New. Four
Bill Frisell, Gregory Tardy, Johnathan Blake, Gerald Clayton
A ruminative but embracing set of pieces for both players and listeners, it has all the gentle intensity one might expect.
New. Four
Bill Frisell, Gregory Tardy, Johnathan Blake, Gerald Clayton
Purchase product
A ruminative but embracing set of pieces for both players and listeners, it has all the gentle intensity one might expect.
About
Two years after issuing his acclaimed trio album Valentine, Grammy Award-winning guitarist and composer Bill Frisell returns with 'Four', a stunning meditation on loss, renewal, and those mysterious inventions of friendship. Frisell's third album for Blue Note Records since signing with the label in 2019 proffers new interpretations of previously recorded originals as well as nine new tunes. The session brings together artists of independent spirits and like minds: Blue Note stablemates Gerald Clayton on piano and Johnathan Blake on drums, and longtime collaborator Greg Tardy on saxophone, clarinet, and bass clarinet. 'This combination of people had been floating around in the back of my mind since before the pandemic,' says the Brooklyn-based artist.
Contents and tracklist
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (clarinet)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (clarinet)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (tenorsaxophone)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (tenorsaxophone)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (tenorsaxophone)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (bassclarinet)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (bassclarinet), Gregory Tardy (tenorsaxophone)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (clarinet)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (clarinet)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell, Gerald Clayton (piano)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (acousticguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gregory Tardy (clarinet)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (baritoneguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (tenorsaxophone)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
- Bill Frisell (electricguitar), Gerald Clayton (piano), Johnathan Blake (drumkit), Gregory Tardy (tenorsaxophone)
- Recorded: 2022
- Recording Venue: The Samurai Hotel
Awards and reviews
March 2023
A ruminative but embracing set of pieces for both players and listeners, it has all the gentle intensity one might expect.
November 2022
The haunting, noirish classic 'Lookout for Hope' is a standout, as it was a quarter-century ago, cascading sounds like chiming bells propel the buoyant 'Good Dog, Happy Man', and 'Dog on a Roof' shows how effortlessly a compatible Frisell group like this can move from scuttling free-improv, to languid free-funk, to enigmatic electronics. Mostly low-key, but irresistible.
January 2023
With Four, the third Blue Note release under Bill Frisell’s own name, the guitarist honors several close friends who recently passed. From this place of loss springs a serene work inspired by those deep, lasting bonds.