Bill Frisell – The Willies
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Posted On September 1, 2002
The Willies would have been the ideal title for a Bill Frisell album years ago, when his dark and brooding work refused to sit still for stylistic typecastings. Frisell still performs with a diverse array of musicians, but increasingly his newer albums are of a piece; not quite jazz, not quite country, appealing major-key slices of Americana.
Critics were quick to point out echoes of Stephen Foster in the moments when Frisell’s music first brightened, as on 1992’s This Land. Believing his own press, the guitarist eventually traveled to Nashville, begin covering pop and country tunes, and despite a couple of notable detours, has stayed the path. It’s hard to point to a more original stylist in any genre.
Yet for those who have followed him through his decades with the Paul Motian Trio, edgy electric workouts such as Lookout For Hope, maze-like scores for Buster Keaton and the Far Side cartoons, his stunning Driscoll/Baron trio, etc., it’s hard to believe he’s not merely going through the motions on rote covers like “Goodnight Irene”. Pleasant, sure, but not much farther down this scary path lies William Ackerman records.
The Willies does come alive in spots, such as stairstep convolutions of “Big Shoe”, the blues groove of “Cluck Old Hen”, and a languorous “Cold, Cold Heart”. The paring of Northwest neighbor (and former Bad Livers leader) Danny Barnes is an inspired one, and Frisell is generous with a picker he rightly admirers; Barnes flatpicking style makes a neat contrast to Frisell’s liquid lines.
Although he has a past of shit-stirring as well, Barnes heeds Frisell’s restraint; The Willies is engaging and smartly played. Yet both of these guys are capable of so much more. Ultimately, it’s not what this album is that leaves you unsatisfied, but what it’s not.
