Brilliant! I agree with everything you've said here. Bill has a wonderfully fresh way of incorporating influences from any genre into pretty much any tune in his own unique 'jazz', in the sense that it's still realised in the moment. It always sounds fresh, and his brand of harmonic minimalism always makes me, as listener, feel I'm taking part in a very intimate and special experience. I'm so grateful we have access to recordings of him playing, yet at the same time, when you're lucky enough to catch him live, you're left with the feeling that if the performance weren't recorded, that would be ok too, because the experience was truly about that moment and no other. Cheers!
thank u for featuring bill. i LOVE how he breaks all the jazz rules and leaves so much space and also effects. Modern goat. and love that he plays a lot of solid body guitars…he’s hanging onto his rock, blues and country/Americana roots no matter what.
Also his approach infers different harmonic substitutions that may not have been intended conceptually beforehand but are created by the isolation of the intervals he chooses to keep alongside the melody.
Totally agree about Bill Frisell’s status and great playing. I have the great good fortune to be living in Bill’s home city of Denver, Colorado and to be playing guitar in an ensemble studying and playing the music of the great Ron Miles, with many of his compositions and recordings featuring Bill Frisell on guitar. His parts are difficult to play precisely because of their subtle and rather minimalist form, in which every note is very precise and really counts, leaving little room for sloppy playing or error. Thank you so much for this post Jens: studying this piece by Bill as you have written it out will be of enormous help in learning and understanding his style. For others interested in Bill Frisell, there is an excellent new biography of him by Philip Watson called ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ - which Bill certainly is.
Obviously, the delay and reverb are a BIG part of his thing and IMO, the notes that get held, end up filling in some of the harmony. Frisell is a monster!
Ok Jens, you found me! I love Frisell and this is, in my opinion, one of the best solo guitar ever played. The sound, phrasing, notes ringing and disappearing. It reminds me Monk playing Duke Ellington songs (do you know that record?) Fantastic. Thanks for sharing to a wider audience. ❤
Bill's guitar playing at times reminds me of some of the early Bill Evans work, like his gorgeous, slow ostenato intro to the Gershwin standard, "Porgy, You Is My Man." I believe that's on the Live, at the Village Vanguard, with the first trio. Jazz Cats gotta check out the piano masters, too. 😉
Jens, thank you for posting this. It is one of the most helpful and insightful guitar videos I've seen. I've heard Bill Frisell on a number of albums and never really cared for his playing, as I listened to it. His playing seemed choppy and electronic to me. But after seeing you discuss his playing and the way he handles changes melodically, it has opened up a new understanding for me. I am going to listen to his playing more now, in light of your presentation of him. This non-traditional, "non-bop" way of playing is remarkable.
@@JensLarsen I found a live version of Moon River, with bass and drums, and it was terrific. Absolutely wonderful. Then I found a live version of the Beatles' "In My Life", also with bass and drums, in which Bill Frisell mostly stayed around the melody but made small but beautiful departures here and there. It seemed almost entirely in "non-bop" musical language. Thank you again for opening my eyes and ears to his playing.
I watched him play at the Village Vanguard a couple months ago. His trio was guitar, sax, and drums. I came in not knowing anything about him. I was surprised how "full" or "complete" his trio sounded without the low-end of the bass. Even with his sparse chord melody. A very humble person too.
The other thing I enjoy about watching him play is how he seems so delighted when he hits the right note and he deliberates on the next note. No auto-pilot here. Seen him 6 times live and its clear how much joy he gets from the music, like a teenager nailing his first lick.
i really love that aspect about seeing Frisell play live - he fairly often looks genuinely surprised and delighted by what beautiful thing he's stumbled upon, there's a real joy of discovery in his playing that you cannot fake.
My first cd of his was Before we were born and then On Broadway vol 1... i was blown away this was the same person. Then i heard 'The Beach' of his Works lp ECM and ive never been the same person... in a good way ;o)
I have seen frisel in concert several times. I saw him play with Julian lage which was”way out there” good. His Americana tunes such as Shenandoah take these song to a whole different level. Methany is Ali amazing
Thanks so much for this. Frisell is my favorite living guitarist and it is really hard to capture what makes him special through any kind of analysis, but your video is extremely illuminating and insightful!
It honestly blows my mind that the SG has not became the main guitar for Jazz. It still has the traditional Gibson looks, humbuckers, a great tuneomatic bridge, and I heard Jazz players frequently mentioning how comfort, fast neck and access to the upper frets, are important to them - all of which, the SG does better than the 335 or Tele. . .
completely agree, but lets be honest with ourselves by recognizing that the reason for this mind blowing reality simply comes down to aesthetism and culture, humans are not all autists most of them are social mammals above everything else. but Nothing keeps you from using that precious realization of yours and play on SG from now and show the folk that it also can do “ jazz “
Indeed, Frisell exhibits exceptional perception when it comes to voice leading and harmonization. For me, he belongs to the same "clan" with players such as Pass, Monder, Metheny and.. yes, Sco (to name a few of the prominent, when it comes to the approach). They all share common understanding on how to resolve voices, beyond the obvious and easily anticipated.
