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Binding: Audio CDEAN: 0075597982824 Label: Nonesuch Manufacturer: Nonesuch MPN: 79828 Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Nonesuch Release Date: August 24, 2004 Studio: Nonesuch Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Stylistic shifts are nothing new in the career of Bill Frisell, who changes musical directions more often than Madonna. In fact, he even covered a Madonna song once. Unspeakable continues that tendency as Frisell teams up with Hal Willner, a willful musical eclectic. The two have worked together on collaborative projects including tributes to Nino Rota, Walt Disney, and Charles Mingus. Willner, who is also the turntabulist here, orchestrates a landscape of turntable spins and space jams using generic library production discs for much of his source material. '60s Dragnet jazz horns and orchestral Twilight Zone stylings lend the modern sound of Unspeakable a strangely nostalgic hue. Frisell finds himself in a landscape of Ligeti-like strings, bongo percolations, and Ghanian tribal calls, most of it super-charged by the rhythm team of bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Their funky beats lay the terrain for Frisell's angular crossfire solos, but he can also wax sweetly nostalgic on "Hymn for Ginsberg" for guitar and string trio. Bill Frisell is filed in jazz, but he continues to be a genre unto himself. --John Diliberto Album Description: On Unspeakable, guitarist Bill Frisell and producer Hal Willner (Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed) take a freewheelings, idiosyncratic approach to the modern art of music sampling, in a groove-and-soul based project. Frisell and Willner employ often obscure songs and sounds culled from vintage vinyl as the jumping off-point for their own sonic explorations, with choice fragments borrowed and integrated into original compositions. Unspeakable can have a fierce and infectious groove at times, and at others will adopt a more relaxed and reflective feel. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Just Adding My PartAll the other reviews say it all. I just want to inform you of ALL the musicians on the CD. Frisell with Hal Willner (turntables also known as record player scratching, CD samples); Tony Scherr (bass except #12, electric guitar # 12); Ken Wollesen (drums except #5, 7, 10); Don Alias (percussion #1, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12); Steven Bernstein, Briggan Krauss, Curtis Fowlkes (horns #2, 6, 9, 11, 12); Jenny Scheinman, Eyvind Kang, Hank Roberts (strings #1, 4, 6, 7-12, 14); Adam Dorn (editing #2, synthesizer ... Read More Rating:  - Frisell makes jazz rockAs I've said in a number of my other reviews, I'm not a big jazz guitar fan. That's probably because the first jazz guitar music I really listened to was the waiting room music of Metheny / Mehldau, and I think it just scarred me for life. Then, when I took a crack at Frisell's Have a Little Faith, I didn't get excited...at first. But after I revisited the CD a few times, Bill gradually won me over. So when I had the chance to, I picked up Unspeakable. Although I would hesitate to say this isn't jazz, ... Read More Rating: - Exciting, Interesting and UnusualThis 2004 gem is without a doubt, one of the most exciting and interesting jazz albums I own. Frisell has an incredibly unique voice with a truly eclectic range and it's impossible to mistake him for anyone else. I remember seeing the movie "Finding Forrester" some time ago and as soon as I heard the first few notes of the score, I knew it was he. I already had quite a number of albums he has played on as a guest, including some by the bassist Marc Johnson and fellow guitarist Mike Stern, ... Read More Rating:  - 3 and 1/2 stars on first blushI think I've figured out the "Unspeakable" part. These sound like demos or backing tracks to singing or spoken word parts (some of the titles refer to poets) that never got recorded. Well, you can't fake the funk, but as has been pointed out here, it is nice to have Mr. Frisell back spreading around his electro-geek weirdness in the land where the "inner-city" exists. In fact, let's say you and your sweetheart are lucky enough rent a nice car and leave Oaktown behind for a weekend getaway up the coast. ... Read More Rating: - Smooth and gracefulFrisell's "Unspeakable" recording is smooth and relaxing to listen to. It is the type of music where you can simply relax and get lost in the hypnotic quality, or you can listen carefully and hear interesting textures and overlays. He chooses each note with care, and each of those notes fits well within the context of the song. It is produced well so that you can hear each note ring fully and gracefully. It is nice to hear a master musician use an understated approach to composition, and this approach works ... Read More |
