Bill Frisell Biography

Guitarist / Composer

Bill Frisell grew up in Colorado, then moved east to Boston and New York to study guitar in the late 1970s. He toured Europe and began recording in the early 1980s, and his first album, In Line was released in 1982. Since then Frisell has released more than a dozen recordings that defy easy categorization. Often called a jazz guitarist, Frisell's original compositions reflect influences from Bill Evans, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk to The Beatles, Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix. He has also recorded his own versions of songs by Madonna and John Philip Sousa, as well as folk, blues and jazz standards and musical scores for movies (including two for director Gus Van Sant). A big hit with jazz and guitar critics, Frisell's other recordings include Rambler (1984); Is That You? (1989); Have a Little Faith (1992); Quartet (1996); Nashville (1997); Deep Dead Blue (1998); Good Dog Happy Man (1999); The Willies (2002); and Further East/Further West (2005).

Extra credit: Frisell composed music for three films by silent film star Buster Keaton and performed them with the movies in in New York in 1993... He worked with Brian Eno and Bono on the soundtrack for Million Dollar Hotel (2000, starring Mel Gibson).