Olá, Jen's ! Você já fez algum vídeo sobre Terje Rypdal ? Um guitarrista com estilo único e que cria lindas melodias. O disco "Descendre" da ECM é maravilhoso! Obrigado por suas aulas e por compartilhar seus conhecimentos ! Thank you ! ✌️
Thanks for the insight into his playing style. I've seen him twice but I could never quite figure out what he was doing ( he was also using loops). Now at least I have some understanding of his approach.
I caught Bill live in concert back in 1995. It was pretty wild. The first time I heard his music I thought to myself, "This sounds like Jeff Beck trying to play like Robert Fripp." That's meant as a compliment.
That's a hip overview, thank you for that! I think I noticed a couple of these 'stylistic devices' over the years, lol. E.g. breaking up spicier chord voicings, like demonstrated in the video, really creates cool effects. This technique is also a little bit along the lines of Ed Bickert - lot's of tension, briefly though, via less jarring voicings and more movement. Especially if one's not hoping for the next, huge altered chord to drop - more of a subtle approach with momentum .
Great video Jens! I’ve never really “got” Frisell but I have a lot of friends that are great players that dig his playing. I guess I need to do a deep dive and check him out. Great video.
@@JensLarsen - I get that but I’m a slow learner sometimes. I never got Ornette and the I heard Pat Metheny saying how much he loves his music. I am a big Metheny fan so, I figure there’s something there I’m missing. I’m a big fan of you as well so I need to give it another listen.
JENS! I need you to tell me something, anything about Ernest Ranglin. You wanna talk about chord solos? This dude is the bees knees. I've been listening to him for the past week and I'm blown away. Teach us some of that kinda jazz, pleeease. Thanks man:))
Great lesson and observations as usual Jens. But I think there are many other 3rd 4th 5th etc modern Musketeers (chord melody) - Abercrombie, Goodrick, Rypdal, Benson, Towner, Krantz...
Frissell is a giant. He played on Lyle Mays’ first solo album, and his approach to the tune Ascent is a high gain, wailing, emotional tour de force, with his typical understatement that brings so much more than shredding could.
reminds me a bit of bach, at least some work of bachs piano compositions, where he doesnt compose the full polyphonic spectrum through the registers than more lyricly "picks" info from the them.
Bill Frisell is a kind of minimalist who emphasizes the melody with weight and effects , then harmonizes and plays with the timing. Excellent player. I've also seen him in the Eighties in NY city using a looper in a cafe bar.
Would you consider Ted Greene up there with the guys you mentioned? Personally I prefer listening to Greene over Joe Pass, but I'm a bedroom pop fingerstylist and not a jazz guy
Love to jam on this th-cam.com/video/61xVukbTkCY/w-d-xo.html performance of bill with chantal acda. And it’s indeed how you explain it. Playing half chords and filling them in with some nice melodies.
I saw Bill Frisell play last night in Kansas City. It is hard to explain he has such a unique harmonic approach. It is like he has created his own language. He played tunes from his new album. He played with 3 other musicians but he was just one of the 4 supporting the music. The funniest moment was when he was improvising and he spontaneously said "Oh shit" . It was a small room so everyone heard. He had got himself in a pickle and you could hear musically work him self out of the problem. The whole band took huge risks and were fearless.
I think of Bill as a jazz impressionist. He plays jazz by implication. And, he uses space and effects in a way that lets the listener form an emotional connection with the notes. He's truly a unique player.
@@jeffreybrady4841 I need to go with stuff that I somehow feel inspired to do a video on, so I can't really just do requests, I suspect it will seem fake. But if I come across something with Julian Lage that really resonatest with me then I will probably make a video on it.
Do you like this approach to chord melody, or do you prefer something else? A more "traditional" take on harmonizing this song: th-cam.com/video/5DlCT5F9VRc/w-d-xo.html
My own approach has been influenced most by traditional chord melody players (especially those who predate Joe Pass), because I've always been more attracted to the role of harmony in the overall package than melody, and I just like the sound of the combination of block and arpeggios, but I love Frisell's highly individual, more stripped-down way of playing. He makes the listener appreciate the melody and, too, though he obviously has a full understanding of theory, he's not a slave to its rules and avoids harmonic excess in order to present how he hears and feels the song. Jazz is interpretive, and I think it takes as much patience, and probably much more personal insight, to find what the song really says to you and then express it instrumentally than it does to work out super tricky passages, possibly primarily for effect.
Jens, thanks, great analysis! This style is unusual but not unprecedented. I'm hearing a combination of Frisell's ear for Americana + Bach's approach to serializing vertical harmony. The Americana = spare open intervals, triads, and pedal-steel-style volume swells. (Aaron Copland captured "Americana" with open 5ths several decades before Wayne and Garth bragged about "power chords.") The Bachiana ≈ his Solo Cello Suites and Solo Violin Sonatas/Partitas - great music for single-string and occasional double-stop playing, where he had to spell out all the harmony sequentially. These also make great guitar music, in transcription. You already know how I love Johnny Smith's Bach-inspired original "Walk, Don't Run" (th-cam.com/video/0HwQxdrmwY8/w-d-xo.html). D'oh! I just remembered that (a) Smith also Bachianizes "Lullaby of Birdland" later in that ^ same set, and (b) Smith was Frisell's teacher and champion in college. So this combination is no accident. You can read Frisell's nice tribute to Smith here: jazztimes.com/features/tributes-and-obituaries/bill-frisell-remembers-johnny-smith/
Thank you so much for this video Jens! You have illuminated some aspects of Bill Frisell's playing that have so far eluded me. I value all that you have done for helping me learn, and continue to learn.
