Search - Michael White, Bill Frisell :: Motion Picture

Frisell MVP again

Paulina Callouette | North Carolina | 05/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bill Frisell's tastiest work is just as often found on others' records as it is on his own. This record is a case in point: recorded in 1995, I would have had no idea it existed except for the fact that I walked by it in a music store that was wise enough to have one copy on display. It's just violin and guitar, and it's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. That doesn't mean dull, dull, dull, by the way. The songs are all jazz and vocal standards, and as he does on Paul Motian's broadway series, Frisell molds them into his own moody shape. White is no slacker either, giving just the right blend of melody and sound-effect to sooth and keep you interested. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes is played in long-meter, as John Coltrane recorded it for Atlantic. Flamingo is the 1941 Duke Ellington hit, remade into a very haunting reverie here. To me, the record reaches its highest heights on these numbers, but the playing and arrangements are consistent throughout. Because there is no bass or drums, Frisell is forced to provide much of the rhythmic thrust, as he was on John Zorn's two News for Lulu records. Those two records, featuring a guitar, alto, and trombone playing late 50's/early 60's Blue Note hard bop, are probably equally overlooked by Frisell fans. To me, Motion Pictures is more interesting than Frisell late-90's records on Electra, but I am partial to the material (standards), as well as to jazz violin and intimate recitals."