The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Bill is one of my favorite guitarists. He doesn't make playing look easy or natural. There is a hesitancy in his notes as if he's not quite sure. He's a master that makes it look harder and like he's 100% focused and tentative. He's focused and serious in his labor of love.

    I've seen him live a couple of years ago. He was on tour with his group. He sounded the same even though he must have played the materials many dozens of time. It's like he's walking on ice over a lake he's not sure will hold him, testing out each step cautiously.


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  3. #2

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    That's a great description of how he looks while playing.

    And I would say it goes DOUBLE for when he is speaking... trying to listen to him be interviewed is like trying to listen to a 5-year-old tell you a story (which takes 3 times as long as it should LOL)... I find it painful listening to him being interviewed. But I love alot of his work.

  4. #3

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    I actually love listening to Bill talk. His words are as carefully considered as his notes, and he still has a sense of wonder. Bill's made it a long time in a harsh business, and there's not a bit of cynicism in him. Its pretty awesome.

  5. #4

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    Review of yesterday’s duet show with Petra Haden in Chicago, from my friend:

    ”delicate, like spun glass. precise, each note just where it needed to be. thoughtful, with note choices often only color tones. tasteful, sparse, concise, elegant, simple and simultaneously complex. Frisell pretty much abandoned the concept of rhythm while managing to imply a rhythm section. imagine sweets edison and frank sinatra recording “In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning” without the rest of the rhythm section, just strings. something like a miracle, to my ears”

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
    I actually love listening to Bill talk. His words are as carefully considered as his notes, and he still has a sense of wonder. Bill's made it a long time in a harsh business, and there's not a bit of cynicism in him. Its pretty awesome.
    yeah I.... agree.... I mean.... hereally.... reallydoes.... seem to be..... I don't know like a.... gentleguy.... and..... Idoagree..... that he has a sense of ... wonder... abouthimbutI.... also think he sounds like someone..... trying to...... speakalanguage.... he's not very familiar with...

    LOL

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by ruger9
    butI.... also think he sounds like someone..... trying to...... speakalanguage.... he's not very familiar with...

    LOL
    It could be seen from the other side as he's invented and speaking a language you don't understand.

  8. #7

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    Bill is pretty much my musical hero. I've seen him every time he has come to LA since forever. In fact, the last concert I saw was Bill and Julian Lage at UCLA, weeks before covid got heavy. I confess: I bought a Telecaster because of him.

    I see the hesitancy you speak of in videos and live. He'll hang before a note, make me think "c'mon man, hit it, you can get there!" I wait for a late note, expecting a timing disaster. But then he'll lean into a downstroke, almost like he's exaggerating his body motion too much, far more than necessary, like a bad actor overacting a scene, like a kid trying to show you how hard he is trying. But then the note hits...and it sounds perfect. At least to me.

    I don't hear the hesitancy in recordings as much as I see it. It's like he creates in his own time-space, and my ears just fall in line. He's like the opposite of a shredder.

    "Good Dog, Happy Man" is one of my favorite recordings in any genre.

  9. #8

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    I have often read comments in forums about BB King that he can say with one note what so many others need lots of notes to attempt to say. That is what comes to mind when I listen to Bill Frisell. Perfect and so musical. As for his speaking...same thing.

    Tony

  10. #9

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    I can compare Miles' approach towards music from his fusion period on to what Bill does. I strongly suspect that both Miles and Bill Frisell were/are on the autistic spectrum (Asperger's). People like these two are not necessarily the fastest or technically the most flawless (there are exceptions like Allan Holdsworth, or Keith Jarrett), but they tend to be truly original inventors one way or another.

  11. #10

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    Don't misunderstand me. I have followed Bill a long time, studied his video tutorials, and am a fan. He plays anti-legato, like he's giving birth to the notes.

    In a strange way it reminds me of the passion and physicality of Joe Cocker and John Belushi. I'm hesitant to even say that because it will be misinterpreted as a criticism of Bill Frisell. Nothing could be further from the truth though.


  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vihar
    I can compare Miles' approach towards music from his fusion period on to what Bill does. I strongly suspect that both Miles and Bill Frisell were/are on the autistic spectrum (Asperger's). People like these two are not necessarily the fastest or technically the most flawless (there are exceptions like Allan Holdsworth, or Keith Jarrett), but they tend to be truly original inventors one way or another.
    Exception: Miles 2nd quintet: playing with Tony Williams-Ron Carter-Wayne Shorter-Herbie forced Miles to get his chops together and burn when he had to.