Jens, it is always amazing to watch your work. I am not able to follow the full depth of the music theory content but it inspires me to keep moving forward. I appreciate you spending time sharing your insights. And I particularly enjoy watching your pleasure at hearing some of these masters play music.
@@JensLarsen I know their videos about him. But as you have a much larger audience, I thought you could make a lot of people discover this wonderful musician
Frisell's live album with Driscol and Baron was an album I just didn't get when I first heard it. It was recommended by my cousin whose opinion I valued so I decided to get it. I would sit in front of the stereo and play the album over and over. After a time I eventually realized there was nothing to get, it's just music and all you have to do is listen to it. The ear expands with exposure. And then it became one of my favorites. I'd highly recommend it, along with his album This Land if anyone is looking for a good jumping on point.
Do a quick search for bill frisell w john pizarelli on TH-cam. There’s a really cool video of the two of them talking and playing together. The contrast in their styles really illustrates where frisell is coming from vs traditional jazz guitar, and just how incredibly musical he is in any context. He’s also deeply respectful of Pizarelli’s wizardry too. Seems like such a sensitive and humble guy.
First heard Frisell on CD back at Oberlin in the eighties… Bill is near and dear to our hearts in Colorado. Thanks for covering his art. And I can’t think of Frisell without remembering Ron Miles. We miss you, Ron. And nice to see Rudy in there. Stern, Metheny, Scofield, all part of that community of innovators. Love to you and yours, Bill. This was lovely to wake up to Jens. “We should all steal that ending chord," indeed. ☺️ Best, Daniel Ford. 🤙🏼
These approaches have a lot in common with some of the more advanced bluegrass flatpickers such as Tony Rice, David Grier and Grant Gordy. Listen to Rice's versions of Oh Shenandoah or Georgia on my Mind. Jazz guitarist Julian Lage has picked up a lot of his vocabulary. I believe Frisell also listened quite a bit to some of the Nashville studio giants like Hank Garland and Grady Martin. You can hear it in his playing.
ive listened to lots of his music ...I love the way he interprets songs....I love his use of free time .... totally underrated player .....he is a pioneer
Thanks for this great perspective and analysis of Bill Frissell. He is a master of understatement in a the tradition of Jim Hall, who was similarly adventurous. It's deceiving and takes a lot of listening to fully appreciate his mastery. Thanks so much for breaking this down to help us appreciate even more the finer points of his playing.
It's no accident...growing up in the Denver area, Bill studied with Dale Bruning who himself emulated Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney (Dale and Jim were close friends). Bill actually used to play in that style also on a classic ES-175.
Great breakdown! Bill drives right into the heart of the song. I tend to lump Frisell, Julian Lage, and Jim Hall has having distinct sounds but sharing a fundamental perspective if that makes sense.
I really think Bill is one of the best living guitarists, and a national treasure. His approach is so singular and unique and (to me) overwhelmingly beautiful.
Oh yeah, Bill Frizell---the 'jazz guitarist' for people who don't really like jazz. I'm not saying that his tunes aren't sometimes appealing in their simplicity. But his playing is more in the realm of 'folk' music than what can reasonably be called called 'jazz'.
Bill is an alien coming from planet Music. Saw him with Wollesen and Scherr at blue note in Milano and they blew my mind from the first note played, it was an amazing concert!
What's the bluegrass project? I've not heard about it. I know that his frequent collaborator Greg Leisz played dobro on the Watkins Family Hour albums.
@JensLarsen I shall look into it. Thanks. Also I appreciate your videos. Even as a non-guitarist (dobro) I appreciate your thoughts and ideas and try to apply little bits here and there :) so far most of what I have done in terms of jazz has been horn lines, so I appreciate the different input.
@JensLarsen Amazingly he's only ten years older than Frisell and was only two years older than Abercrombie. I think of those four as being the best four around: Frisell, Sco, Metheny, McLaughlin with Holdsworth and Abercrombie being on the same platform until they passed. But it's true that McLaughlin was on the scene earlier, somewhat because of age but also because he was prodigious (and Miles had eyes and ears everywhere). Anyway, thanks for the awesome lessons.
Bill, Pat ant John are my favourite jazz guitar players. I would also add Frank to the list. My favourite chord melody approach is Bill’s. Dave Holland does a similar approach on bass.
Bill Frisell - Ciclo Jazz Internacional - th-cam.com/video/3Ujt30-taNg/w-d-xo.html One of my favorite Bill Frisell performances and setlists! So tasteful and melodic. So many elements from this performance that I want to incorporate into my own playing. Enjoy!
great topic Jens ....... spot on ... with me any ways ... I find, again and again .... the MELODY rules....... fancy harmony licks ... copy and pasted in here and there to achieve a passing grade in harmony university ... doesn't stand a chance against the solid logic and singularity of a strongly projected MELODY ... just saying ... both are great approaches .... however ( and no one asked me lol!!!!!! ) more and more I find simple chords ( or none at all ) under a clearly defined melody seem to be a tastier way to go .... well, for me ... IMHO... I love this vid .... more like it please.
