Orchestras

Description

Guitarist Bill Frisell’s new double album ‘Orchestras’ documents two inspired concert hall engagements arranged by Michael Gibbs for Frisell’s long-standing trio with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston: one with the nearly 60-member Brussels Philharmonic, led by Alexander Hanson; and one with the 11-member Umbria Jazz Orchestra, under the musical direction of Manuele Morbidini. But as with much of Frisell’s music over the last four decades, a relatively simple concept and familiar songbook give rise to gently moving revelations. The music exhibits a level of comfort and interactivity that far transcends the vast majority of ‘with strings’ projects on jazz record shelves. Radical orchestration evocative of landmark film scores and Gil Evans moves with agility in and around the trio’s telepathic rapport, and Frisell’s shimmering tone blends beautifully with both symphonic strings and brass.