''Blues Dream'' is the 13th album by

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 2001 and features performances by Frisell, steel guitarist

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...

, trumpeter

Ron Miles Ronald Glen Miles (May 9, 1963 – March 8, 2022) was an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, and composer. He recorded for the labels Prolific (1986), Capri Records (Jazz record label), Capri (1990), and Rykodisc, Gramavision. His final album, ...

, alto saxophonist Billy Drewes, trombonist

Curtis Fowlkes Curtis Fowlkes (born March 19, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist and singer. He is a founding member of The Jazz Passengers. Career In 1987, Fowlkes started The Jazz Passengers with saxophonist Roy Nathanson. He has also been a member of The ...

, bassist

David Piltch David Piltch (born January 29, 1960) is a Canadian bassist and session musician. Biography Piltch grew up in an artistic family. His father Bernie Piltch was a noted studio and stage saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist in Toronto from the ...

and drummer

Kenny Wollesen Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist. Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a foun ...

. The cover photograph was taken by George A. Tice in 1974 at Kresson Road,

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.

Reception

Response was positive, with

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

assigned album an aggregate score of 86 out of 100 based on 7 critical reviews indicating "Universal Acclaim". The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. awarded the album 3.5 stars, stating, "''Blues Dream'' is a perfectly chosen title: the material, steeped in the blues, is approached in a lazy, dreamlike fashion. Frisell's fondness for putting unusual combinations of instruments together adds to the overall effect, leaving the listener to wonder why no one has ever tried this before. Blues Dream is a lovely release that should satisfy Frisell fans as well as jazz, country, and blues fans looking for a genre-bending experience.".Lankford, R.
Allmusic Review
accessed June 21, 2011 ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

Will Layman said "''Blues Dream'' is a movie for your ears, a soundtrack for your passage through a daydream, a kind of classical music even: a set of most careful compositions that orchestrate sounds beyond our imaginations. ''Blues Dream'' moves from beautiful to strange and back again. But it’s a classic". In ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'', Bill Shoemaker was less enthused writing "Certainly, ''Blues Dream'' will reinforce the media consensus that Frisell is an American original. However, this is a strangely antiseptic album. ... Yet ''Blues Dream'' is not a compelling album. ... It’s a pat atmosphere only occasionally disrupted by a busy loop or a blast of distortion from Frisell, or a raucous horn statement".Shoemaker, B
JazzTimes Review
May 2001

Track listing

All compositions by Bill Frisell. # "Blues Dream" – 2:31 # "

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

" – 6:45 # "Pretty Flowers Were Made for Blooming" – 3:20 # "Pretty Stars Were Made to Shine" – 1:45 # "Where Do We Go?" – 5:21 # "Like Dreamers Do (Part One)" – 1:34 # "Like Dreamers Do (Part Two)" – 2:37 # "Outlaws" – 4:19 # "What Do We Do?" – 7:08 # "Episode" – 0:49 # "Soul Merchant" – 2:42 # "Greg Leisz" – 6:14 # "The Tractor" – 2:27 # "Fifty Years" – 1:31 # "Slow Dance" – 3:11 # "Things Will Never Be the Same" – 4:49 # "Dream On" – 3:06 # "Blues Dream (Reprise)" – 1:53

Personnel

*Bill Frisell – guitars *

– steel guitar, mandolin *

– trumpet *Billy Drewes – alto saxophone *

– trombone *

– bass *

– drums

References

2001 albums Bill Frisell albums Nonesuch Records albums {{2000s-jazz-album-stub