Leave it to Bill Frisell and Matt Chamberlain to produce one of the best albums to hit our desk this month — you have to hear this new Floratone disc.
Floratone came together after Frisell and Chamberlain spent a few days together jamming in a studio. Producers Tucker Martine and Lee Townshend listened to the tapes, after which they picked out the best grooves to form the base of a new album. Matt and Bill re-entered the studio with bass player Viktor Kraus, cornet player Ron Miles and Eyvind Kang on strings to complete an album that features plenty of climactic peaks and beautiful valleys. The results: outstanding.
Photo by Michael Wilson
Floratone includes aspects of many different types of music within each track. Louisiana Swampboat starts with a thick groove before Frisell starts layering his typically strange but sublime melodies on top of the beat. The Future provides a different, more sparse soundscape, accented by some Bitches Brew-esque horns and Frisell wailing on an overdriven guitar that sounds like it was run through one of Jerry Garcia’s Mutron pedals. We’ve always been big Frisell fans but have been waiting for a more groove-oriented release. Floratone delivers on our wish in a big way; now if only they would play a few shows.
But don’t take my word for it — get your own copy of Floratone. We will send a copy of the album to the person who comes up with the best dream Bill Frisell quartet. Pick three guys you’d like to see Bill play with and leave their names in a comment below. The contest runs until 12:01 am on October 10th.
28 Responses
Simple but effective: Bill Frisell and The Bad Plus.
Dream quartet?
David Schools – Bass. Often overlooked by the music establishment as a jam-band bassist David Schools is a TRUE music lover with a wide array of influences and interests. David would be able to pull from those diverse influences to play against type and create a bottom end worthy of Bill Frisell. References: see ‘Slang’ More Talk About Tonight
Glenn Kotche – Drums. Loose grooves and fierce discipline with a passion for the live experience, Glenn’s talents would provide a backbone for explorations into the unknown. References: see “Next”
Jonny Greenwood – EVERYTHING ELSE. Jonny is truly a superhero of the modern rock era and his creativity would propel Bill’s melodies into the stratosphere!
Sick and sweet – these guys would pull out some amazing demonstrations modern musical prowess!
I am thinking i would like to see Bill play with:
Marco Benevento – on keys and his other gadgets.
Cyro Baptista – on percussion and perhaps some chanting.
and lastly,
Victor Wooten – on bass.
Frisell would hold this supergroup down with his class.
I’d like my free CD now please. Thanks.
Bill Frisell w/
Jaki Leibziet–drums
SKERIK–sax
and TONY LEVIN on bass!
Plenty of room to shred, funkify, and get downright proggy with that one!
Bill Frisell
Trey
Medeski
Les Claypool
… they can call it Lungs
I’m obviously not eligible to win the prize, but I’ll register a comment anyway. Bill Frisell fronting Joe Russo on the kit, Club D’elf’s Mike Rivard on bass and referee Don Koharski on the whistle.
Phil Lesh
Stanton Moore
Howard Levy
John Medeski – keys
Chris Wood – bass
Kenny Wolleson – drums (no offesnse to Billy Martin but Kenny works w/ Frisell already)
Frisell w/
Brian Ritchie (Violent Femmes)- acoustic bass
Andrew Barr (The Slip) – drums, percussion
Earl Scruggs – banjo
Dream Quartet
Frisell
Give me Stanton Moore on Drums…oh la la he brings the energy
I’ll take Robert Walters on Keys, this will ensure the groove never ends…
And finally…how bout some banjo? I’ll take Danny Barnes…he can flat pick a mean guitar too…
On the Danny Barnes front…he’s touring with Dave Matthews currently…sat in on 5 songs the other night…kind of amazing considering he came from a relatively no name outfit Bad Livers…struggled along with a solo career, until Yonder Mountain String Band started covering Death Trip, Crow Black Chicken & Fun Time…now he’s playing sold out shows with Dave Matthews….way to go Danny!
I’d pay DMB kind of money to see these fellas…
Frisell, Mike Clark, Bernie Worrell, and Reed Mathis.
Great work everyone, and you are lucky Ace doesn’t qualify!
Dude, Trey, Mike, Page and Da Fish…
seriously, all star bands usually suck, what’s wrong with the Frisell, Scherr, Wolleson, Scheinman lineup that actually might have some chemistry and make good music? Oh yeah, y’all have never heard any of those guys before. East coast bias, bitches, I’ll take those four any day over whatever you’ve got. Q.E.D.
Bela Fleck
Yo Yo Ma
Dave Holland
Frisell String Quartet
nels cline
mike gordon
joe russo
Michael Brecker – Tenor Sax and EWI
>Don’t know an EWI from your elbow? Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOEF7f2HGoE
Jaco Pastorius – Bass
Tony Williams – Drums
Tom Waits – voice
Yo Yo Ma – Cello
Danny Carey – Drums
must learn to read the responses before mine, someone already beat me to yo yo ma.
Brian Eno — synths, treatments
Charlie Haden- Bass
Paul Motian — Drums
Mike Rivard – Bass
Ray Paczkowski – Organ, Keys
Kenny Wolleson – Drums
apparently the comment I left last week didn’t make it, so I’ll leave it again. Quite possibly Frisell’s greatest backing band that few people never heard:
John Webb (West Harrison), guitars and mandolins
Ben Ritter (West Harrison), drums and rhythm matrix
Andrew Olson (West Harrison), bass
Do those West Harrison guys have a myspace or what?
I’ve been in talks with of West Harrison, and they claim that it’s coming soon, as soon as I corner John “Dr. Thunder” Webb and get those pictures back.
Frisell can jam with:
Ricky Skaggs: mandolin
Lee Rocker (Stray Cats): stand-up bass
Ruben Gonzalez (Buena Vista Social Club): Piano
?uestlove – drums
Christian McBride – Upright Bass
McCoy Tyner – Piano
Bill Frisell – Guitar
Yeah.
For a little differernt direction I’d take Sam Bush on mandolin, Edgar Meyer on bass, and Mike Clark on drums.
Brian Blade – drums (dude kills!)
Sebastian Steinberg (fmrly of Soul Coughing) – bass
Didi Gutman – (Brazilian Girls) keys