Sorry, I don't buy it. I wonder how it would sound without all the electronic effects (seems like there are several effects besides volume pedal). Almost anything can be made to sound exotic and mysterious using echo, reverb, Leslie, chorus, volume pedal. I know nobody has really ever come up with an adequate definition for "what is jazz?" but one element I have always noticed is that in "jazz" (whatever that is) generally the notes matter more than the effects. You are asking the listener to use their ear and listen to the actual tonal notes. Don't get me wrong, it's all valid. There are no rules etc. Fine. And this version you showed is great. But still, what I'm hearing owes more to Pink Floyd than . And maybe that's OK, I'm just saying something is to me, more ground breaking in chord melodies if you are hearing some kind of new take on the notes themselves rather than the effects to create a mood.
Totally agree. I came up on Joe, Barney, Herb, and Howard Roberts, but Frisell is probably my fave. Personally, I can play "chord melody" and its good, but it sounds too much like block chords and lacks the movement of a voice, so I get it. I'll never be able to play like Wyble, but at least the hint of polyphony is my direction these days. Great video.
I love Frisell for the same reasons I love Allan Holdsworth. Neither of them are really "jazz guitarists" (hides under table), just great imaginative musicians with their own particular language and musical universe and the guitar just happens to be the chosen tool of expression.
Ah another to add to the list! Reminds me a bit of Ted Greene. Check out Lenny Breau as well if anyone would like to hear another "unique" approach to guitar imo. His stuff with Chet Atkins is just lovely
Jens, very inspiring new kind of music to me. How can it be considered unaccompained melody, or atonal? If i have fully understood the reduction of chord gives more freedom to melody. It would be nice to go further in this lessons and maybe explainning how to write a piece like this.
Brilliant! I agree with everything you've said here. Bill has a wonderfully fresh way of incorporating influences from any genre into pretty much any tune in his own unique 'jazz', in the sense that it's still realised in the moment. It always sounds fresh, and his brand of harmonic minimalism always makes me, as listener, feel I'm taking part in a very intimate and special experience. I'm so grateful we have access to recordings of him playing, yet at the same time, when you're lucky enough to catch him live, you're left with the feeling that if the performance weren't recorded, that would be ok too, because the experience was truly about that moment and no other. Cheers!
thank u for featuring bill. i LOVE how he breaks all the jazz rules and leaves so much space and also effects. Modern goat. and love that he plays a lot of solid body guitars…he’s hanging onto his rock, blues and country/Americana roots no matter what.
Also his approach infers different harmonic substitutions that may not have been intended conceptually beforehand but are created by the isolation of the intervals he chooses to keep alongside the melody.
Bill is my favorite guitar player and he hardly gets any attention from the TH-cam guitar gurus…I’m so glad to see this video, thank you.
Glad you like it 🙂
Totally agree about Bill Frisell’s status and great playing. I have the great good fortune to be living in Bill’s home city of Denver, Colorado and to be playing guitar in an ensemble studying and playing the music of the great Ron Miles, with many of his compositions and recordings featuring Bill Frisell on guitar.
His parts are difficult to play precisely because of their subtle and rather minimalist form, in which every note is very precise and really counts, leaving little room for sloppy playing or error. Thank you so much for this post Jens: studying this piece by Bill as you have written it out will be of enormous help in learning and understanding his style.
For others interested in Bill Frisell, there is an excellent new biography of him by Philip Watson called ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ - which Bill certainly is.
Obviously, the delay and reverb are a BIG part of his thing and IMO, the notes that get held, end up filling in some of the harmony. Frisell is a monster!
Ok Jens, you found me! I love Frisell and this is, in my opinion, one of the best solo guitar ever played. The sound, phrasing, notes ringing and disappearing. It reminds me Monk playing Duke Ellington songs (do you know that record?) Fantastic. Thanks for sharing to a wider audience. ❤
Bill's guitar playing at times reminds me of some of the early Bill Evans work, like his gorgeous, slow ostenato intro to the Gershwin standard, "Porgy, You Is My Man." I believe that's on the Live, at the Village Vanguard, with the first trio. Jazz Cats gotta check out the piano masters, too. 😉
Jens, thank you for posting this. It is one of the most helpful and insightful guitar videos I've seen. I've heard Bill Frisell on a number of albums and never really cared for his playing, as I listened to it. His playing seemed choppy and electronic to me. But after seeing you discuss his playing and the way he handles changes melodically, it has opened up a new understanding for me. I am going to listen to his playing more now, in light of your presentation of him. This non-traditional, "non-bop" way of playing is remarkable.
Thank you! That's really great to hear! Try to listen to his take on Moon River, I am sure you'll like it
@@JensLarsen Thank you, I will check it out.
@@JensLarsen I found a live version of Moon River, with bass and drums, and it was terrific. Absolutely wonderful. Then I found a live version of the Beatles' "In My Life", also with bass and drums, in which Bill Frisell mostly stayed around the melody but made small but beautiful departures here and there. It seemed almost entirely in "non-bop" musical language. Thank you again for opening my eyes and ears to his playing.
