Date 28 June 2005 at 20.00 Venue Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts

BILL FRISELL BAND plus Zubot & Dawson

Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2005

Bill Frisell is a cult figure. His acolytes tend to be people who take guitar seriously: their gods tend to have reputations; they are concerned about the future of jazz forms, and how a tendency to transposing certain notes out of sequence can have implications on the medium as a whole.

They are serious people who have invested time in music, and have come to appreciate the contribution of Saint Frisell. After hearing a few notes from his guitar you can understand why he is worth canonization. He can say anything with that tone, and you honestly wouldn’t care. For the most part, you just want him to keep playing. Well … up to a certain point.

Don’t get me wrong, the first few notes were perfection. As the Bill Frisell came out after a brief introduction and to the appreciative applause of the crowd, his band went into the first few licks together, and for a few moments you had found IT. Those first few moments were an all-encompassing, rich, easy harmony with melancholy undertones. It surrounded you, and could transport you into another world. You could feel yourself being pulled. If he had but stopped there….

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After the first few songs you began to realize that there was little to hang onto, especially if you weren’t familiar with the Frisell cannon. What at first seemed rich and ethereal became cloying and a bit dull. And the songs quickly (or, more accurately, not so quickly) began to bleed into one another. How many twenty-minute jams does anyone need, especially when you’re not in college anymore? Frisell’s tone started to get jarring, especially when combined with Jenny Scheinman’s high octave violin work. Imagine the sound of a dental drill combined with a lullaby.

Bill Frisell

Victor Krauss on bass and Matt Chamberlain on drums, tried their best not to overplay, being as they are from the solos are for “wankers” school of jazz. They created solid backgrounds and laid down interesting backbeats for the fireworks, adding variations where necessary. Greg Leisz on steel was more or less invisible the whole night. He sonically and physically blended into the background.

Zubot and Dawson had the daunting task of opening for Frisell, the fans being there to take in his guitar wisdom. They played a kind of swinging bluegrass/folk with jazz forms and created a rich, entertaining atmosphere. They hit many highlights in their show, most impressively with their track "Elf Hunter," the kind of terse, early-Saturday-evening tune that should be in a film. Along with Keith Lowe bass and Elliot Polsky drums they created an original and entertaining sound that had even the most austere of the esthetic minimalists grooving.

© 2005 Kulpreet Sasan

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