Bill Frisell
| Bill Frisell | |
|---|---|
Frisell playing with the B3 Trio at Jazz Alley, Seattle on April 24, 2004
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Richard Frisell |
| Born |
March 18, 1951 Baltimore, Maryland United States |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, folk jazz, world fusion, New Acoustic, Americana, experimental rock, grindcore, soundtrack |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger |
| Instruments | Guitar, clarinet, tenor saxophone |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Savoy, Nonesuch, ECM |
| Website | billfrisell |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Telecaster | |
William Richard "Bill" Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American guitarist, composer and arranger.
One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell came to prominence as a stalwart for ECM Records. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a member of the New York City Downtown Scene where he formed a longstanding partnership with composer John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until the drummer's death in 2011. Since about 2000, Frisell's eclectic output as a bandleader has strongly emphasized folk, country music and Americana. He uses an array of effects to create unique sounds from his instrument.
Frisell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent most of his youth in the Denver, Colorado area. He studied clarinet with Richard Joiner of the Denver Symphony Orchestra as a youth, graduated from Denver East High School, and went to the University of Northern Colorado to study music.
His original guitar teacher in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area was Dale Bruning, with whom Frisell released the 2000 duo album Reunion. After graduating from Northern Colorado, where he studied with Johnny Smith, Frisell went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied with Jon Damian and Jim Hall.
Frisell's major break came when guitarist Pat Metheny was unable to make a recording session, and recommended Frisell to Paul Motian, who was recording Psalm (1982) for ECM Records. Frisell became ECM's in-house guitar player, and worked on several albums, most notably Jan Garbarek's 1981 Paths, Prints. Frisell's first solo release was In Line, which featured solo guitar as well as duets with bassist Arild Andersen.
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