release date: Apr. 29, 1985
format: cd (reissue - ECM 1287)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Manfred Eicher
label: ECM - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 3. "Rambler" - 4. "When We Go" - 7. "Wizard of Odds"
2nd studio album by Bill Frisell follows two years after In Line, and it's like the debut produced by Eicher and released on ECM Records. But that's not like saying these two albums are closely related 'cause this is something entirely different. It's still jazz, though, but where the debut was ambient touching on minimalism, this one is uptempo, straightforward and anything but ambient, and by that it also appears much more in the spirit of what Frisell should later be renowned for. Here, you're both handed the qualities of Frisell as composer but moreso the virtuose instrumentalist, who seems capable of playing almost anything.
This is fusion jazz with bonds to post bop and free jazz, and you might as well add: Miles Davis. Later in his career, Frisell focuses more on melody styructure, guitar sound in combination with other instruments, but on Rambler horns (tuba, cornet, fluegelhorn, trumpet) play a central part - which in some ways seems a bit odd given the fact that he's a guitarist. The title track is imho the most refreshing composition on an album that both shows us what Frisell masters and also incorporates americana and basically dwells so nicely in between the more quiet passages and the energy of older jazz styles.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 3 / 4 stars ]
