A few months ago while having lunch with a fellow guitar nerd, Bill Frisell came up. I did not know who he was, and I always do like hearing about new bands and/or musicians. I look at these introductions as opportunities to be inspired. I particularly like getting stoked with musicians and styles that I would not normally type as something I’m usually in to. If I can get stoked on a musician that stylistically is different, it exposes something pure in my opinion. Not sure how to best describe what I’m talking about. Bill Frisell, was one of those musicians for me.
Frisell is labeled primarily as a jazz guitarist, but there is something unpretentious about his demeanor and his style of play. He seems very modest and his melodies are quite good. I’m usually not into jazz guitarists (not quite sure as to why), but there is something ‘folky’ about his jazz… which is weird for me to say. Again, I guess that’s the point I’m trying to bring up here, he made me think and got me to want to learn more about him. Got me stoked.
I was excited to see a little pedalboard shot the other day, and wanted to do a quick break down. He plays with a few pedals, and he does like to explore various combinations.
Line 6 DL4 Delay
Electro-Harmonix Freeze
Crazy Tube Circuits Ziggy
Electro-Harmonix Pocket Metal Muff
Boss TU-3 Tuner
Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer
TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb
Pedaltrain Mini
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+
I also came across this quick interesting video by Fretboardjournal where Frisell talks about some of his pedals:
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Are you a fan of Bill Frisell? Let me know by commenting below!
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12 years ago
There is indeed something folky about his playing … he’s done at least one CDs entirely of folk material:
http://driftwoodmagazine.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/bonus-review-bill-frisell-beautiful-dreamers/
Great player. I got into him after reading that review.
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12 years ago
Bill is amazing, I love his use of melody and effects as a soundscape and how he deconstructs and builds with textures and snippets of melodies – I saw this on tv a few years ago and it blew me away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClySeMXgny8
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11 years ago
excellent soundscape(ist). Wouldn’t really call him a jazzer, though the human mind needs to categorize everything. He definitely defies specific genre labeling. Love the guitar in the vid…and the shoes too
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11 years ago
Frisell is a magician. He is easily my favorite guitarist. His pallet is so broad and colorful; as you pointed you, not limited to one genre. Glad to see that you’re enjoying him too.
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7 years ago
Basic but cool. Listen to his Shenandoah on east/west and let me know when you can do the same with a song that is found in every beginning guitar book!
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