Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell's career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 35 years and 250
recordings, including 40 albums of his own. His most recent albums include Sign of
Life with the 858 Quartet, his trio recording Beautiful Dreamers, and his new
collection of interpretations of the music of John Lennon, entitled All We Are Saying
... He has collaborated with a wide range of artists, filmmakers, and legendary
musicians, but it is his work as a leader that has garnered increasing attention and
accolades.
Frisell's recorded output spans a wide-ranging wellspring of musical expression-from
original Buster Keaton film scores to arrangements of music for extended ensembles with
horns and strings (the Grammy-nominated History/Mystery and the Grammy-winning
Unspeakable, Blues Dream, and This Land); interpretations of
work by other classic and contemporary American composers (Have a Little Faith);
and collaborations with the acclaimed rhythm section of bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer
Jim Keltner (Gone, Just Like a Train and Good Dog, HappyMan).
Other releases include an album with Nashville musicians (Nashville), the solo
album Ghost Town, an album of his own arrangements of songs by Elvis Costello and
Burt Bacharach (The Sweetest Punch), two trio albums with jazz legends (one with
Dave Holland and Elvin Jones, and one with Ron Carter and Paul Motian), and a collection of
traditional American folk songs and original compositions that they inspired (The
Willies). The Grammy-nominated The Intercontinentals combines Frisell's own
brand of American-roots music with the influences of Brazilian, Greek, and Malian sounds.
His album Disfarmer was inspired by the work of the mid-century rural Arkansas
photographer Mike Disfarmer.
Frisell's collaborations that involve film include prior works with Bill Morrison
(The Film of Her and The Mesmerist), and with the cartoonists Gary Larson
and Jim Woodring. He has also contributed to a project inspired by the painter Gerhard
Richter.
In 2006, Frisell was named a Rasmuson Foundation USA Fellow. He is also a recipient of
grants from Meet The Composer and National Performance Network.
Bill Morrison
Bill Morrison's films and multimedia environments have been presented in festivals,
theaters, museums, and concert halls worldwide. His work often combines archival material
with original footage to create unique visual tapestries that are set to contemporary
music. He has collaborated with some of the most influential composers of our time,
including John Adams, Laurie Anderson, Gavin Bryars, Dave Douglas, Michael Gordon, Henryk
Górecki, Vijay Iyer, Jóhann Jóhannsson, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Steve Reich, and Simon
Christensen.
Morrison is a Guggenheim Fellow and has received an Alpert Award in the Arts, an NEA
Creativity Grant, a Creative Capital Grant, and a fellowship from the Foundation for
Contemporary Arts. His work with Ridge Theater has been recognized with two New York Dance
and Performance Awards and an Obie Award.
Morrison's recent work includes Spark of Being (2010) with a soundtrack by
Douglas, The Miners' Hymns (2011) with a soundtrack by Jóhannsson, and
TRIBUTES-Pulse (2011) with a soundtrack by Christensen. Decasia, his 2002
feature-length collaboration with Michael Gordon, is one of the most acclaimed avant-garde
films in recent decades.
Morrison first met Bill Frisell while working in the kitchen of the Village Vanguard in the
early 1990s. The Great Flood is their third collaboration together, and their
first evening-length project.
Visit hypnoticpictures.com for more information.