to prove that Charlie Christian derived from Pat Metheny as well.

Bought this reading other reviews. A good one but my favorite remains "The Intercontinentals" and "In Line on ECM. Recording quality is refined.

Great cd!

I like the music.

I'm not a big Bill Frisell fan but I have to admit that his music has something special in a sense. It is weird, it his awkward, but in its best examples it has a kind of ethereal quality that is fascinating. I would not call his music pure "Jazz" because it does not swing, but it has its depth. This album, as a lot of reviewers has already said, is compiled of music Bill played by himself with some overdubbings, loops and stuff. The idea is interesting in my opinion. We have thousands of albums by bands, or soloists but few where a musician use some technology to paint all by himself his scenaries. I find interesting the concept. I judge this album for what it is, not thinking about what it could be if other musicians were involved or something like that. This album is a story by itself and that's it for me. I judge it for what it is. The music is "strange" as I said earlier. It's pure Frisell extravaganza at its fullest. Even if I don't find any difficulties in understading this music (I'm a Jazz musican myself) i find it still curious and interesting. Very MODAL. If you find strange Bill's music too, probably it is because he uses a lot of pedal notes (often from different tonal scales) and he mixes the modes trying to find "new" ways of mixing them. Anyway even in the more tonal tunes there are a lot of blues inflections. They're everywhere. With those inflections he probably tries to glue the different modes together. Jazz harmonies and sophistication are mixed with folkish stuff and instruments with very slow time signatures through the blues feeling and tricks. Hearing Bill playing his acoustic is something that I find very pleasing. In particular, in the case of this album it is a very folkish music with some electronic blitz, nice blues or "jazz" eclectic twists here and there (more bluesy than jazzy by the way). I agree with the guy who said that this music has a sort of funeral quality. Yes it's true. It is calm, ethereal, hipnotic, dense, it speaks of slow decadence. It speaks of loneliness even when it is played in major tonalities. But nevertheless I find this music very fascinating. I don't listen to this album all the time of course but when I feel tired or flat this album gives me what I need. It has a special place in my 7000 cds collection. It makes the perfect match with another album from Bill, the one he recorded with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones. The two albums have some tunes in common too even if in different versions of course. Bill guitar sounds here are extremely well chosen and the recording is very very correct, audiophile quality I might say. My fantastic Avalon loudspeakers reproduce perfectly the west decadence atmospheres Bill wanted to create (I suppose, ... by the way this is what his music communicates to me), with a lot of space and micro details. I find that this album is extremely nice even in its folkish, dark, unusual, awkward, "funereal" feel.

I picked this 2000 album up towards the tail end of 2004 but never got round to reviewing it. I've been playing it quite a bit since I got the incredibly good  E_L_B  album by Peter Erskine that I reviewed on here recently. In places, Nguyên Lê's playing on that disc reminded me of Frisell's on this one.As its title suggests, this album is a collection of haunting, atmospheric sounds from the guitar great. Produced by Lee Townsend, it's mostly acoustic guitar but Frisell also plays electric guitar, 6-string banjo, loops and bass. There are sixteen songs here and I find it impossible to pick any out for special mention. They are all pretty extraordinary. What the album lacks in improvisation, it more than makes up for in mood and ambience. Still, improvisation is the one reason why I buy jazz CDs and the lack of it on here is what cost it a star.Be warned though: it may just be me but I found nothing joyful here. It's all quite sombre, almost mournful. Don't put this on if you're feeling a bit blue and hoping for a lift. This is an album for sitting out on the porch, watching the sun go down on those hot summer evenings. It's for introspection, reflection, relaxation and pure imagination. But I repeat: that may just be me.

for me it's largely about the mood. fairly dark, and the album title is well chosen with some of BF's most imaginative compositions and interpretations. For me, one of his best.

Immaginate di entrare in una ghost town (città fantasma):chiudendo gli occhi lasciatevi trasportare da questa esposizione di immagini sonore..Bill Frisell penso qui dia il meglio di sè,tra country (il suo), jazz, blues, acustico..il tutto in una matrice onirica:a volte solare come un giorno di primavera ("Wildwood flowers"),a tratti meravigliosamente inquietante ("Variation on a theme"),dipinge un paesaggio straordinario!Tra i 10 cd che porterei nell'isola deserta!Samples su amazon.com o allmusic.com

I’m a fan, this a good album

Angenehme CD von Frisell gemütlich, sympathisch und all das, was man sich von ihm wünscht gut besser am besten und so

Bill Frisell est vraiment un as de la guitare. Mais là, je trouve sa musique un peu "répétitive". Cela peut plaire, bien sûr.