''Harmony'' is a studio album by American jazz guitarist

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 ...

. The album was released on 4 October 2019 by

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

Background

This is his debut record for

label. The album features Frisell on guitar, Petra Haden on voice, Hank Roberts on cello and voice, and Luke Bergman, on acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, bass, and voice. The record consists of 14 tracks of which eight are Frisell's originals with the rest being folk, country, jazz, and pop songbook standards. The origin of the ''Harmony'' traces back to 2016 when the "innovative grass roots" organisation FreshGrass gave Frisell a $25,000 commission to create new music. The album was recorded in Flora Recording and Playback studio in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and produced by Frisell's long-time collaborator

Lee Townsend Lee Townsend is an American independent music producer, curator, artist manager and co-owner of Songtone (Songline/Tone Field Productions), specializing in recordings of singer-songwriters, contemporary composers, improvising musicians, and cross ...

. The release of the album was supported by an international tour that started in Sweden.

Reception

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, that assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on four reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Mike Joyce of ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "Suffice to say, ''Harmony'' is bound to delight many fans who’ve followed the guitarist’s singular and increasingly curious path over the last few decades, even if it lacks the lighthearted tone associated with some of his most engaging sessions. Of course, because Frisell has never been overly concerned with genre distinctions, an innate sense of whimsy still informs his tune choices and original contributions." In his review for ''

Relix ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concert ...

'',

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stated, "''Harmony'', which doubles as the name of the band and marks his debut for Blue Note, found its tone and direction when Frisell realized that Roberts and Bergman also sang, and that the three band members’ voices blended in a particularly charming, precise and radiant way..." Paul de Barros writing for ''

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'' called the album, "a wide-ranging mix of spectral harmonic clouds, sweet-as-pie bluegrass and astonishingly intricate vocal jazz." Ed Enright of ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' commented, "Throughout the album, Haden’s ethereal lead vocals and the trio’s quietly powerful harmonies bring new dimensions to Frisell’s music, magnifying the pensive beauty and perpetual patience that mark his guitar playing." Ian Lomax of ''

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...

'' said that, "Bill Frisell continues to innovate and surprise."

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 ...

's Mark Deming commented, "HARMONY sometimes feels so ethereal that it could blow away in a strong breeze, but there's a strength in the quiet of these sessions, and the best moments are nothing short of magic. If you're looking for music that will suit a quiet night with intelligence and style, you should certainly give HARMONY a listen." ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' review by Mark Sullivan stated, "This album has arguably less of a guitar focus than any previous one. Yet it is suffused with his genre-free love of music, and his guitar-playing remains a foundation element. It's a beautiful group sound, with the name Harmony very well deserved." Derk Richardson of ''

The Absolute Sound ''The Absolute Sound'' (TAS) is an American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, along with recordings and comments on various music-related subjects. History ''The Absolute Sound'' was founded in 1973 by Harry Pearson, ...

'' commented, "Bill Frisell makes his Blue Note label debut as a leader not by emphasizing his guitar but rather by celebrating the human voice."

Track listing

Personnel

– guitar *Luke Bergman – bass, guitar (acoustic, baritone), voices *

Petra Haden Petra Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She is the daughter of the jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and is the triplet sister of bassist Rachel Haden (her bandmate in That Dog) and cellist Tanya Haden (married to sing ...

– voices *

Hank Roberts Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown Ne ...

– cello, voices

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2019 albums Bill Frisell albums Blue Note Records albums