Hi Jens, jazz guitar is hard but I'm persevering
Stick with it 🙂
I watched him play at the Village Vanguard a couple months ago. His trio was guitar, sax, and drums. I came in not knowing anything about him. I was surprised how "full" or "complete" his trio sounded without the low-end of the bass. Even with his sparse chord melody. A very humble person too.
The best video on Bills playing I’ve found so far, other than his own explanation.
Thank you 🙂 Glad you like it
The other thing I enjoy about watching him play is how he seems so delighted when he hits the right note and he deliberates on the next note. No auto-pilot here. Seen him 6 times live and its clear how much joy he gets from the music, like a teenager nailing his first lick.
i really love that aspect about seeing Frisell play live - he fairly often looks genuinely surprised and delighted by what beautiful thing he's stumbled upon, there's a real joy of discovery in his playing that you cannot fake.
My first cd of his was Before we were born and then On Broadway vol 1... i was blown away this was the same person. Then i heard 'The Beach' of his Works lp ECM and ive never been the same person... in a good way ;o)
Beatifull! I've heard bass players do it kind of that way, with only 4 strings it's a very thankful concept!
Thank you for making such valuable content
I have seen frisel in concert several times. I saw him play with Julian lage which was”way out there” good. His Americana tunes such as Shenandoah take these song to a whole different level. Methany is Ali amazing
Yes, he is amazing live 🙂
What a wonderful player Frisell is and a great breakdown too Jens. Fabulous.
Glad you enjoyed it
Love Bill Frisell, awesome and haunting
Reminds my right away of John McLaughlin, but then John has covered (innovated) so many styles, including Shakti.
Thanks so much for this. Frisell is my favorite living guitarist and it is really hard to capture what makes him special through any kind of analysis, but your video is extremely illuminating and insightful!
Thank you! I am really glad you think so 🙂
Beautiful video, I love the freedom in the choices of how to use chord notes
It's like a newer generation of Ted Greene! I loved his book on Chord Chemistry. I see so many similarities. Thanks for sharing Jens!
I'm not well versed in the TG lineage just wanted to share his student Tim Lerch with you, in case you weren't familiar
It honestly blows my mind that the SG has not became the main guitar for Jazz. It still has the traditional Gibson looks, humbuckers, a great tuneomatic bridge, and I heard Jazz players frequently mentioning how comfort, fast neck and access to the upper frets, are important to them - all of which, the SG does better than the 335 or Tele. . .
completely agree, but lets be honest with ourselves by recognizing that the reason for this mind blowing reality simply comes down to aesthetism and culture, humans are not all autists most of them are social mammals above everything else. but Nothing keeps you from using that precious realization of yours and play on SG from now and show the folk that it also can do “ jazz “
Indeed, Frisell exhibits exceptional perception when it comes to voice leading and harmonization. For me, he belongs to the same "clan" with players such as Pass, Monder, Metheny and.. yes, Sco (to name a few of the prominent, when it comes to the approach). They all share common understanding on how to resolve voices, beyond the obvious and easily anticipated.
He is certainly one of the most important ones to be aware of 🙂
I love it when Jens does a deep dive on something he finds really interesting. Great video format.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Olá, Jen's ! Você já fez algum vídeo sobre Terje Rypdal ? Um guitarrista com estilo único e que cria lindas melodias. O disco "Descendre" da ECM é maravilhoso! Obrigado por suas aulas e por compartilhar seus conhecimentos ! Thank you ! ✌️
Thank you! Terje Rypdal is not really my thing, so it is not super likely that I will make a video on him 🙂
His playing with Julian Lage is awesome. They play a lot of songs but their version of someday my prince will come is great!
Thanks for the insight into his playing style. I've seen him twice but I could never quite figure out what he was doing ( he was also using loops). Now at least I have some understanding of his approach.
Glad you like it 🙂
Bill in Argentina 2017 it was impressive!!!
I caught Bill live in concert back in 1995. It was pretty wild. The first time I heard his music I thought to myself, "This sounds like Jeff Beck trying to play like Robert Fripp." That's meant as a compliment.
That's a hip overview, thank you for that! I think I noticed a couple of these 'stylistic devices' over the years, lol. E.g. breaking up spicier chord voicings, like demonstrated in the video, really creates cool effects. This technique is also a little bit along the lines of Ed Bickert - lot's of tension, briefly though, via less jarring voicings and more movement. Especially if one's not hoping for the next, huge altered chord to drop - more of a subtle approach with momentum .
Speaking of the SG and Vinny- that’s getting closer to my favorite player, Michael Landau.
I was watching it until the thumb heresy. That's too much. Kidding awesome content!
Thanks! 😁
Great video Jens! I’ve never really “got” Frisell but I have a lot of friends that are great players that dig his playing. I guess I need to do a deep dive and check him out.
Great video.
Glad you like it Rich! Actually it is perfectly fine if you don't like everything 🙂
@@JensLarsen - I get that but I’m a slow learner sometimes. I never got Ornette and the I heard Pat Metheny saying how much he loves his music.
I am a big Metheny fan so, I figure there’s something there I’m missing.
