Rolling Stone published its list of the 250 BEST Guitarists of All Time and coming in at #154 was Bill Frisell. So I was excited to see Bill Frisell and review this show at the Ace Theater as Part of the CAP UCLA 2023-2024 season.

Ace Theater; photo by Jason Williams

While certainly not a household name, Frisell has solid jazz credentials, having studied in the 1970s under guitar legend Jim Hall and gaining attention in the early 1980s as a session player at ECM Records and sideman for veteran drummer Paul Motian. Since then, however, his musical path has been far from typical.

Bill Frisell Review 

He has released more than 85 albums as a leader or co-leader and has appeared on hundreds as a sideman. Frisell has collaborated with folk singers, classical orchestras, and New York avant-garde pioneers. He has interpreted traditional standards and works by composers as diverse as Thelonious Monk, Aaron Copeland, and John Lennon.

As you can imagine, uncommon collaborations have been a hallmark of Bill Frisell’s career for decades, so it’s entirely on-brand that the venerated guitarist, composer, and arrangerperformed with two unconventional and entirely different bands when he played the Ace Theater as part of the 2023-2024 season for the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP UCLA).

Owl Song, a trio led by the Grammy-nominated West Coast trumpeter-composer Ambrose Akinmusire, opened the evening. The band highlighted Frisell and the grooving New Orleans drummer Herlin Riley as integral members. Frisell and Akinmusire have worked together frequently since they first met in 2013. They also played together at a birthday tribute to singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.

Ambrose Akinmusire’s Owl Song featuring Bill Frisell and Herlin Riley

Owl Song has performed only a handful of times in public. It’s adventurous 55-minute set featured songs off their upcoming debut record which will be released by Nonesuch Records on December 15, 2023. The set began meditatively with shuffling drums, soft trumpet and spartan guitar and by the third tune, the drums had turned funky, the guitar had some feedback, and the band was sounding like an early 70’s fusion band. The band appeared to be following musical charts, but it all sounded improvised. Make no mistake, this was not a jam session but rather an unconventional approach to sound, composition, and improvisation from extraordinary musicians.

Bill Frisell Second Half of Show

For the second half, Frisell’s was joined by his new ensemble the Bill Frisell FIVE, a collection of long-time collaborators and friends – bassists Thomas Morgan and Tony Scherr and drummers Rudy Royston and Kenny Wollesen. Frisell played a lot more loosely and a bit more aggressively than he did with Owl Song. This prompted the bassists and drummers to leave plenty of space. The two bassists took the opportunity to embrace slightly different roles: Scherr often held the bottom while Morgan worked upper registers. Scherr however also enjoyed probing high notes that echoed Frisell’s melodies. While the two drummers provided the anchor, they also added a hard-hitting element to the ensemble.

The band rarely paused between songs. Frisell appeared to be sending a message by playing a gently rapturous “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Then a semi-abstract “People” – with shimmering chords set against Wollesen’s cymbal-rim scrapings followed. The night ended with an up-tempo jazz encore, propelled by Scherr’s fast-walking bass and Wollesen’s skimming ride-cymbal groove. The following extended standing ovation from the adoring crowd reinforced the fact that something special and unique had just occurred. If the 72-year-old Frisell keeps at it, he may just crack that Rolling Stone top 100!

Find out about more upcoming events on the Cap UCLA calendar – https://cap.ucla.edu/calendar

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