This discography features albums released by guitarist Bill Frisell, released recordings of bands and projects he was/is a member of, and albums on which he appears as guest musician. Labels and dates indicate first release.
This discography features albums released by guitarist Bill Frisell, released recordings of bands and projects he was/is a member of, and albums on which he appears as guest musician. Labels and dates indicate first release.
| Title | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|
| In Line | 1983 | ECM |
| Rambler | 1985 | ECM |
| Lookout for Hope | 1988 | ECM |
| Before We Were Born | 1989 | Nonesuch |
| Is That You? | 1990 | Nonesuch |
| Where in the World? | 1991 | Nonesuch |
| Have a Little Faith | 1992 | Nonesuch |
| This Land | 1994 | Nonesuch |
| Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton | 1995 | Nonesuch |
| The High Sign/One Week: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton | 1995 | Nonesuch |
| Live | 1995 | Gramavision |
| Quartet | 1996 | Nonesuch |
| Nashville | 1997 | Nonesuch |
| Gone, Just Like a Train | 1998 | Nonesuch |
| Good Dog, Happy Man | 1999 | Nonesuch |
| The Sweetest Punch | 1999 | Decca |
| Ghost Town | 2000 | Nonesuch |
| Blues Dream | 2001 | Nonesuch |
| With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones | 2001 | Nonesuch |
| The Willies | 2002 | Nonesuch |
| The Intercontinentals | 2003 | Nonesuch |
| Unspeakable | 2004 | Nonesuch |
| Richter 858 | 2005 | Songlines |
| East/West | 2005 | Nonesuch |
| Further East / Further West (only available as a digital download) [1] [2] | 2005 | Nonesuch |
| Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian | 2006 | Nonesuch |
| Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian EP (only available as a digital download) [3] | 2006 | Nonesuch |
| History, Mystery | 2008 | Nonesuch |
| Disfarmer | 2009 | Nonesuch |
| Beautiful Dreamers | 2010 | Savoy |
| Sign of Life: Music for 858 Quartet | 2011 | Savoy |
| All We Are Saying | 2011 | Savoy |
| Hunter S. Thompson – The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved | 2012 | 429/Paris [4] |
| Silent Comedy | 2013 | Tzadik |
| Big Sur | 2013 | OKeh |
| Guitar in the Space Age! | 2014 | OKeh |
| When You Wish Upon a Star | 2016 | OKeh |
| Alfie / I Love Lucy (limited 7 inch vinyl single) [5] | 2016 | OKeh |
| Small Town (with Thomas Morgan) | 2016 | ECM |
| Music IS [6] | 2018 | OKeh |
| Epistrophy (with Thomas Morgan) | 2019 | ECM |
| Harmony [7] | 2019 | Blue Note |
| Valentine [8] | 2020 | Blue Note |
| Four [9] | 2022 | Blue Note |
| Orchestras [10] | 2024 | Blue Note |
The series is produced as a subsidiary label of Lee Townsend's Songline/Tone Field, and distributed online as lossless FLAC, MP3 and AAC files with printable cover art. [11]
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| #001 Live in Bochum, Germany - May 22, 2004 [12] | 2008 |
| #002 Live in San Francisco, CA - March 16, 2007 [13] | 2009 |
| #003 Live in San Francisco, CA - February 5, 2005, Set 2 [14] | 2009 |
| #004 Live in New York, NY - May 1, 2004, Set 3 [15] | 2009 |
| #005 Live in London, UK - November 15, 2005 [16] | 2009 |
| #006 Live in Boulder, CO - November 5, 2003 [17] | 2009 |
| #007 Live in Seattle, WA - February 21, 2006 [18] | 2009 |
| #008 Live in New York, NY - September 26, 1996, Set 1 [19] | 2010 |
| #009 Live in New York, NY - October 12, 1992 [20] | 2010 |
| #010 Live in Oakland, CA - July 15, 1989 [21] | 2010 |
| #011 Live in Budapest, Hungary - March 29, 2003 [22] | 2010 |
| #012 Live in Seattle, WA - July 16, 2002 [23] | 2010 |
| #013 Live in Tokyo, Japan - July 21, 2000 [24] | 2010 |
| #014 Live in Chapel Hill, NC - March 22, 2009 [25] | 2011 |
| #015 Live in Seattle, WA - August 6, 2011, Set 2 [26] | 2011 |
| #016 Live in Florence, Italy - February 10, 1993 [27] | 2012 |
| #017 Live in Portland, OR - February 25, 2012 [28] | 2012 |
| #018 Live in Köln, Germany - March 27, 1995 [29] | 2013 |
| #019 Live in Santa Monica, CA - January 10, 1998, Set 2 [30] | 2014 |
| #020 Live in Austin, TX - March 8, 2015 [31] | 2015 |
| #021 Live in California - April 11, 2010 - April 13, 2010 [32] | 2015 |
| #022 Hurricane Harvey Relief (download series compilation) [33] | 2017 |
All albums with Paul Motian are with saxophonist Joe Lovano, except as noted.
