BACK TO HIS BEGINNINGS
Bill Frisell salutes garage band roots
Guitarist Bill Frisell treated a packed house at the NAC Studio Tuesday night to a happy and intimate communion with his 1960s garage-band past.
Grinning throughout, Frisell led his band through a blur of jangly, twanging, reverberating music that was on one hand deeply nostalgic but also fresh and spontaneous, forcefully coloured by Frisell’s staggering ability to pull a universe of sounds from his instrument and electronic effects.
He left it to listeners to play name that tune with the set’s many selections. He spoke rarely — twice he introduced guitarist Greg Leisz, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, and once he apologized humorously for playing in profile to the audience, all the better to make eye contact with his band.
For Tuesday night’s concert, his set list included a patiently introduced and stunning version of Pete Seeger’s Turn! Turn! Turn!, Wes Montgomery’s slinky tune Bumpin’, the Beach Boys song In My Room, and, as an encore, the 1962 instrumental hit Telestar, which was No. 1 on the charts when Frisell was 11.
The group’s explorations were long and devotional, with the repetition of simple melodies and riffs seeming almost like incan- tations. On many slower songs, Leisz on pedal steel guitar added extra shimmer and atmosphere. When he picked up the electric guitar, he was a steely and more conventional foil to Frisell, who supplied the night’s biggest surprises with his melodic asides and layering of textures.
Scherr and Wollesen provided the music’s earthy beat, sounding like the world’s best garage band duo.
The always eclectic Frisell has often compartmentalized his music making, addressing such interests as the sounds of Nashville, Big Sur or John Lennon. Wednesday night, he plays the Laurier Avenue stage with Leisz, Scherr and Wollesen, revisiting an older project to perform live accompaniment to the Buster Keaton film Go West.