Album Reviews

Bill Frisell – When you wish upon a star

Bill Frisell dreams big and works big, with his newest masterpiece the album “When you wish upon a star”. William Richard “Bill” Frisell is an American guitarist, composer and arranger. One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s. “When you wish upon a star” was released on January 29, 2016, by SONY MASTERWORKS. This album has 16 tracks that celebrates the film songs that were popular when Frisell came of age.

Violist Eyvind Kang, bassist Thomas Morgan, drummer Rudy Royston, and singer Petra Haden, who recently released her musical ode to classic film, Petra Goes To The Movies, joined Frisell in re-imagining time-honored gems like “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” as well as music from television favorites including The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Honeymooners.

“When You Wish Upon a Star” kicks off with the whimsical “To Kill A Mockingbird.” While part 1 feels like an invocation, the sequel plays the theme in earnest. While if we must choose an highlight we would say that James Bond songbook, ‘You Only Live Twice’ shines in this album.

The song that goes deep and is even better that the original is from the Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. The first part is a quirky vignette that expresses Norman Bates’ emotional instability. In the second part, Bates has committed his act of brutality and the last breaths of life slowly drain out of his victim. This team works their magic in the classic “The Godfather ”, Eyvind Kang’s viola work helps to give the smoldering nine minute song its delectably dark edge. The two songs that change the mood, and bring some light in it are “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Happy Trails”. We can also put “Once Upon a Time in the West” in this category.
This amazing five makes an excellent team, and we home that we will hear more from them.