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spring on the second release by a collective
called Floratone that includes drummer Matt
Chamberlain and producers Tucker Martine
and Townsend, among others.
Lucinda Williams, the Grammy-winning
singer and songwriter, looked back fondly on
Frisell’s contributions to her 2007 album West
(Lost Highway Records). “He’s able to move in
different worlds,” Williams said. “That’s one of
the things that sets him apart. He’s got a very global
outlook, that kind of blend or fusion of styles.”
Frisell remains busy with an ever-widening
slate of projects. Joey Baron attributed the guitarist’s
enthusiasm at this juncture to the control
he has over his career.
“He can go out and do concerts all over the
world, with any of his projects,” said Baron, who
spent roughly a decade as Frisell’s drummer. “It’s
his own thing; that’s a very wonderful, privileged
position to be in. And I know that he knows that,
and I know that he doesn’t want to waste it.”
Frisell sometimes has trouble keeping track
of his many bands, whose lineups frequently
overlap. The trio Beautiful Dreamers includes
viola player Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy
Royston. The 858 Quartet, which performs on
Sign Of Life, features a string section—cellist
Hank Roberts, Scheinman, Kang—but trumpet
player Ron Miles also has worked with
the group. Disfarmer includes bassist Viktor
Krauss, Scheinman and Leisz.
The Great Flood is set to premiere Sept. 10
during ELLNORA/The Guitar Festival at the
Krannert Center in Urbana, Ill. The production
will then be presented in select cities through
next spring. (It will pair clips culled from documentary
footage with Frisell’s music for a
group that includes Ron Miles, Tony Scherr and
Kenny Wollesen.)
“I’ve been beyond overwhelmed,” Frisell
said. “Every single day for the past six months
I’ve been doing something else. I mean, the
past year I’ve had like a handful of days off,
and every day I’ve got to learn some music.” He
added, “Each of these things I’ve mentioned I
could have easily spent 10 years locked away in
a monastery just thinking about. This Lennon
thing, there’s not enough time in my life to really
do it right. And I get really terrified sometimes;
I can never get totally comfortable. And then I
show up and somehow we pull it off.”
Later, during a telephone conversation, he
said: “My life is really the music. And I cannot
figure out one place I can be where it works.
I guess New York would be the closest place,
[but] not even that. There’s people that I want to
play with who are all over the world. And there’s
places that I want to play all over the world. I just
have to play, and I haven’t figured out any other
way than just traveling all over the place.
“It’s also like I feel blessed. Everything I
always dreamed of is happening. So when I have
the opportunity to do these things, it’s the best
thing in the world. I just want to try and get in as
much as I can. Maybe I get tired, but there’s still
nothing that I’d rather be doing.” DB
SEPTEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 31