Albums mostly written and produced by Zorn, in part with Zorn playing alto saxophone (or other instruments), sometimes conducting the ensemble.
With Naked City
With the Gnostic Trio (with Carol Emmanuel, Kenny Wollesen)
With Julian Lage & Gyan Riley
| Leading artist and/or band | Album | Year | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michel Herr, Bill Frisell, Vinton Johnson, Kermit Driscoll | Good Buddies | 1978 | EMI Belgium | |
| Eberhard Weber | Fluid Rustle | 1979 | ECM | |
| Emil Viklický | Okno | 1981 | Supraphon | |
| Various | Amarcord Nino Rota: Interpretations of Nino Rota's Music from the Films of Federico Fellini | 1981 | Hannibal | Hal Willner production |
| Arild Andersen | A Molde Concert | 1982 | ECM | |
| Jan Garbarek | Paths, Prints | 1982 | ECM | |
| Mike Metheny | Blue Jay Sessions | 1982 | Headfirst | |
| Eberhard Weber | Later That Evening | 1982 | ECM | |
| Jan Garbarek | Wayfarer | 1983 | ECM | |
| Bob Moses | When Elephants Dream of Music | 1983 | Gramavision | |
| Jim Pepper | Comin' and Goin' | 1983 | Europa | |
| Bob Moses | Visit with the Great Spirit | 1984 | Gramavision | |
| Gunter Hampel | Fresh Heat: Live at Sweet Basil | 1985 | Birth | |
| Billy Hart | Oshumare | 1985 | Gramavision | |
| Herb Robertson | Transparency | 1985 | JMT | |
| Leni Stern | Clairvoyant | 1985 | Passport | |
| Paul Bley | Fragments | 1986 | ECM | |
| Marc Johnson | Bass Desires | 1986 | ECM | |
| Lyle Mays | Lyle Mays | 1986 | Geffen | |
| Stefan F. Winter | The Little Trumpet | 1986 | JMT | |
| Tim Berne | Fulton Street Maul | 1987 | Columbia | |
| Paul Bley | The Paul Bley Quartet | 1987 | ECM | |
| Marianne Faithfull | Strange Weather | 1987 | Island | Hal Willner production |
| Wayne Horvitz | The President | 1987 | Dossier | |
| Marc Johnson's Bass Desires | Second Sight | 1987 | ECM | |
| Bob Moses | The Story of Moses | 1987 | Gramavision | |
| Hank Roberts | Black Pastels | 1987 | JMT | |
| Mathilde Santing | Out of This Dream: A Third Side | 1987 | Megadisc | Hal Willner production |
| Billy Hart | Rah | 1988 | Gramavision | |
| Julius Hemphill | Julius Hemphill Big Band | 1988 | Elektra/Musician | |
| Robin Holcomb | Todos Santos ... Play Robin Holcomb | 1988 | Sound Aspects | one half of the album with duos by Frisell and Doug Wieselman [35] |
| Lyle Mays | Street Dreams | 1988 | Geffen | |
| Bobby Previte | Claude's Late Morning | 1988 | Gramavision | |
| Various | Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films | 1988 | A&M | Hal Willner production |
| Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer | Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves | 1989 | Island | Hal Willner production |
| Allen Ginsberg | The Lion for Real | 1989 | Great Jones, Antilles | Hal Willner production |
| Caetano Veloso | Estrangeiro | 1989 | Philips | |
| Robin Holcomb | Robin Holcomb | 1990 | Elektra/Musician | |
| Gavin Bryars | After the Requiem | 1991 | ECM New Series | |
| Mike Gibbs | Big Music | 1991 | Venture | |
