Re: Frisell

["Alan Imberg" <alan_i@sprynet.com>]

Regarding Bill Frisell, I caught his show at Yoshi's in Oakland this past
Wednesday. Quite inspiring stuff. He has assembled a formidable quartet. As
was the case the last couple of times I've seen him, loops were an integral
part of his repertoire. He has definitely expanded from his jazz origins
into broader "Americana" type territory. In fact, if one is to regard
improvisation as a key link to jazz, then Frisell's use of loops was that
link. There was one possible change in his gear from the last time I saw
him: I didn't see his EH 16 second delay pedal onstage. His primary looper
was a blue device that I couldn't specifically identify.
There was one funny incident at the end of his set where he was playing the
initial chords to his song "Poem for Eva". The intro is quiet and
reflective. As he was playing, he hit a button on his looper, apparently to
turn it off. Instead, he created this brief cacophonic, horrendous sound
that blew the entire mood. He immediately stopped and marched to the mic,
saying:
"That was a mistake. Usually when I'm playing over there, people think I'm
having problems but really I'm just having fun. However, that wasn't fun. I
think I just had a heart attack."
After the audience and the band got done laughing, he re-started the song.