Mary Halvorson and Bill Frisell: Tribute to Johnny Smith

**rob taft** · 07-28-2018, 04:31 PM

I'm old fashioned. I bought the CD via Amazon.

**srlank** · 07-28-2018, 04:37 PM

Unfortunately, I’m having problems with my ID/password, but the snippets I’m able to obtain sound great!

**srlank** · 07-28-2018, 05:00 PM

I got it, and am loving the entire band, as well as all of the material!!!!!

**srlank** · 07-28-2018, 05:04 PM

Oops wrong album!! ????. What a friggin’ goof ball. Well, in the meantime enjoying a different MH album!

**boatheelmusic** · 07-28-2018, 08:04 PM

I guess I like tone, groove and inspired lines....oh well......

**Hep To The Jive** · 07-28-2018, 08:50 PM

I checked some snippets, I guess I'm just annoyed by out of tune guitar. I know I know, it's on purpose, a 'concept', an effect, but I'm old and stoopid. I'll look for another Bill collaboration next time though.

**wolflen** · 07-28-2018, 08:52 PM

heard a bit of the clips..Mary is going to play it how she wants..a woman playing jazz guitar and doing it her way..I would not even know where to begin if I wanted to "copy her licks" ...I am just glad she is doing it..Im sure there are women we will never know about or hear/see their talent for a list of reasons..and yes that goes for men also..

when I first heard/saw Keith Jarrett..I thought..of Cecile Taylor and Eric Dolphy .. and some question inside asked..can he just play "ordinary jazz"..? .. yeah I know...I saw a recent vid of him and Chick Corea playing Mozart together with an orchestra .. of course the man is beyond most players abilities by a lot..I think Mary may be in that sphere of musician where she not only hears music differently but IT plays her .. and for most of us that takes getting used to..

**neatomic** · 07-28-2018, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

It’ll be good to hear Bill move out of the bar band covers thing he’s been doing for a while now.

man if thats what you think about recent frisell, you've been missing alot of good stuff!!!..that petra haden vocal stuff was small part of what he's been doin..check his recent recordings with charles lloyd or his duo with thomas morgan

cheers

**omphalopsychos** · 07-28-2018, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive

I checked some snippets, I guess I'm just annoyed by out of tune guitar. I know I know, it's on purpose, a 'concept', an effect, but I'm old and stoopid. I'll look for another Bill collaboration next time though.

It's that damn Line 6 delay pedal.

I really dig Bill's playing throughout, but it's not what I expected here. Nice to hear him play on some standards in his style. I was expecting a collaboration with Mary to draw out the more experimental side of Bill's playing but it never did.

Mary is hit or miss on this record. Misty is definitely a miss for her. The track sounds like Bill is playing the tune in a busy intersection. Is she supposed to be accompanying him?

Their playing aligns much better on Walk Don't Run.

I love Mary's compositions and her playing in her own groups. Hopefully others have some thoughts to share on the album!

**Hep To The Jive** · 07-28-2018, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by omphalopsychos

It's that damn Line 6 delay pedal.

I really dig Bill's playing throughout, but it's not what I expected here. Nice to hear him play on some standards in his style. I was expecting a collaboration with Mary to draw out the more experimental side of Bill's playing but it never did.

Mary is hit or miss on this record. Misty is definitely a miss for her. The track sounds like Bill is playing the tune in a busy intersection. Is she supposed to be accompanying him?

Their playing aligns much better on Walk Don't Run.

I love Mary's compositions and her playing in her own groups. Hopefully others have some thoughts to share on the album!

Is that what it is? I see, I knew it was some kind of pedal. Yea, I agree, hit and miss, even without listening the whole thing.

I was never a big fan of Mary, but I do like her feel and technique on the guitar. Her tunes mostly 'meh' for me, but it's ok.

That's a weird collaboration for sure, I wonder how it came about... In the past I would say that's a record company idea more than anything... I love most of the Bill's stuff though, I don't know how happy he is with this record, it's a tough one.

**Rob MacKillop** · 07-29-2018, 04:24 AM

I like both players, and thought I'd snap up this album, but the excerpts just felt...meh. I've been listening these last few days to Trout Mask Replica, which kind of makes everything else sound middle-of-the-roadish.

THIS is how to play Moonlight On Vermont!

**David B** · 07-29-2018, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by srlank

Oops wrong album!! ????. What a friggin’ goof ball. Well, in the meantime enjoying a different MH album!

Oops! Which album did you get?

