Bill Frisell Does His Own Thing Regardless Of Naysayers

No one is ever fully satisfied by Bill Frisell, it seems. A prolific and eclectic artist, Frisell has been active as a player, composer and performer since the '80s. But, each new development in his career seems to frustrate as many as it excites.

Originally cutting his teeth as an in-house guitarist for respected jazz label ECM, Frisell later became a key player in the New York avant-garde scene as part of John Zorn's legendary jump-cut outfit Naked City. From there, he's branched out into country, film music and Americana.

"It's a double-edged sword, because the minute you figure out what it is, you lose that spark."

Most recently, he's been accused of burying himself in nostalgia — with tribute albums to mid-20th century guitar music and the songs of John Lennon. His Australian tour is in support of his recent album of classic film and television covers, When You Wish Upon A Star. "I've learned so much from doing this film stuff. It's so seductive, but, I'm actually not trying to look back. I'm trying to go into the future. I'm trying to move myself forward," Frisell says with a laugh. "The next album I'm going to do is actually going to be all my own material."

But, while it's easy to reduce the guitarist to such concrete phases, that analysis doesn't actually withstand scrutiny. Often, he's released albums of separate sounds in the same era. For example, releasing Americana classic Have A Little Faith in the middle of Naked City's seven-album run. "It's frustrating. It doesn't really matter — but it's always much more complicated," Frisell says. "The way the music is working in my imagination, it's never just one thing at a time. So much of it is happening simultaneously. I guess people need to break it down to these specific parts."

Even an album as pure in conceptual outlook as When You Wish Upon A Star betrays the image of Frisell's career as a carefully plotted arc of discreet phases. Amid The Godfather and Morricone themes, you'll find the theme for Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side - which Frisell wrote and included on his 1996 album, Quartet. "That came later. You know, I thought, 'Oh, wow, I actually wrote something, I can stick one of them in there too!' It was almost like an afterthought," he laughs. "It just seemed silly not to include it, when it came down to it."

But, through it all, there's a running theme of enthusiasm and passion. Whatever Frisell is doing — whether pouring noise over string arrangements or plucking out a bluegrass melody — he seems to be both perpetually delighted and astonished by it. "When you're naive about something and you find it for the first time, it's the most amazing feeling," the guitarist says. "But, it's a double-edged sword, because the minute you figure out what it is, you lose that spark. I'm constantly trying to rediscover that spark."