Skuli Sverisson's "Strata"

 

Bill Frisell is the most unassuming of guitar heroes. Having grown up in the rock era, a little after John Abercrombie and a little before Pat Metheny and Nels Cline (to name some kindred spirits), he emerged from Jim Hall's tutelage at Berklee to become a color first in John Zorn's palette, then in Paul Motian's. Since the late '80s, his own records have reflected his liking of folk and country music -- an element that gives some jazz fans pause. As he's matured, his playing has become less ethereal and ever simpler. 

This collaboration with the Icelandic bassist-composer Skuli Sverisson, originally a vinyl-only release back in 2018, now available digitally for the first time, feels of a piece with Frisell's recent work. Sverisson -- who's been Laurie Anderson's musical director, as well as playing with guitarists of the caliber of Ben Monder and Allan Holdsworth -- wrote all ten songs here, but claims Frisell as an overarching influence. 

Sverisson's melodies unfold at a langorous pace, evoking images of late afternoon sun through a window, while Frisell's layered guitars sound ringing chords and chiming harmonics. Since 2008's History, Mystery, at least, Frisell's own compositions have had a cinematic sweep. So do Sverisson's here. It's only fitting that the director Jim Jarmusch, a friend of Frisell's, was present in the studio during the sessions that produced Strata.