| Ryuichi Sakamoto | Heartbeat | 1991 | Virgin | |
| David Sanborn | Another Hand | 1991 | Elektra/Musician | Hal Willner production |
| Don Byron | Tuskegee Experiments | 1992 | Elektra/Musician | |
| Rinde Ekert | Finding My Way Home | 1992 | DIW | |
| Robin Holcomb | Rockabye | 1992 | Elektra/Musician | |
| Wayne Horvitz | Miracle Mile | 1992 | Elektra Nonesuch | |
| John Scofield | Grace Under Pressure | 1992 | Blue Note | |
| Various | Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus | 1992 | Columbia | Hal Willner production featuring Elvis Costello and the instruments designed and built by Harry Partch [36] |
| Brian Ales | Naiveté | 1993 | Intuition | on "Personal Montuno" and "This Dream" |
| Jerry Granelli | A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing | 1993 | Evidence | |
| Ginger Baker | Going Back Home | 1994 | WEA | |
| Michael Shrieve | Fascination | 1994 | CMP | |
| William S. Burroughs | Naked Lunch | 1995 | Warner | Hal Willner production |
| Don Byron | Music for Six Musicians | 1995 | Nonesuch | |
| Michael Shrieve | Two Doors | 1995 | CMP | |
| Arto Lindsay | O Corpo Sutil / The Subtle Body | 1996 | Rykodisc | |
| Ginger Baker | Falling Off the Roof | 1997 | WEA | |
| Joey Baron | Down Home | 1997 | Intuition | |
| Gabriela | Detrás del sol | 1997 | Intuition | |
| Ron Miles | Woman's Day | 1997 | Gramavision | |
| Donald Rubinstein | Time Again | 1997 | Rhombus | |
| Kenny Wheeler | Angel Song | 1997 | ECM | |
| Marc Johnson | The Sound of Summer Running | 1998 | Verve | |
| Douglas September | Ten Bulls | 1998 | Sampson | |
| Don Byron | Romance with the Unseen | 1999 | Blue Note | |
| Vinicius Cantuaria | Tucuma | 1999 | Verve/PolyGram | |
| Ron Carter | Orfeu | 1999 | Blue Note | |
| Gabriela | Viento rojo | 1999 | Intuition | |
| Mike Stern | Play | 1999 | WEA | |
| David Sylvian | Dead Bees on a Cake | 1999 | Virgin | two tracks with Frisell, another two outtakes on 2000 compilation Everything and Nothing |
| Joey Baron | We'll Soon Find Out | 2000 | Intuition | |
| Eyvind Kang | The Story of Iceland | 2000 | Tzadik | |
| John Scofield | The Story of Iceland | 2000 | Tzadik | |
| Living Daylights | Electric Rosary | 2000 | Liquid City | on four tracks |
| Various | Finding Forrester: Music from the Motion Picture | 2000 | Legacy | Hal Willner production |
| Various | The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture | 2000 | Interscope | Hal Willner production |
| Dale Bruning | Reunion | 2001 | Jazz Link | |
| Vinicius Cantuaria | Vinicius | 2001 | Transparent | |
| Norah Jones | Come Away With Me | 2002 | Blue Note | on "The Long Day is Over" |
| Robin Holcomb | The Big Time | 2002 | Nonesuch | |
| Wayne Horvitz | Film Music 1998–2001 | 2002 | Tzadik | |
| Ron Miles | Heaven | 2002 | Sterling Circle | |
| Sarah Siskind | Covered | 2002 | Infrasound Collective | |
| Danny Barnes | Dirt on the Angel | 2003 | Terminus | |
| Rickie Lee Jones | The Evening of My Best Day | 2003 | V2 | |
