Recording of the Week, Bill Frisell - Valentine

This week’s recommended recording is Valentine, the latest from electric guitar veteran Bill Frisell, this time heading a trio. We’ve covered Frisell quite a few times here on Presto Jazz, and for good reason. The prolific electric guitarist is now approaching 50 records as a bandleader, with a huge back catalogue encompassing jazz-fusion in the 1980s, to collaborating with the eccentric John Zorn in Naked City during the early 1990s, to his more recent output which focuses on his love of Americana through his jazz lens. A longtime member of the ECM roster, Valentine makes his second release under Blue Note, after 2019’s quartet album Harmony.

Valentine features past Frisell collaborator, bassist Thomas Morgan. You can hear him playing with Frisell on ECM releases like 2016’s Small Town and 2019’s Epistrophy, with the duo playing a mixture of standards, traditional American tunes and some Frisell originals. Completing the trio is Rudy Royston, another past Frisell collaborator. A drummer not content in a purely time-keeping role, simply hanging back as a glorified metronome, Royston clearly relishes in joining Frisell and Morgan with his own melodic playing; such busy percussion is always a treat to the ears, and complements the airy style of Frisell’s guitar, which sits front-and-centre in the mix. Frisell enlisted the two for the first time as a trio for a two-year stint of concerts, culminating in the recording sessions for Valentine. One could say they have continued touring together; the trio most recently played an impromptu set outside of Frisell’s house during the protests in New York. A mixture of Frisell originals with some standards thrown in, as well as some traditional songs and covers, the repertoire gives the well-acquainted trio plenty to work with.

Tracks like ‘Valentine’ and ‘Levees’ offer a more bluesy flavour, ‘Hour Glass’ features some classic Frisellian ambience, and ‘What the World Needs Now is Love’ is a more romantic swing that works well with the trio’s elegantly stripped-down arrangement. Thomas Morgan’s contributions to the arrangements go further than simply reminding us where the root is; like his bandmates, his approach is fluid and lyrical, laying down the rhythm but also occasionally popping up for little melodic embellishments the opening of ‘Wagon Wheels’.

Even with Frisell’s old-school sound and approach, there’s still that ever-present quirkiness that persists throughout all of his work. Even as long as he’s been playing guitar, it feels like his curiosity has never waned, like he’s always exploring new land with it. Never one for fast-paced shredding - except perhaps in his Naked City days - Frisell excels in his cooly understated command of his instrument, navigating melody and harmony in his own time. The record does take some left-field detours - tracks like ‘Aunt Mary’ veer off into unsettling territory as Frisell employs reversed looping by guitar effects pedals, but we quickly return to welcoming sounds with the following track ‘What the World Needs Now Is Love’.

In the intimate trio setting, one can pick out any moment and hear any of the three doing something interesting; the crisp production certainly helps, though of course even more important is the well-seasoned players performing on the record. Frisell has been on something of a winning streak lately, and Valentine feels like the most celebratory of the bunch; covering much of his recent stylistic grounds in a decidedly intimate format. Though similar in approach to much of his recent work, fans of Frisell will no doubt come away happy.