Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He is, along with John Scofield and Pat Metheny, one of the best-known and perhaps best-regarded jazz guitarists of the last decade.

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March 18 - 1951 - American - Jazz - Guitar - John Scofield - Pat Metheny

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Frisell was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He spend most of his youth in the Denver Colorado area and went to University of Northern Colorado for music. His original guitar teacher in the Denver area was Dale Bruning who continues to teach to this day. The two of them very occasionally play together and have released an album as a duo. After graduating from University of Northern Colorado he went to Berklee and studied with Jim Hall which was to make a lasting impression on his playing. Pat Metheny, unable to make a session, referred ECM to Bill Frisell. He would then become their house guitar player and work on several albums before his first solo release "In Line." "In Line" was all solo guitar except for a number of tracks that featured Arild Anderson on bass. His first group that received a lot of acclaim was his quarted with Kermit Driscoll on bass, Joey Baron on drums, and Hank Roberts on Cello. Many other albums with larger ensembles were recordes with this group as the core. In the 1980's he lived in New York City and was an active participant in the city's thriving music scene. He forged an early partnership with John Zorn—including as a member of quick-change band Naked City—and performed or recorded with many others.

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Baltimore, Maryland - New York City - John Zorn - Naked City

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In the mid-1990s, Frisell disbanded his quartet and moved to Seattle, Washington. He began incorporating more explicitly various elements of bluegrass, country music and related forms into his music. Frisell performs often with New York City violinist Jenny Scheinman. He also sometimes plays in a trio with Joe Lovano and Paul Motian.

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1990s - Seattle, Washington - Bluegrass - Country music - Violinist - Jenny Scheinman - Joe Lovano - Paul Motian

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For his album Unspeakable, Frisell won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

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