| Laura Veirs | Troubled by the Fire | 2003 | Bella Union | |
| Dave Douglas | Strange Liberation | 2004 | RCA | |
| Viktor Krauss | Far from Enough | 2004 | Nonesuch | |
| Mount Analog | New Skin | 2004 | Filmguerro | |
| Mylab | Mylab | 2004 | Terminus | collaboration by Tucker Martine and Wayne Horvitz |
| David Binney | Out of Airplanes | 2005 | BeenKnee | |
| Vic Chesnutt | Ghetto Bells | 2005 | New West | |
| Renée Fleming | Haunted Heart | 2005 | Decca | |
| Heather Greene | Five Dollar Dress | 2005 | BHM | |
| Jazzensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks | Atmospheric Conditions Permitting (Radio Recordings 1967–1993) | 2005 | ECM | Compilation with one long track featuring Frisell [37] |
| Jenny Scheinman | 12 Songs | 2005 | Cryptogramophone | |
| Cuong Vu | It's Mostly Residual | 2005 | Intoxicate | |
| Loudon Wainwright III | Here Come the Choppers | 2005 | Sovereign | |
| Lizz Wright | Dreaming Wide Awake | 2005 | Verve Forecast | |
| Various | Fusion for Miles: A Guitar Tribute | 2005 | Tone Center | on "Nefertiti" |
| Gabriela | El viaje | 2006 | Intuition | |
| Carrie Rodriguez | Seven Angels on a Bicycle | 2006 | Train Wreck/Back Porch | |
| Jonah Smith | Jonah Smith | 2006 | Relix | |
| Gianmaria Testa | Da questa parte del mare | 2006 | Le Chant du Monde | |
| Various | Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys | 2006 | Anti- | Hal Willner production |
| Paul Simon | Surprise | 2006 | Warner | on "Everything About It Is a Love Song" |
| Joe Henry | Civilians | 2007 | Anti– | |
| Viktor Krauss | II | 2007 | Narada | |
| Donald Rubinstein | Knightriders | 2007 | Perseverance | |
| John Scofield | This Meets That | 2007 | EmArcy | |
| Lucinda Williams | West | 2007 | Anti- | |
| Earth | The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull | 2008 | Southern Lord | |
| Jakob Bro | Balladeering | 2009 | Loveland | |
| Richard Hell & The Voidoids | Destiny Street Repaired | 2009 | Insound | |
| Sam Shrieve | Bittersweet Lullabies | 2009 | Colorburst Soundfield | on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and another track |
| Scott Colley | Empire | 2010 | CAM Jazz | |
| Kermit Driscoll | Reveille | 2010 | Nineteen-Eight | |
| Hans Koller | Cry, Want | 2010 | PSI | with Evan Parker a.o. |
| Buddy Miller | Buddy Miller's Majestic Silver Strings | 2010 | New West | with Marc Ribot and Greg Leisz |
| Carrie Rodriguez | Love and Circumstance | 2010 | Ninth Street Opus | |
| Jakob Bro | Time | 2011 | Loveland | |
| Hank Roberts | Everything Is Alive | 2011 | Winter & Winter | |
| Dale Bruning | Just Between Us | 2012 | Jazz Link | |
| Shawn Colvin | All Fall Down | 2012 | Nonesuch | |
| Ron Miles | Quiver | 2012 | Enja/Yellowbird | |
| Bonnie Raitt | Slipstream | 2012 | Redwing | |
| Jan Erik Vold | Blackdird Bye Bye | 2012 | Hot Club | |
| Joey Baron | Just Listen | 2013 | Relative Pitch | |
| Jakob Bro | December Song | 2013 | Loveland | |
