Bill Frisell: Six-String Travel Guide

Working with violinist Eyvind Kang, trumpeter Ron Miles, and Jazz Passengers trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, Frisell has made one of his best albums. His tunes echo like half-remembered songs from childhood, and the small group that formed in spring 1995, after Frisell's trio broke up, produces an orchestral array of tone colors that brings out unexpected depths in the writing. This is an album that lingers in memory, and not just because of the hooks or the impeccable musicianship. In Frisell's music there is both sadness and a deep-rooted optimism struggling beneath the appealing surface of whimsy and showmanship.

The CD emphasizes the blend of ensemble instrumental colors over individual statements; half the fun is figuring out what instruments are playing at any given time. The interplay of Kang's violin (which can be light and airy or harsh and gritty) with the dark, soft textures of Ron Miles's trumpet and the vocal grumbling of Fowlkes creates some startling and lovely sounds. Frisell himself remains firmly within the ensemble, mimicking the sounds of animals, machines, or other instruments; using the vocabulary of jazz, country, blues, or rock guitar to emphasize the references in the writing; creating unique timbres that enlarge the overall sound of the band.

Most of the compositions on Quartet were written for television or film, including the animated television special Tales from the Far Side, by Frisell's neighbor, the cartoonist Gary Larson, and Convict 13, a film by the comedian who inspired Frisell's last two albums, Buster Keaton. On "Bob's Monster," the instruments alternate between interlocking in a wide-interval vamp (even without a drummer, they maintain a firm sense of time) and playing Frisell's variations on "Deep in the Heart of Texas." As the repeated figure changes shape and color, Kang and Fowlkes both solo, but they stay within the tune, and the piece achieves a slow, loping, symphonic country twang.

"Stand Up, Sit Down" layers colors and rhythms in a similar way, with short violin or guitar solos worked into the fabric of the ensemble. Many of the tunes subvert your expectations with sudden changes in direction. "Tales from the Far Side" begins with a lumbering, sad-clown melody but turns aggressive as Frisell launches into a scorching solo.

Frisell's solo performance at Scullers a week ago Monday displayed the same attention to sound and texture and a willingness to go off on unexpected tangents. On the opening "My Man's Gone Now," his soft-focus chords narrowed to needle-sharp mosquito whines. And a long sequence leading up to "Till There Was You" began with gritty blues-rock licks alternating with lonely seagull cries and moved through radio-static sounds into diffuse cloudy textures and clear, delicate jazz chords. Besides standards, Frisell also played several tunes from the new album, including "Egg Radio," a doo-wop type of number that he performed with an earnestness more common to Passim than to a jazz club. Frisell has this Lieutenant Columbo air of distraction about him on stage, but the impression is a false one; music this sharp is no accident.

-- Ed Hazell