I’m a big fan of you as well so I need to give it another listen.
I just subbed, particularly for the Kim Jong Un with the flying V. Cheers
I appreciate that 😁
Bill Frisell...actually my favorite guitar player on that kind of jazzy folkish midwestern.ish..style
JENS! I need you to tell me something, anything about Ernest Ranglin. You wanna talk about chord solos? This dude is the bees knees. I've been listening to him for the past week and I'm blown away.
Teach us some of that kinda jazz, pleeease.
Thanks man:))
Great lesson and observations as usual Jens. But I think there are many other 3rd 4th 5th etc modern Musketeers (chord melody) - Abercrombie, Goodrick, Rypdal, Benson, Towner, Krantz...
Yes, as I say in the video, that is up to your taste 😁
Thanks Jens yes you did mention Abercrombie and Stern etc. But there's no doubt you are the D'Artagnan of jazz guitar teaching !!
Frissel is the shizzle
Hi Jens, I’d like to know what you think of the guitar playing of Martin Taylor. Thanks !
Martin is great and a super nice guy too
like you read my mind...
Frissell is a giant. He played on Lyle Mays’ first solo album, and his approach to the tune Ascent is a high gain, wailing, emotional tour de force, with his typical understatement that brings so much more than shredding could.
Bill does a great demonstrational video using that Line 2 pedal
He is indeed great at using it live 🙂
@@JensLarsen Line 6 i mean
reminds me a bit of bach, at least some work of bachs piano compositions, where he doesnt compose the full polyphonic spectrum through the registers than more lyricly "picks" info from the them.
6:20 that's a good'un!
Bill Frisell is a kind of minimalist who emphasizes the melody with weight and effects , then harmonizes and plays with the timing. Excellent player. I've also seen him in the Eighties in NY city using a looper in a cafe bar.
Would you consider Ted Greene up there with the guys you mentioned? Personally I prefer listening to Greene over Joe Pass, but I'm a bedroom pop fingerstylist and not a jazz guy
Lets not forget the great George Van Epps.
Ever heard Bill Frisell with John Zorn's Naked city? Not for the faint of heart.
Frisell is just a pop version of Derek Bailey. No I’m just kidding I just want to watch everybody argue too.
Trolling to be entertained 😁😂
@@JensLarsen I blame the economy! 🌺
I don't know much about art, but I know what I don't like!
Love to jam on this th-cam.com/video/61xVukbTkCY/w-d-xo.html performance of bill with chantal acda. And it’s indeed how you explain it. Playing half chords and filling them in with some nice melodies.
I saw Bill Frisell play last night in Kansas City. It is hard to explain he has such a unique harmonic approach. It is like he has created his own language. He played tunes from his new album. He played with 3 other musicians but he was just one of the 4 supporting the music. The funniest moment was when he was improvising and he spontaneously said "Oh shit" . It was a small room so everyone heard. He had got himself in a pickle and you could hear musically work him self out of the problem. The whole band took huge risks and were fearless.
Haha! Great story! Holdsworth said about improvising: "If you play in the dirt, then you are going to get mud on your face" 😁
I think of Bill as a jazz impressionist. He plays jazz by implication. And, he uses space and effects in a way that lets the listener form an emotional connection with the notes. He's truly a unique player.
Next video discussing the style of a Jazz guitarist will be on Grant Green 🙂
if I could make a wish: Ralph Towner - I would really like to understand more of his unique style of playing.
Julian Lage next too please
@@jeffreybrady4841 I need to go with stuff that I somehow feel inspired to do a video on, so I can't really just do requests, I suspect it will seem fake.
But if I come across something with Julian Lage that really resonatest with me then I will probably make a video on it.
Wonderful when you look into this more hidden advice to make prolific Jazz. There's no shortage to the use of theory.
I’m just glad Bill Frisell is getting his dues. I truly believe he has melded Blues, Rock, and Jazz in a new way. He’s worth studying.
He certainly is 🙂
Do you like this approach to chord melody, or do you prefer something else?
A more "traditional" take on harmonizing this song: th-cam.com/video/5DlCT5F9VRc/w-d-xo.html
What do you think about this one? th-cam.com/video/7Ko78g_xmA4/w-d-xo.html
Prefer it, really. The spacious understatement. Frisell’s work is deep. I’d love to see more analysis. Thanks again, Jens.
My own approach has been influenced most by traditional chord melody players (especially those who predate Joe Pass), because I've always been more attracted to the role of harmony in the overall package than melody, and I just like the sound of the combination of block and arpeggios, but I love Frisell's highly individual, more stripped-down way of playing. He makes the listener appreciate the melody and, too, though he obviously has a full understanding of theory, he's not a slave to its rules and avoids harmonic excess in order to present how he hears and feels the song. Jazz is interpretive, and I think it takes as much patience, and probably much more personal insight, to find what the song really says to you and then express it instrumentally than it does to work out super tricky passages, possibly primarily for effect.
Jens, thanks, great analysis! This style is unusual but not unprecedented. I'm hearing a combination of Frisell's ear for Americana + Bach's approach to serializing vertical harmony. The Americana = spare open intervals, triads, and pedal-steel-style volume swells. (Aaron Copland captured "Americana" with open 5ths several decades before Wayne and Garth bragged about "power chords.")
