Bill Frisell: HARMONY

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Petra Haden (v)
Luke Bergman (g, b)
Bill Frisell (g)
Hank Roberts (clo, v)

Label:

Blue Note

November/2019

Media Format:

CD/LP

Catalogue Number:

0800163/0800164

RecordDate:

date not stated

Look no further than the title. Harmony in music, harmony of the soul, harmony in community: Frisell evokes it all on his Blue Note debut. Of course, we shouldn't be surprised that Frisell takes this fresh start as an opportunity to bring together his love of American folk and the Great American Songbook, but rarely has even he harmonised them so profoundly. Naturally, it helps to have Petra Haden on board. Her very DNA combines both jazz and country heritages. Her grandparents hosted the Korn's A Krackin' radio show which meant the Carter family or Chet Atkins could be found chilling and strumming in the family front room. And then dad Charlie of course, who sung on that show as a nipper, went on to become an iconic figure in jazz. No wonder that this band can move seamlessly between country classics like ‘Hard Times’ to the gold standard of Strayhorn's ‘Lush Life’ (done as a duo with Haden). Nor is this all Frisell: ‘Red River Valley’ is done a capella; some treatments are straightahead, and are the more emotionally direct for that: ‘God's Winged Horse’ is breathtakingly beautiful, while others, like the climactic ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ is re-visioned deep, dead and blue, with no escape from the minimalist chording.

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