Bill Frisell / Dave Holland / Elvin Jones Bill Frisell With Dave Holland & Elvin Jones CD

/Dave Holland/Elvin Jones.
Personnel: Bill Frisell (acoustic & electric guitars, loops); Dave Holland (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).
Engineers: Joe Ferla, Adam Munoz, Rory Romano.
Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York, New York and Different Fur Recording, San Francisco, California.
Personnel: Bill Frisell (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, loops); Elvin Jones (drums).
Audio Mixer: Joe Ferla.
Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY; Different Fur, San Francisco, CA.
Editor: Adam Muñoz.
Photographer: Jimmy Katz.
What can you expect but good things from a date featuring three players of such high pedigree. With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones representing the steadfast rhythm sections of old, and with Frisell's post-modern tones being among the finest voices moving jazz forward, a date like this should easily yield some classic moments. But Frisell comes up with only partial melodies and bare bones sketches for the band to play. Jones sounds at times utterly bored with his rhythm duties, desperate for a chance to stretch out. Frisell himself is often hesitant. Henry Mancini's "Moon River" and Stephen Foster's century-and-a-half old "Hard Times" together offer brief glimpses of levity, but cannot save the set entirely. ~ John Duffy

Feat.Originals From Mid 80's- Present +

Q (12/01, p.135) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Jones locks into Holland's immaculate double bass and keeps his head down, while Frisell delicately overdubs acoustic and electric guitars into an impressionist picture of dustbowl blues..."
CMJ (10/8/01, p.29) - "...This is a beautiful-sounding recording, with exquisite covers of 'Moon River' and 'Hard Times'..."
JazzTimes (3/02, p.72) - "It's nice and cozy and pretty....Frisell's playing is like rich, fancy desserts....His phrases tend to come from blues and folk music, rather than from jazz; his tunes are simple..."