Valentine - Bill Frisell - Vinyl Edition - Blue Note: 0899210 - Vinyl Record

Recorded on the back of two intense years touring together, the trio’s playing is not so much in the pocket as in one another’s pocket, Morgan and Royston transcending the rhythm section role... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2020, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 14th Aug 2020
Catalogue No: 0899210
Label: Blue Note

BBC Music Magazine

September 2020

Jazz Choice
Presto Recording of the Week

21st August 2020

Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days

1. Baba Drame

2. Hour Glass

3. Valentine

4. Levees

5. Winter Always Turns to Spring

6. Keep Your Eyes Open

7. A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing

8. Electricity

9. Wagon Wheels

10. Aunt Mary

11. What the World Needs Now Is Love

12. Where Do We Go?

13. We Shall Overcome

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Recording of the Week, Bill Frisell - Valentine

21st August 2020

Bill Frisell's new record gives us the most succinct version of the veteran guitarist's recent sound to date, in a stripped-down trio format. However, there's still plenty to enjoy with this familiar sound.

The debut recording of guitarist Bill Frisell’s trio with bassist Thomas Morgan & drummer Rudy Royston is a wide-ranging 13-song set that mixes Frisell originals new & old, jazz standards, traditional songs, and covers. Valentine explores the creative freedom of the trio format and the profound musical relationship between these three musicians after years of touring.

Reviews

September 2020

Recorded on the back of two intense years touring together, the trio’s playing is not so much in the pocket as in one another’s pocket, Morgan and Royston transcending the rhythm section role to occupy the same space as Frisell in ways that intensity the trio’s sound…Approaching 70, with more than 50 albums as leader, Frisell’s curiosity and capacity for quirky invention continues to amaze.

October 2020

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Frisell album without mixing jazz and Americana (think ‘Gone Like A Train’) and here we have the lope into a Western sunset that is ‘Wagon Wheels’, trailing clouds of Charlie Haden and Sonny Rollins behind it. Frisell also has that a gentle yet persistent political edge: the set closes with ‘We Shall Overcome’, a longtime staple of live performance. One day he won’t have to play that song. But who knows when that day will be.

August 2020

“Playing together” is a phrase so commonplace it’s easy to forget what it signifies. Of course, there’s the obvious: making music with others, performing as an ensemble, being creative in a group. But the music guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston offer here suggests a specific spin on the idea, one that emphasizes the togetherness of the playing.

21st August 2020

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…

Valentine - Bill Frisell - Vinyl Edition

Vinyl Record

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Recording of the Week, Bill Frisell - Valentine

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