Now here is a documentary I’m excited about. While Bill Frisell may not be a household name, I first discovered him on the soundtrack for “Finding Forrester“, and Frisell’s music has been part of my life ever since.
For the few of you who don’t follow jazz guitar, Bill Frisell is one of the most respected studio guitarists working today. He has been featured on albums for such musicians as Elvis Costello, Loudon Wainwright II, and Bonnie Raitt, in addition to putting out his own records, my favorite being History, Mystery.
He finally gets a documentary of his own with “Bill Frisell, A Portrait,” which “traces the ideas and processes that shaped Frisell’s music, and provides rare insight into the mind and personality of one of the significant musicians of recent decades.” While the trailer might not be anything to write home about, the film seems to have a pretty full line up of talking heads to shed light on Frisell’s influence.
Frisell’s album’s Guitar in the Space Age! pretty much got me through grad school, as I listened to it while endlessly writing papers, so I’ll be seeing this film any way I can. If you’ve never listened to Frisell before, you owe it to yourself to check him out. “Bill Frisell, A Portrait” will have its world premiere March 12th at the South by Southwest Festival but currently has no US release date.