Track Listing

1. Mandeville
2. Introduction
3. India
4. Singsong
5. In Line
6. Resistor
7. Music I Heard
8. Tone
9. Lonesome
10. Alien Prints (For D. Sharpe)
11. Hangdog
12. Kind of Gentle
13. Closer
14. Sub Rosa (Dedicated to Bill Frisell) - Gavin Bryars, Bill Frisell

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #252912 in Music
• Released on: 2002-05-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
Some artists develop their voice over time. When guitarist Bill Frisell began his association with ECM in 1981 as a sideman with drummer Paul Motian, he was a full-blown original, a texturalist whose spare modal effects and pastoral and pop leanings took jazz in a new direction. Frisell's installment in the label's :rarum anthology series, for which the artists choose the songs and contribute written commentary, offers more variety than most of his individual recordings. He is heard lending support to Motian, saxophonist Jan Garbarek, pianist Paul Bley, and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler; overdubbing himself on acoustic guitar; leading an offbeat lineup, including tuba stalwart Bob Stewart; and taking his first tentative steps as bandleader with cellist Hank Roberts, bassist Kermit Driscoll, and drummer Joey Baron. Whatever the setting, Frisell, who has gravitated in recent times toward American roots forms, finds a rich silver lining in electronic cloudscapes that can be dreamy or dark or both. The collection, which offers 24-bit/96kHz remastering--a first for the legendarily sound-conscious ECM--is brought to a close by classical and new music artist Gavin Bryars, who leads his own ensemble on an atmospheric chamber piece from 1993, inspired by a song on Frisell's 1982 debut, In Line. --Lloyd Sachs

Customer Reviews

Introduction
I must admit that I had never heard the music of Bill Frisell until I bought this compilation.For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Rarum series they are compilations of pieces recorded for the ECM label chosen by the artists themselves rather than someone from the marketing department. As the owner of a couple of the series I was impressed enough to try this one.( and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a place to start with any of the featured artists).
My first reaction on listening to this disc was one of pleasant surprise,it is always a great feeling when you discover music of this quality,my second was annoyance that I had waited so long to hear it.
Bill Frisell has a very lyrical and individual style of playing that I for one find refreshing.His use of guitar synthesiseron a couple of the pieces is tasteful and in keeping with the sense of the tunes, unlike some other guiarists who seem to get carried away with the sound pallette available. "Introduction" and "India",both Paul Motian tunes,are powerful examples of Motian's ability as a composer and Frisell's as an interpreter and navigator of the tunes of others.
Frisell's own pieces on this disc show a clear development in style and confidence over time ,with some great arrangments to boot.You may not walk away from this disc whistling the tunes the first time you hear it, but the tunes will slowly reveal themselves to be gems.
The last piece on the disc was written by Gavin Bryars based on another of Frisell's tunes and is a fitting place to finish the disc leaving us ,of course , wanting more.

Good Overview of Frisell's ECM work
Let me start out by saying that I'm a HUGE Bill Frisell fan. I've got over 60 albums by this textural jazz master and all offer an insight into his versatility as a composer, arranger, and musician. On "Rarum: Selected Recordings" we get to hear what Bill was doing when he was recording as a session musician and as a leader of his own groups during the ECM years. If you can't afford to buy everything Bill has done (which I haven't even broke the surface of his work), then buying a compilation like this will give you an opportunity to hear his work on ECM through various albums spread out over period of time (in this case I think it goes from 1981-1996). Another thing unique about this compilation is that Bill hand-picked all of the songs himself rather than some knucklehead in the corporate office who thinks they know his music.

The music on this album is quite a variety. You get a glimpse of his unique style through songs by himself, Paul Bley, Paul Motian, Jan Garbarek, and Kenny Wheeler. There were two songs that I never heard of on this album and they were "Introduction" and "India." Both songs were featured on the Paul Motian Trio album "It Should've Happened A Long Time Ago," which I don't have yet. The song "India" was absolutely beautiful and for me was worth the price of the entire record.

If you are a newcomer to Bill Frisell's work on the ECM label, then my advice would be to start right here with this compliation. If you would like to investigate further than I highly recommend the following ECM albums:

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)
Jan Garbarek - Paths, Prints (1982)
Bill Frisell - Lookout For Hope (1988)
Eberhard Weber - Fluid Rustle (1979 - Bill's debut on ECM)
Marc Johnson - Bass Desires (1985)
Marc Johnson's Bass Desires - Second Sight (1987)

Useful Perspective
Although the career of guitarist Bill Frisell cannot be said to have really blossomed until after he left ECM for Nonesuch, this is still a great collection, for not only Frisell did Frisell make some really good recordings for ECM as a leader, but he also appeared on many ECM recordings as a sideman, and he has chosen some excellent cuts from those recordings to include on this anthology. The opening cut, for example, Paul Motian's "Mandeville," shows that Frisell had a recognizable sound way back in 1981. (And can Frisell's Rambler really date from 1984? Man, I'm getting old...)

Here is Frisell playing with Jan Garbarek's group back in 1983, fitting right in, and with Dave Holland and Lee Konitz in 1996. The music and the ensembles are varied, but the distinctive voice that is Frisell's guitar comes through and brings joy. What a wonderful musician! If you have somewhat recently become a Frisell fan based on his "Americana" recordings of the past decade, you owe it to yourself to see what Frisell was doing earlier in his career and in different musical contexts.