This Land

This Land

Bill Frisell expanded his working trio to a sextet for this 1992 recording, adding Don Byron on clarinet and bass clarinet, Billy Drewes on alto saxophone, and Curtis Fowlkes on trombone to his rhythm team of bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron. The added voices lend greater depth to the guitarist's compositions and a range of new dimensions, from touches of New Orleans counterpoint to military and church bands, including the hymnlike solemnity of "Jimmy Carter (part 1)." The richer textures add fuel to Frisell's guitar solos, too, with his playing taking on a preaching blues quality against the horn voicings on "Strange Meeting" and "Monica Jane." That Byron, Drewes, and Fowlkes are all talented soloists shows up especially on the jerkily fragmented, revisionist bop of "Reactor" and the moody, Mingus-like blues of "Julius Hemphill," its slow tempo powerfully articulated by Driscoll and Byron. While many of the tunes will be familiar from earlier Frisell recordings, this is one of his most powerful statements. <I>--Stuart Broomer</I>