The Bachiana ≈ his Solo Cello Suites and Solo Violin Sonatas/Partitas - great music for single-string and occasional double-stop playing, where he had to spell out all the harmony sequentially. These also make great guitar music, in transcription. You already know how I love Johnny Smith's Bach-inspired original "Walk, Don't Run" (th-cam.com/video/0HwQxdrmwY8/w-d-xo.html).
D'oh! I just remembered that (a) Smith also Bachianizes "Lullaby of Birdland" later in that ^ same set, and (b) Smith was Frisell's teacher and champion in college. So this combination is no accident. You can read Frisell's nice tribute to Smith here:
jazztimes.com/features/tributes-and-obituaries/bill-frisell-remembers-johnny-smith/
Thank you so much for this video Jens! You have illuminated some aspects of Bill Frisell's playing that have so far eluded me. I value all that you have done for helping me learn, and continue to learn.
Glad it was helpful!
Jens, it is always amazing to watch your work. I am not able to follow the full depth of the music theory content but it inspires me to keep moving forward. I appreciate you spending time sharing your insights. And I particularly enjoy watching your pleasure at hearing some of these masters play music.
Glad you enjoy it!
Great ! Bill Frisell is brilliant
A video about Ted Greene would be welcome one day. He deserves more attention
Thanks! You should check out some of Ted's students like Tim Lerch and Adam Levy they make videos on him quite frequently.
@@JensLarsen I know their videos about him. But as you have a much larger audience, I thought you could make a lot of people discover this wonderful musician
Frisell's live album with Driscol and Baron was an album I just didn't get when I first heard it. It was recommended by my cousin whose opinion I valued so I decided to get it. I would sit in front of the stereo and play the album over and over. After a time I eventually realized there was nothing to get, it's just music and all you have to do is listen to it. The ear expands with exposure. And then it became one of my favorites. I'd highly recommend it, along with his album This Land if anyone is looking for a good jumping on point.
I have that one as well, that is a great album 🙂
The version of Have A Little Faith is sublime.
Do a quick search for bill frisell w john pizarelli on TH-cam. There’s a really cool video of the two of them talking and playing together. The contrast in their styles really illustrates where frisell is coming from vs traditional jazz guitar, and just how incredibly musical he is in any context. He’s also deeply respectful of Pizarelli’s wizardry too. Seems like such a sensitive and humble guy.
Yes that is a nice video 🙂
I liked the part where John plays something and Bill lights up , saying that's cool! and seems to want John to teach him on the spot.
he is certainly a pioneer! love his individuality, amazing really.
I just caught this video on one of my favor people and musicians - Bill Frisell. Really good job, Jens. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
First heard Frisell on CD back at Oberlin in the eighties… Bill is near and dear to our hearts in Colorado. Thanks for covering his art. And I can’t think of Frisell without remembering Ron Miles. We miss you, Ron. And nice to see Rudy in there. Stern, Metheny, Scofield, all part of that community of innovators. Love to you and yours, Bill. This was lovely to wake up to Jens. “We should all steal that ending chord," indeed. ☺️ Best, Daniel Ford. 🤙🏼
Frisell with Ron Miles on egg radio is on my all time fav tracks.
Really nice with something different on the channel 👍 thank you Jens .
Glad you like it!
Great piece! I'm glad you are opinionated as ever. Kinda snarky at times. Well done! Good to have some fun , while talking about important players
Glad you enjoyed it, Mark 🙂
Complaint!
Just kidding. Appreciate the content. Nice analysis, and opened my eyes to this song. Thanks.
Glad to hear it 🙂
These approaches have a lot in common with some of the more advanced bluegrass flatpickers such as Tony Rice, David Grier and Grant Gordy. Listen to Rice's versions of Oh Shenandoah or Georgia on my Mind. Jazz guitarist Julian Lage has picked up a lot of his vocabulary. I believe Frisell also listened quite a bit to some of the Nashville studio giants like Hank Garland and Grady Martin. You can hear it in his playing.
❤️🙏🎼🎶🎵🎸✌️👌🍀hello.
ive listened to lots of his music ...I love the way he interprets songs....I love his use of free time .... totally underrated player .....he is a pioneer
Bill is indeed fantastic!
Thanks for this great perspective and analysis of Bill Frissell. He is a master of understatement in a the tradition of Jim Hall, who was similarly adventurous. It's deceiving and takes a lot of listening to fully appreciate his mastery. Thanks so much for breaking this down to help us appreciate even more the finer points of his playing.
YEs, those two are very related in style :)
It's no accident...growing up in the Denver area, Bill studied with Dale Bruning who himself emulated Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney (Dale and Jim were close friends). Bill actually used to play in that style also on a classic ES-175.
Great breakdown! Bill drives right into the heart of the song. I tend to lump Frisell, Julian Lage, and Jim Hall has having distinct sounds but sharing a fundamental perspective if that makes sense.
Thanks! I also would group those 3 together, in some ways I think they are evolutions of the same thing 🙂
I really think Bill is one of the best living guitarists, and a national treasure. His approach is so singular and unique and (to me) overwhelmingly beautiful.
