Bill Frisell: Four at San Sebastian Jazz Festival at Plaza De La Trinidad (trinity Square)

The guitarist and composer Bill Frisell was born in Baltimore in 1951, spent his childhood in Denver, studied music at the University of Northern Colorado and attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He has been playing and composing ever since and is now hailed as one of the most celebrated guitarists and versatile musicians, as well as one of the most individual and original improvisers of our time.

Frisell has worked with artists such as Charles Lloyd, John Zorn, Paul Motian, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Marianne Faithful and Lucinda Williams. Among his vast range of influences he lists Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Motian… All of this is reflected in his music which, while it could be labelled as Jazz, also reveals eclectic and what at first may seem like incompatible inclinations: country, rock, pop, surf, ambient electronic, blue grass, americana and folk music…...

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The guitarist and composer Bill Frisell was born in Baltimore in 1951, spent his childhood in Denver, studied music at the University of Northern Colorado and attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He has been playing and composing ever since and is now hailed as one of the most celebrated guitarists and versatile musicians, as well as one of the most individual and original improvisers of our time.

Frisell has worked with artists such as Charles Lloyd, John Zorn, Paul Motian, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Marianne Faithful and Lucinda Williams. Among his vast range of influences he lists Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Motian… All of this is reflected in his music which, while it could be labelled as Jazz, also reveals eclectic and what at first may seem like incompatible inclinations: country, rock, pop, surf, ambient electronic, blue grass, americana and folk music…

His guitar conception is singular, with an elegance all of its own, a warm sound and almost always deliberate phrasing, instantly recognisable, with no need for displays of virtuosity. He has an innate inability to produce a gratuitous note, something that is easier said than done. For Frisell “it’s really important to keep the melody going at all times”.

Frisell first came to the Jazzaldia on the guitar with Paul Motian in 1995 and again in 2021 to give an unforgettable concert in the Trini, also the setting for his performance this edition. This time round, the North American guitarist will present his latest album, Four (2022), his third with Blue Note, produced by Lee Townsend. The album features several new versions of earlier numbers and 9 new pieces; to record it, Frisell focused on tunes and ideas he had composed during the pandemic which, while still not completely finished, he took to three extraordinary musicians – Greg Tardy, Gerald Clayton and Johnathan Blake – giving them carte blanche to make their contributions. This is a rather unusual line-up, with no bass, where each musician ad-libs and the instruments shun stealing the spotlight for any length of time. It is an album where the music seems to float and the Jazz gives way to glimpses of Americana and blues, somewhat melancholy yet light-hearted, with moments of hope and joy.
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Bill Frisell will perform after Julian Lage in the same venue. The same ticket gives you the right to see both concerts.

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