release date: May 18, 1999
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Lee Townsend
label: Nonesuch - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Rain, Rain" - 2. "Roscoe" - 4. "My Buffalo Girl" - 5. "Shenandoah (For Johnny Smith)" - 7. "The Pioneers" - 8. "Cold, Cold Ground" - 11. "Good Dog, Happy Man" - 12. "Poem for Eva"
14th studio album by Bill Frisell following Gone, Just Like a Train (Jan. '98) is Frisell's second of eight consecutive albums with long-time producer Lee Townsend.
Stylewise, Frisell has been on a long and twining progression in shaping that highly personal sound of his, and for me, this is when he first comes out the cleanest. He combines and bonds with other genres and styles and you'll notice elements from jazz, blues, americana, country and folk, and what appeals the most to me, is the absence of jazz fusion or the bold traits of rock fusion of the 1970s and 80s. Many will probably associate Frisell with artists like Pat Metheny, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea and others belonging to, and keeping alive, the heritage of the innovative Miles Davis and the ingenuity of Thelonius Monk. Exactly that may also be a starting point to his own orginal blend, but what I really enjoy, lies more in his ability to combine roots music - be it blues, jazz, or country folk with bits of americana and a tad more gentle approach that flows into something highly original - and that's basically all found on this one.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 3,5 / 4 stars ]
