I met Bill Frisell on a Tokyo street yesterday

[Flat]

I’m in Japan with my wife to visit her family. I’m a huge Bill Frisell fan—he’s pretty much my guy among living guitar players. I found out that Bill was playing at the Blue Note Tokyo, so we arranged—at no small expense—to time our trip so we could catch a show.

So we’re staying at a hotel about 20 minutes by taxi from the Blue Note. We have a few hours to kill before the show, so we go for a walk. We’re walking down a crowded Tokyo street, and we see a guy walking towards us in the opposite direction. Jokingly I say to my wife, “Doesn’t that guy look like Bill Frisell?” He gets a little closer and my wife says, “He really does.”

When he gets close enough I say “Is that you, Bill?” (perhaps remembering subconsciously that “Is That You?” is the name of an album Frisell recorded in 1989).

He laughs and stops. We tell him we’re coming to the show tonight. I tell him how much I admire his playing and what an influence he has been on my modest musicianship. We chat for a minute about the gig, Japan, where we’re from, and how far the club is from the hotel. He said his group was staying at the same place. My wife asked if "Moosie" was with him. Bill said yes. (Frisell travels with a stuffed animal moose that serves as a sort of gig totem or something.)

The show was great. Only about 75 minutes long (the first of two shows that night). Non-stop playing. Thomas Morgan on upright bass. Rudy Royston on drums. Improvising and quoting from several tunes, starting with “Salt Peanuts”, [edited later: Not "Salt Peanuts," but a tune by Bill called "Valentine," which hits a few similar notes], through a couple standards, and a track from his “Good Dog, Happy Man” CD.

Anyways, it was kick for me to meet him and just say “thanks.”

I had to tell someone, and thought maybe some of you would understand.

[Bflat233]

Thank you for sharing this. Sounds like the moon and stars aligned.

[sully75]

That's cool. He's such a unique person. I bet no one has ever used the sentence "he's a lot like Bill Frissell".

What's it like seeing jazz in Japan? I'm guessing the audience is not talking during the show.

[Flat]

Ha! You nailed it. First thing Bill said as they were tuning up and getting ready to start: "It's so quiet in here." The lights came up a bit and he says. "Oh, I'm glad you're still here."

[JazzPadd]

Such a wonderful experience!

Several back, I saw them at Tokyo Blue Note. Great set.

One of my fave players.

[Cunamara]

Oh man, cool!

I saw that trio here in Minneapolis a while back and it was the same thing: fluid, even telepathic nonstop playing through the set with nods to tunes ("Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Follow Your Heart" popped up) and a lot of improvisation bridging them. Rudy Royston is a monster on the drums, effortlessly connecting the dots between Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Paul Motian, etc., and endlessly listening. Not all of Bill's stuff is my cuppa but that show was mesmerizing.

Glad you had such a great experience, plus- Japan. The cherry on top!

[JazzPadd]

BTW, I was just listening to some 1960s Gabor Szabo, and posted one of his songs in the "What are you listening to" thread. It struck me as how alike Frisell and Szabo sound on some tunes. They both are among my inspirations, and you might also enjoy Szabo, too.

[Flat]

I do like Szabó! I used to work in a used record store in Berkeley in the late 70s. I took home a copy of Spellbinder. At the time, my only guitar was my much-loved Martin D-28. I was so intrigued by the idea that a guy was playing jazz on a flat-top! (Later, Larry Coryell would scratch that same itch.)

I haven't heard that record in years. I'll have to take another listen. Thanks for the reminder!

[jbear]

Had experiences like that with Sco, Scott Henderson, and Robben Ford. Amazing how humble and genuinely friendly and a appreciative these cats are.

[AdroitMage]

I do like Szabó! I used to work in a used record store in Berkeley in the late 70s. I took home a copy of Spellbinder. At the time, my only guitar was my much-loved Martin D-28. I was so intrigued by the idea that a guy was playing jazz on a flat-top! (Later, Larry Coryell would scratch that same itch.)

I haven't heard that record in years. I'll have to take another listen. Thanks for the reminder!

Not trying to hijack your thread, but since we're on the topic, I thought I would mention a brilliant jazz fusion album by former Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks. He plays the entire album on flatop acoustics and the playing is absolutely brilliant. From what I understand though, he had the flatops custom made for him by the same luthier who custom makes his archtops for him, so they had the same kind of neck feel and low action. There's some amazing and blazing fast playing on these albums, but Kevin has taste, so when it's more appropriate to play something beautiful, melodic, and at a ballad tempo he does that with equal aplomb, unlike that annoying Mancuso kid who tries to overlay blazing fast playing on ballads where it's just not appropriate and really doesn't even sound good. Check it out, I guarantee you'll smile when you listen to his amazing playing, songwriting chops, and tasteful licks, both blazing fast and at ballad tempos.

On another note, I saw a video a while back of that Mancuso kid doing an impromptu jam with another player playing 'Round Midnight,' and per usual the Mancuso kid goes into his solo playing at about 1,000 MPH, totally inappropriate for that tune and just did not fit the piece of music at all.

Anyway, check out Kevin's album it's fantastic.



Now, as you were, men, and women, if there are any here.

Are there any females on here, or is it all men?

[Rob MacKillop]

I'm a fan of Bill too, and it would have been wonderful to see him in Japan!

That reminds me...

I did a tour of Japan, some 25 years ago, playing lute. At the first concert I hadn't slept, and was playing at what would have been 4am back home. The 400-seater auditorium was full, but no one clapped when I walked out. Okaaaay... I launched into the first piece, and after about 30 seconds I saw out of the corner of my eye a woman step from the audience onto the low-level stage, walk right up to me, then stand behind me. Very strange. It was a quiet gig, and I could hear her breathing. Five minutes later I finished the piece, and before anyone could applaud she pulled out a microphone, and asked "What do you think of Japan?!" Oh dear. I was a bit discombobulated, as you might expect, and could only say "Yes, very nice". She "translated" this to the audience for two full minutes, maybe more, and then asked "What do you think of Japan people?". Erm..."Yes, very nice", which she again spent some time translating. By this time I'd forgotten who I was or what I was doing there. She took her seat back in the audience, and I did my best to play my program. After each selection of pieces the audience gave me six seconds of applause. I was thinking, "God, they hate it!". I did play an encore at the end, whether they wanted it or not! LOL. I had prepared it, so wanted to hear it in the nice acoustics. Later, when coming out of the Green Room, I was astonished to find a hundred or so of the audience back stage, cheering me. They all wanted their photo taken with me, lots of autographs, and believe it or not, some sent flowers and chocolates to my hotel room. That was the first of ten dates, most of which went a similar way. Quite an experience.

[Mick-7]

That reminds me... I did a tour of Japan, some 25 years ago, playing lute

It seems that, unlike Americans these days, the Japanese people still consider courtesy and respect to be virtuous.

[Cunamara]

It seems that, unlike Americans these days, the Japanese people still consider courtesy and respect to be virtuous.

And sadly discourtesy and disrespect are spreading faster than stink around the world.

[Cunamara]

That reminds me...

Rob, what a marvellous story! Talk about colliding with cultural differences...