  13. #12

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    I don't think Frisell is "hesitating" as a result of uncertainty/anxiety. He is just waiting until the point in time when the note/chord is "meant" to be played, in his view of the music. I saw him live a year or two ago and his time sense was impeccable. Like James Brown said, "It's all about the one." LOL

  14. #13

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    @vihar
    Keith Jarrett has some kind of autism spectrum?
    Well, I didn't knew about that...

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by mheton
    @vihar
    Keith Jarrett has some kind of autism spectrum?
    Well, I didn't knew about that...
    I don't know it either, only strongly suspect it.

  16. #15

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    From the New Yorker: “You play one note, and it’s like a question: What are you going to do next? The guitar will ask you the question. O.K., you play a note, and there’s the note. And then you push down on something else, and there’s the next one.”

    This is not autism.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Litterick
    From the New Yorker: “You play one note, and it’s like a question: What are you going to do next? The guitar will ask you the question. O.K., you play a note, and there’s the note. And then you push down on something else, and there’s the next one.”

    This is not autism.
    Why do you think it rules out the possibility of autism? Or do you mean it's something else? I'm not seeing it, that's why I'm asking.



    Watching that he feels like someone on the spectrum to me.

  18. #17

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    I'm trying to picture what his lessons with Johnny Smith were like...

    If you listen to his "Reunion" album with Dale Bruning, his old teacher, you can hear Bill play in a much more straightahead vein than one is used to. And yet still inimitably Bill Frisell.





    Speaking as a licensed psychologist, I would note that it is quite impossible to accurately diagnose anyone you haven't met- and it's often hard to accurately diagnose people you have met until you've gotten to know them pretty well. There is a biography of Bill called Beautiful Dreamer that you can read; the author at several points indicates that Bill has suffered from crippling anxiety at times. In terms of his hesitancy when speaking and playing, I've always had the impression that he is evaluating multiple options in front of him in terms of directions he can go musically or conversationally.

  19. #18

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    The first thing that struck me about this video is that Bill is listening to his playing. Really listening and making choices about what comes next. His playing draws you in and makes the listener really listen too. Beautiful.

  20. #19

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    So some of you guys who know more about this than me...what do you hear? Would you say that Bill tends to play in front of the beat, right on the beat, or slightly behind the beat? Or does it shift around on different tunes, or even on different phrases within a tune?

    This is more about feel and expression than being right or wrong, I know. I'm just curious what others are hearing from Bill, in a general way.

    Here is an unrelated video where a drummer tries to demonstrate these different feels, just as a point of reference.


  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vihar
    Why do you think it rules out the possibility of autism? Or do you mean it's something else? I'm not seeing it, that's why I'm asking.
    I do not think one should pathologise genius. And I would listen to experts like Cunamara.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Litterick
    I do not think one should pathologise genius. And I would listen to experts like Cunamara before anyone who thinks he can see a condition.
    I personally go against the mainstream and don't think autism is a pathology, quite the contrary (though it can manifest in pathological forms as well, especially depending on what we include on the rather broad bandwagon called the autism spectrum). Some forms of giftedness (often listed as Kazimierz Dabrowski's "overexcitabilities") are highly correlated with autism.

    So to be clear, I definitely don't look at autism as a form of illness, but as a (positively) special and rather rare set of skills & traits.

    I allow my intuition to lead the way in assuming a condition of a person, which interestingly got some support from Cunamara as well, after his mandatory disclaimer.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marty Grass
    Bill is one of my favorite guitarists. He doesn't make playing look easy or natural. There is a hesitancy in his notes as if he's not quite sure. He's a master that makes it look harder and like he's 100% focused and tentative. He's focused and serious in his labor of love.

    I've seen him live a couple of years ago. He was on tour with his group. He sounded the same even though he must have played the materials many dozens of time. It's like he's walking on ice over a lake he's not sure will hold him, testing out each step cautiously.

    Although the description seems to be fit, and indeed myself have observation of "unusual", I concluded with a way different result years ago.


    If we see Bill talking we also can observe similar patterns. It is definitely *not* "trying so hard". Maybe it is just a habit, not throwing out the first stupid thing what comes in one's mind. I realize, what I am saying is quite the opposite of spontaneity, and still that is a miracle how spontaneus he sounds...

    My other argument, is timing. Anybody who is hesitating or "trying so hard" will get terrible time. Bill's time is superior, and natural.

  24. #23

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    I thought his playing sounded very well paced and smooth even if there wasn't a strict meter to the tune. He also looked relaxed so I have no idea what ur talking about in the op lol!

  25. #24

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    Bill seems to have a deep appreciation of music and the guitar. Also he seems to be totally authentic, humble and devoid of pretentiousness. As such I have deep respect for the man.

  26. #25

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    The answers might be found in the New Yorker.