Bill Frisell: Guitar in the Space Age! Sunday, June 22 at 8 p.m. at Kay Meek Centre, part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival's North Shore Jazz Series. Tickets: $48/$46. coastaljazz.ca
In looking back on his past, American jazz guitarist and composer Bill Frisell has his sights firmly set on his future.
His current recording and performance project, Guitar in the Space Age! is intended as a homage to the music of the '50s and '60s, seeing the 63-year-old artist reflect on his life and the music that inspired him when he was first starting out.
"It's an amazing feeling now after all this time," says Frisell, explaining he's been playing for more than 50 years and the work has allowed him to go back and rediscover some of the music he was exposed to as a teenager.
"In the '60s I was hearing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and then a couple of years after that I was hearing Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis and all that kind of stuff. It's sort of like going back and strengthening the foundation of where I came from."
He recorded the album this past winter and is anticipating a fall release of the tribute of sorts to an array of artists, ranging from Charlie Christian to Chuck Berry and The Astronauts. Frisell views the project as one that will continue to evolve and grow to include more material.
"We did the album but there's so much possibility for all kinds of music that we could play that sprouts out from that area," he says.
"That's what's so amazing about that music . . . It's like a kaleidoscope or something of other possibilities. The record is more like a blueprint from what we're starting with. I'm really excited about how it's going to grow from there," he adds.
The upcoming album will feature 14 songs, including "Turn, Turn, Turn," "Surfer Girl," "Reflections from the Moon" and "Tired of Waiting."
Frisell is currently touring Guitar in the Space Age! and will present the show in West Vancouver, Sunday, June 22 at 8 p.m. at Kay Meek Centre, part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, which kicks off today and runs through to July 1. The festival boasts an array of ticketed and free events at a variety of venues. Frisell's show is part of the festival's North Shore Jazz series - highlights of which include Kelly Joe Phelps tonight at Presentation House Theatre; Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin with The Guilty Ones, Monday at the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Parts; and Paul Pigat and the Smokin' Jackets June 28 at Presentation House Theatre. The North Vancouver Civic Plaza will host free shows by The Nightcrawlers with Dawn Pemberton, Sunday at 1 p.m., and The Modelos June 28. The Vagabond Opera will also perform a free show at the West Vancouver Memorial Library, June 27.
Musicians joining Frisell on Guitar in the Space Age! are longtime collaborators, bassist Tony Scherr, drummer Kenny Wollesen, and Greg Leisz on lap and pedal steel guitars.
"It's just a really, really strong relationship there," says Frisell, reached Monday from Vermont, a long way from his Seattle area homebase.
Despite his upcoming West Coast date, the road warrior won't be going home any time soon as his current performance run will see him continue to crisscross North America, including a number of performances of Guitar in the Space Age! in addition to shows with other musicians, like Ambrose Akinmusire in Montreal and Jenny Scheinman in New York, as well as some performances related to his work on the film The Great Flood, a look at the Mississippi River flood of 1927, released earlier this year.
"It's been a little schizophrenic," says Frisell.
"I'm so lucky to get to do all this stuff," he adds, explaining those moments when he gets to "be in the music," make his frenetic travel schedule all the more worthwhile.
A regular, Frisell is excited to be playing the Vancouver International Jazz Festival yet again, having lost track of how many times he's played it over the years, thanks to artistic director and co-founder Ken Pickering, who has long been a supporter.
"Way, way back when I was first trying to do my own music he was definitely one of the angels," says Frisell.
Frisell encourages his West Vancouver audience to get up and dance, something that, in response to Guitar in the Space Age! has been happening more and more these days.
"A few weeks ago we played in this bar, (the Continental Club) in (Austin), Texas and all these people started getting up and dancing," he says. "That was kind of amazing, because usually people are just sitting there you know, the intellectual thing. A lot of this music is coming from dance music so it felt really good."