**David B** · 07-29-2018, 05:59 AM

I'm currently enjoying another 2018 release from Mary Halvorson: 'Paimon', the last recording in John Zorn's 'Book of Angels' project. Halvorson leads a quartet of Miles Okazaki (g), Drew Gress (b) and Tomas Fujiwara (dr).

**Rob MacKillop** · 07-29-2018, 06:53 AM

Now, that's more like it!

**christianm77** · 07-29-2018, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by neatomic

man if thats what you think about recent frisell, you've been missing alot of good stuff!!!..that petra haden vocal stuff was small part of what he's been doin..check his recent recordings with charles lloyd or his duo with thomas morgan

cheers

I was joking a little. I meant the Guitar in the space Age which the missus loves incidentally. I find that band a little bland although Bill’s sound is always worth hearing . I’m also not massively into stuff from a few years back like Nashville or Good Dog Happy Man.

I liked his string quartet thing. And his collaboration with the amazing Sam Amidon... I’ll check the above out. With Bill there’s always a lot going on it’s actually quite hard to keep up with it all.

**omphalopsychos** · 07-29-2018, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

I meant the Guitar in the space Age which the missus loves incidentally. I find that band a little bland although Bill’s sound is always worth hearing . I’m also not massively into stuff from a few years back like Nashville or Good Dog Happy Man.

I attended a Frisell concert last year with excitement, and I walked out 15 minutes into it when I saw it wasn't going anywhere.

I say this with, um, love and respect for Frisell. I think he's brilliant, but there are some not-so-fruitful collaborations lately.

**neatomic** · 07-29-2018, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by David B

I'm currently enjoying another 2018 release from Mary Halvorson: 'Paimon', the last recording in John Zorn's 'Book of Angels' project. Halvorson leads a quartet of Miles Okazaki (g), Drew Gress (b) and Tomas Fujiwara (dr).

& frisell had been working with/for zorn in the gnostic trio for years...they have quite a few recordings out on tzadik..all stellar

cheers

**Melodic Dreamer** · 07-30-2018, 05:27 PM

I like progressive music, but I didn’t like the clips enough to purchase the album.
some of the tunes felt forced. What do I know though, 2 masters at work.

**srlank** · 08-02-2018, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by David B

Oops! Which album did you get?

Hi David,

I’ve been listening to the album ‘Away with You.’

Here’s a cut:

**pcsanwald** · 08-04-2018, 06:33 PM

My favorite Frisell stuff that I keep coming back to over and over again are those projects where there are a lot of other colors that Bill's sound is part of: The big band recording with Michael Gibbs, The sweetest punch orchestrations, all the "on broadway" stuff, etc.

one of my very first "jazz" shows was in the early 90s at the old knitting factory, with Bill on guitar, Don Byron on clarinet, a tuba and a bunch of other folks. I was about 14, had just barely gotten into jazz via john coltrane quartet. the music sounded utterly foreign to me, like it was from outer space.

**Melodic Dreamer** · 08-05-2018, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by omphalopsychos

I attended a Frisell concert last year with excitement, and I walked out 15 minutes into it when I saw it wasn't going anywhere.

I say this with, um, love and respect for Frisell. I think he's brilliant, but there are some not-so-fruitful collaborations lately.

One must remember a lot of this is personal taste.

**Jazzism** · 08-05-2018, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by omphalopsychos

I attended a Frisell concert last year with excitement, and I walked out 15 minutes into it when I saw it wasn't going anywhere.
I say this with, um, love and respect for Frisell. I think he's brilliant, but there are some not-so-fruitful collaborations lately.

Sorry it didn’t work out for you. Guess I must have lucked out, the one time I’ve seen frisell live was at the stone in NYC with Julian lage. It was magical.
cheers!

**guido5** · 08-05-2018, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by omphalopsychos

I attended a Frisell concert last year with excitement, and I walked out 15 minutes into it when I saw it wasn't going anywhere.

I say this with, um, love and respect for Frisell. I think he's brilliant, but there are some not-so-fruitful collaborations lately.

I have been a huge fan of Bill Frisell since the very early 80s. His music has delighted, thrilled and perplexed over the years. I have felt more than a bit bored by his records since the Lenon tribute but in person he has been hitting it quite solidly.

Mary Halverson has been going the other way for me. I liked her early quintet with Finlayson, Irabagon and Hebert but the most recent time I saw her I was moved to do the walk out thing after the first song.

Be interesting to hear where she and Bill meet on this one...