Jens presents this marvelously. I got a lot of insights from this vid.
Glad to hear it 🙂
I love the volume swells, which gives it a bit of a pedal steel effect without the bends.
Oh yeah, Bill Frizell---the 'jazz guitarist' for people who don't really like jazz. I'm not saying that his tunes aren't sometimes appealing in their simplicity. But his playing is more in the realm of 'folk' music than what can reasonably be called called 'jazz'.
Yeah, sure, whatever. Lemme guess, you play pinochle.
Do you know or have any suspicion on how much of any of this is improvised?
I think most of it 🙂
I lol'd when the WANTED poster popped up
🙏😁
We saw Bill Frisell with Charles Lloyd a few years ago, and he was fantastic. Bill’s soloing had such a distinctiveness to it.
Bill is an alien coming from planet Music. Saw him with Wollesen and Scherr at blue note in Milano and they blew my mind from the first note played, it was an amazing concert!
Nice! They are great together!
The king
What's the bluegrass project? I've not heard about it. I know that his frequent collaborator Greg Leisz played dobro on the Watkins Family Hour albums.
It was a quartet with Petra Haden, I don't know what it is called
@JensLarsen I shall look into it. Thanks. Also I appreciate your videos. Even as a non-guitarist (dobro) I appreciate your thoughts and ideas and try to apply little bits here and there :) so far most of what I have done in terms of jazz has been horn lines, so I appreciate the different input.
Do you see John McLaughlin as being a different generation? That's a serious question, not a grievance.
Yes, he is 10 years earlier (at least)
@JensLarsen Amazingly he's only ten years older than Frisell and was only two years older than Abercrombie. I think of those four as being the best four around: Frisell, Sco, Metheny, McLaughlin with Holdsworth and Abercrombie being on the same platform until they passed. But it's true that McLaughlin was on the scene earlier, somewhat because of age but also because he was prodigious (and Miles had eyes and ears everywhere). Anyway, thanks for the awesome lessons.
Bill, Pat ant John are my favourite jazz guitar players. I would also add Frank to the list. My favourite chord melody approach is Bill’s. Dave Holland does a similar approach on bass.
Bill Frisell - Ciclo Jazz Internacional - th-cam.com/video/3Ujt30-taNg/w-d-xo.html
One of my favorite Bill Frisell performances and setlists! So tasteful and melodic. So many elements from this performance that I want to incorporate into my own playing. Enjoy!
Phenomenal concert - thanks for the recommendation!
Good lesson
Glad you think so!
Good to see Bill Frisell getting some love!
When i heard Barney kessel i thought wow he plays just like me and i never heard him before 😂
great topic Jens ....... spot on ... with me any ways ... I find, again and again .... the MELODY rules....... fancy harmony licks ... copy and pasted in here and there to achieve a passing grade in harmony university ... doesn't stand a chance against the solid logic and singularity of a strongly projected MELODY ... just saying ... both are great approaches .... however ( and no one asked me lol!!!!!! ) more and more I find simple chords ( or none at all ) under a clearly defined melody seem to be a tastier way to go .... well, for me ... IMHO... I love this vid .... more like it please.
Sorry, I don't buy it. I wonder how it would sound without all the electronic effects (seems like there are several effects besides volume pedal). Almost anything can be made to sound exotic and mysterious using echo, reverb, Leslie, chorus, volume pedal. I know nobody has really ever come up with an adequate definition for "what is jazz?" but one element I have always noticed is that in "jazz" (whatever that is) generally the notes matter more than the effects. You are asking the listener to use their ear and listen to the actual tonal notes. Don't get me wrong, it's all valid. There are no rules etc. Fine. And this version you showed is great. But still, what I'm hearing owes more to Pink Floyd than . And maybe that's OK, I'm just saying something is to me, more ground breaking in chord melodies if you are hearing some kind of new take on the notes themselves rather than the effects to create a mood.
Totally agree. I came up on Joe, Barney, Herb, and Howard Roberts, but Frisell is probably my fave. Personally, I can play "chord melody" and its good, but it sounds too much like block chords and lacks the movement of a voice, so I get it. I'll never be able to play like Wyble, but at least the hint of polyphony is my direction these days. Great video.
I love Frisell for the same reasons I love Allan Holdsworth. Neither of them are really "jazz guitarists" (hides under table), just great imaginative musicians with their own particular language and musical universe and the guitar just happens to be the chosen tool of expression.
Glad you are covering Frisell. Rubato is his middle name. His playing is most organic because it breathes.
Yes, he is indeed great 🙂
Ah another to add to the list! Reminds me a bit of Ted Greene. Check out Lenny Breau as well if anyone would like to hear another "unique" approach to guitar imo. His stuff with Chet Atkins is just lovely
Jens, very inspiring new kind of music to me. How can it be considered unaccompained melody, or atonal? If i have fully understood the reduction of chord gives more freedom to melody. It would be nice to go further in this lessons and maybe explainning how to write a piece like this.
I'm surprised you didn't Jimmy Wyble's work on the "two-voice" improvisation; and I have to add Ted Greene to the Jazz Guitar list.
From todays lesson:
1) Frisell sounds amazing!
2) I don't understand anything of what he is doing.
3) I do have an LXP-1 though!