History, Mystery

Performer: Bill Frisell
Engineer: Shawn Pierce
Producer: Lee Townsend
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Bill Frisell (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, loops); Jenny Scheinman (violin); Eyvind Kang (viola); Hank Roberts (cello); Greg Tardy (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Ron Miles (cornet); Tony Scherr (bass instrument); Kenny Wollesen (drums). Audio Mixers: Adam Mu�oz; Shawn Pierce. Liner Note Authors: Jim Woodring; Bill Frisell. Recording information: Avast Studios, Seattle, WA (??/2002-05/2007); Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA (??/2002-05/2007); Hopkins Center, Hanover, NH (??/2002-05/2007); Lisner Auditorium, Washington DC (??/2002-05/2007). Editor: Adam Mu�oz. Photographers: Jack Delano; Monica Frisell; Walker Evans. Guitar maestro Bill Frisell outdoes himself in ambition and diversity on the two-disc HISTORY, MYSTERY. Performing with a rich string-laden octet, the artist threads together 30 tracks, some of which derive from his collaboration with cartoonist Jim Woodring entitled "Mysterio Sympatico," and others drawn from the music Frisell composed for the NPR series STORIES FROM THE HEART OF THE LAND. As always, Frisell's eclectic style freely blends genres together, mixing chamber music with free jazz, front porch Americana with high-minded atmospherics. Three covers-Thelonious Monk's "Jackie-ing," Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," and Boubacar Traore's "Baba Drame"-complement Frisell's originals. By turns moody and celebratory, playful and soulful, challenging and eminently listenable, HISTORY, MYSTERY is another fine entry in this singular artist's excellent discography.

Down Beat (p.85) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Frisell's melodies and moods have an easy appeal, from the Gypsy lull of 'Probability Cloud' to the Copland-esque moments of 'Boo And Scout.'" JazzTimes (p.101) - "Bill Frisell's spare, mysterioso chordal voicings are as evocative and haunting as the intriguing black-and-white Farm Security Administration photos from the '40s that grace the front and back covers of HISTORY, MYSTERY."

Unique guitar stylist Bill Frisell emerged in the 1980s as part of New York's downtown progressive jazz scene and as a staple artist on the ECM label. Over the subsequent decades, his sonic adventures have landed him at the forefront of jazz guitarists--in fact, with his distinctive musical personality and arsenal of electronic effects, Frisell has helped reshape the concepts of both jazz and guitar.

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