I and Love and You

Bill Frisell first caught my attention when he included compositions by Aaron Copland, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Sonny Rollins, John Philip Sousa, Stephen Foster and Madonna on his 1992 album Have A Little Faith. It doesn't seem like a mix like that could hang together. It doesn't seem like one guy could bring all of those disparate elements into his sound. But by the time you get to the end of the record, you have to wonder if there's any point to thinking about music in terms of genre.

Stephen Foster pops up again on Bill's latest effort, Beautiful Dreamers, along with A.P. Carter, Little Anthony & The Imperials and Blind Willie Johnson. The current group includes Eyvind Kang on viola and drummer Rudy Royston. They'll be at the Jazz fest, playing Kilbourn Hall on Thursday June 16th.

Here's a taste of what Bill is capable of, with a different trio, recorded at the same venue by WXXI. It's 10 glorious minutes of the old Delfonics classic "La La Means I Love You." Bill doesn't have the advanage of using actual words but his performance brings to mind a line from another great tune, "A Song For You" by Leon Russell: "Listen to the melody 'cause my love is in there hiding."