Re: Bill Frisell a master at work.. some great use of looping

[William Walker <billwalker@baymoon.com>]

well I gotta say I'm a guy who likes Bill Frissell, When I spent a  
semester at Jerklee Spoilage of Fuzak , i mean Berklee College of  
Music,  i got to see him in a band called Tiger's Baku and he was then  
as he is now, a laid back impressionist painter of a guitar player,  
and this was in 1978-79. don't get me wrong he did cut loose at times  
but never to the point of excessive widdly widdly. The band was  
playing inventive  Miles inspired jazz rock with Tiger Oshi playing  
great trumpet. I picked up a technique from BF that night that i still  
use to this day, he was real testing the neck of his SG by flexing the  
it to create  beautiful vibrato effects on his chords and single note  
lines.  Does he thrill me on an emotional level like Jeff Beck, or  
Hendrix or Terje Rypdal can? no, but I like his inventiveness, take  
those Beatles covers for example, I appreciate how much space he used  
in an age when fingerstyle virtuosos routinely butcher the Beatles  
with over indulgent hyper arrangements.  I've seen him play now and  
then over the years, and what i like about him is he isn't in a hurry  
to crowd the music with extra ideas, he listens and interacts well in  
a group context and never ever have i seen him play from a place of  
chops ego. That is refreshing particularly in the field of jazz which  
is rife with technique worship :-). He'd probably tell you its because  
he has no chops  but its more about intent and space with him. he  
seems really comfortable in his skin which i admire.  He doesn't quite  
move toward the uber visceral territory like David Torn does, but   
this NPR thing is but a tip of his iceberg. So i would encourage you  
to check him out further , i've seen him when the music was  
transcendent and when it was a bit sleep inducing. He is really  
unpredictable and does take chances musically, but at the same time if  
you aren't in to jazz he may not move you.  I've met him and he is a  
nice guy , shy and droll, introspective , like his music.
Bill