Bill Frisell - Orchestras (2024) (Hi-Res) FLAC/MP3

Bill Frisell, the supreme textualist and restless searcher for new contexts, has gone supersize. Employing two classical ensembles, the 60-piece Brussels Philharmonic and the 11-piece Umbria Jazz Orchestra, Frisell and famed composer/arranger Michael Gibbs, a longtime mentor and friend of the guitarist, have programmed an entire set with each group. Gibbs, who began scoring for films and simultaneously leading jazz groups in the early 1970s, is an equal partner in this beautifully recorded project. The Brussels Philharmonic set opens with the short and uneasy "Nocturne Vulgaire," in which strings and brass nervously shift before Frisell and his drummer Rudy Royston and bassist Thomas Morgan enter. They pluck a few notes before an abrupt transition to more familiar territory, a version of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life." Frisell slowly works his elongated way in Strayhorn's jazz standard, switching between notes and chords, backed by a lush swarm of strings. Verging on joyous easy listening, Gibbs' "Sweet Rain" rolls along with Frisell and the strings trading leads. In the Brussels closer, Stephen Foster's unerringly divine "Beautiful Dreamer," Frisell—who's always been a sucker for a great tune—picks out the melody as the band confects an opulent background.

The Umbrian set, played with a smaller band that's used to playing jazz, has fewer classical influences. Ron Carter's "Doom," the only song performed by both groups, is cinematically sweeping with the Brussels Philharmonic but stripped to just the melody's swaying rhythm, around which Frisell solos, on the Umbrian Orchestra's more leisurely-tempoed take. Each well-played set works in its own way, as Frisell and Gibbs search for novel insights in this pleasant experiment. © Robert Baird

Tracklist
1. Nocturne Vulgaire (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (03:15)
2. Lush Life (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (05:08)
3. Doom (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (04:47)
4. Rag (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (04:25)
5. Throughout (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (06:01)
6. Electricity (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (05:56)
7. Sweet Rain (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (05:58)
8. Richter 858, No. 7 (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (07:03)
9. Beautiful Dreamer (Live/Brussels Philharmonic) (feat. Alexander Hanson, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (03:50)
10. Lookout for Hope (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (07:11)
11. Levees (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (04:28)
12. Strange Meeting (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (06:22)
13. Doom (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (06:32)
14. Electricity (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (04:08)
15. Monica Jane (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (06:48)
16. We Shall Overcome (Live/Umbria Jazz Orchestra) (feat. Manuele Morbidini, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan) (04:47)