Bill Frisell Trio: Musical Portraits from Heber Springs

Both eccentrics and outsiders in their own way, guitarist Bill Frisell and photographer Mike Disfarmer were made for one another. An idiosyncratic virtuoso and unlikely ax icon, Frisell creates billowing thunderheads full of free improvisation, odd juxtapositions, and unusual textures culled from jazz, country, blues, and rock. But the storm never breaks, creating delicious tensions that, along with his lyrical touch and spatial cunning, shed fresh light on the totality of musical Americana, from Miles to Hank to Muddy to Jimi. Disfarmer, also obsessed with casting light, both metaphorically and in his studio, was an Arkansas photographer whose stark 1940s portraits of his small town's residents gave unusual insight into their character. The Walker commissioned Frisell to compose music inspired by Disfarmer's photos, which will be flashed on multiple screens while Frisell leads a trio including frequent collaborators Greg Leisz on all manner of stringed things and violinist Jenny Scheinman. Frisell's Disfarmer music is said to be a mix of jazz, classical, and traditional Ozark fiddle stuff.
Sat., Oct. 27, 7 & 9:30 p.m., 2007