Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist Who Changed the Sound of American Music

by Philip Watson

Overview

The definitive biography of guitar icon and Grammy Award-winning artist, Bill Frisell, featuring exclusive interviews with Paul Simon, Bon Iver and more.

Over a period of forty-five years, Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most innovative musicians at work today.

A quietly revolutionary guitar hero for our genre-blurring times, he has synthesised many disparate musical elements – from jazz to pop, folk to film music, ambient to avant-garde, country to classical – into one compellingly singular sound. Described as ‘the favourite guitarist of many people who agree on little else in music’, Frisell connects to a diverse range of artists and admirers, including Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, and Bon Iver.

Everybody loves Bill Frisell. Through unprecedented access, and interviews with his close family, friends and collaborators, Philip Watson tells the story of why.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780571361694
Publisher:	Faber and Faber
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Pages:	560
Sales rank:	1,008,446
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Philip Watson was deputy editor at GQ and editor-at-large at Esquire, and has appeared on radio and television in the UK and Ireland. His in-depth features have appeared in the Telegraph Magazine, Guardian, Sunday Times, Observer, Irish Times, London Evening Standard and The Wire, and he has interviewed icons such as Nick Cave, Gil Scott-Heron, Elvis Costello, D'Angelo and many others. Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer is his first book.

Table of Contents

1 The Searcher 1

2 Billy the Kid 10

3 Once Upon a Time in the West 26

4 A Portrait of the Guitarist as a Young Man 40

5 Raised by Deer 57

6 Is That You? 75

7 Trioism 96

8 The Rambler 113

Counterpoint I:

9 Hal Willner Listens to Lookout for Hope 134

10 Once Upon a Time in the East Village 140

11 Song of Myself 160

12 Have a Little Faith 173

Counterpoint II:

13 The Bad Plus Listens to Where in the World? 190

14 Change Gonna Come 199

Counterpoint III:

15 Justin Vernon Listens to This Land 219

16 The Sounds I Saw 227

Counterpoint IV:

17 Jim Woodring Listens to With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones 250

18 Roots 258

Counterpoint V:

19 Sam Amidon Listens to Good Dog, Happy Man 279

20 Frislandia 286

Counterpoint VI:

21 Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill Listen to The Willies 301

22 Like Dreamers Do 309

23 Across the Universe 323

Counterpoint VII:

24 Paul Simon Listens to The Intercontinentals 335

25 Six Hundred and Eight 341

Counterpoint VIII:

26 Gavin Bryars Listens to History, Mystery 360

27 History, Mystery 368

28 The Composer 386

Counterpoint IX:

29 Van Dyke Parks Listens to Big Sur 396

30 The Quiet American 403

Counterpoint X:

31 Gus Van Sant Listens to When You Wish Upon a Star 419

32 Music Is 424

Counterpoint XI:

33 Rhiannon Giddens Listens to HARMONY 440

331/3 Becoming Bill Frisell 448

Acknowledgements 453

List of Images 457

Notes 461

Index 523

Editorial Reviews

"A fascinating musical biography of one of today’s most versatile and unique guitarists. . .a must-read for Frisell’s fans and a compelling introduction to those less familiar with his playing." — Kirkus Starred Review

"The biography is stuffed with musical encounters, so many that every couple of pages there’s an unheard Frisell recording for the reader to chase down." — New Yorker

"Warm-hearted, collaborative, and discreet to the point of being almost ambient,Beautiful Dreamer manages to be the perfect companion-piece to the music of its subject." — MOJO

 "[Watson's] writing balances unbridled passion and dispassionate research nearly as deftly as Mr. Frisell’s playing does sound and silence . . . compelling." — Wall Street Journal

" A brilliant book about a brilliant musician. If music was a religion Bill Frisell would be a Saint." — JOHN ZORN

"The most thorough, exhaustively researched biography that I have ever read about a living jazz musician." —Jazziz

"A revelatory, roots and branches portrait of one of America's greatest synthesisers of musical ideas." — All About Jazz

"Looks set to become the definitive document of one of North America’s living guitar legends . . . beautifully written and addictively constructed – we suspect the only reason fans will want to put it down is to pick up their guitars." — Guitar World

"One of America’s most unique musicians . . . one of the great American voices." — ELVIS COSTELLO

"[Frisell is] the best living contemporary guitar player." — LUCINDA WILLIAMS

"Frisell plays guitar like Miles Davis played trumpet." — New Yorker

From the Publisher

★ 2022-02-03
A full-length portrait of the multidimensional guitarist Bill Frisell and his music.

Born in 1951 in Baltimore, Frisell grew up in Denver, where his father persuaded him to take up clarinet in the school band. However, he was already strongly attracted to guitar, the iconic instrument of the popular folk and rock groups that served as some of his first musical influences. As Watson, former deputy editor of GQ, writes, Wes Montgomery converted Frisell to jazz, and he began to take his instrument seriously. He attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music, “the most renowned jazz studies school in the country,” but dropped out after one semester. He went to New York City to study briefly with Jim Hall, one of his idols, who urged him to find his own voice. Frisell returned to Colorado to pursue that goal and play with local bands. A gig by local guitarist Mike Miller convinced him that his tight focus on straight-ahead jazz was too limiting, and his new approach opened the doors for his subsequent musical growth. Watson follows Frisell through his long-lasting, celebrated career, documenting record dates and performances with other musicians ranging from drummer Paul Motian to avant-garde composer John Zorn, with a repertoire that runs from gentle country fiddle tunes to electronic squawks and raw feedback. The author shows a laconic but deeply sensitive and thoughtful musician, providing ample quotes from him and many various associates and admirers. Throughout the book, Watson intersperses “Counterpoint” chapters, in which other musicians or friends (Paul Simon, Hal Willner, Gus Van Zant) listen to his albums and comment on the music and the man behind it. Ultimately, the author delivers a must-read for Frisell’s fans and a compelling introduction to those less familiar with his playing.

A fascinating musical biography of one of today’s most versatile and unique guitarists.

Kirkus Reviews