| Sam Amidon | Lily-O | 2014 | Nonesuch | |
| Stefano Bollani | Joy in Spite of Everything | 2014 | ECM | feat. Mark Turner |
| Ron Miles | Circuit Rider | 2014 | Enja/Yellowbird | Trio with Brian Blade |
| Greg Cohen | Golden State | 2014 | Relative Pitch | |
| Jenny Scheinman | The Littlest Prisoner | 2014 | Song | |
| Lucinda Williams | Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone | 2014 | Highway 20 | |
| Dale Bruning | Thanks for the Memory... Jim Hall | 2015 | Jazz Link | |
| William S. Burroughs | Let Me Hang You | 2016 | Khannibalism | Hal Willner production |
| Kris Davis | Duopoly | 2016 | Pyroclastic | (tracks 1,16) |
| Andrew Cyrille | The Declaration of Musical Independence | 2016 | ECM | |
| Charles Lloyd & The Marvels | I Long to See You | 2016 | Blue Note | |
| Carrie Rodriguez | Lola | 2016 | Luz | |
| Allen Toussaint | American Tunes | 2016 | Nonesuch | |
| Jerry Granelli | Dance Hall | 2017 | Justin Time | |
| Kramer | The Brill Building, Book Two | 2017 | Tzadik | |
| Ron Miles | I Am a Man | 2017 | Enja/Yellowbird | |
| Cuong Vu 4-Tet | Ballet (The Music of Michael Gibbs) | 2017 | RareNoiseRecords | |
| Andrew Cyrille | Lebroba | 2018 | ECM | Trio with Wadada Leo Smith |
| Mary Halvorson | The Maid with the Flaxen Hair | 2018 | Tzadik | [38] |
| Charles Lloyd & The Marvels + Lucinda Williams | Vanished Gardens | 2018 | Blue Note | |
| Cuong Vu 4-Tet | Change In The Air | 2018 | RareNoiseRecords | |
| Paul Simon | In the Blue Light | 2018 | Legacy | |
| Sarah Siskind | Modern Appalachia | 2020 | Red Request | on "Modern Appalachia" and "Porchlight" |
| Andrew Cyrille | The News | 2021 | ECM | |
| Charles Lloyd & The Marvels | Tone Poem [39] | 2021 | Blue Note | |
| Charles Lloyd | Trios: Chapel [40] | 2022 | Blue Note | |
| Noël Akchoté | Loving Highsmith | 2022 | Ayler | |
| Ches Smith | Interpret It Well | 2022 | Pyroclastic | |
| Julian Lage | View with a Room | 2022 | Blue Note | |
| Julian Lage | The Layers | 2023 | Blue Note | |
| Ambrose Akinmusire | Owl Song | 2023 | Blue Note | |
| Donald Rubinstein | George A. Romero's Knightriders | 2023 | Scare Flair | (track 1, Black Bird) |
| Chantal Acda/The Atlantic Drifters | Silently Held [41] | 2024 | Challenge Classics |
Beside his music for Buster Keaton's silent films Go West , The High Sign and One Week (see album section above), his collaborations with producer Hal Willner (cf. section above), and with John Zorn on his music for films (cf. section above), Frisell provided also original soundtracks for the following films
Appearances as himself as musician and/or pundit [53]
John Zorn is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". His avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, contemporary, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and world music. In 2020 Rolling Stone noted that "[alt]hough Zorn has operated almost entirely outside the mainstream, he's gradually asserted himself as one of the most influential musicians of our time".
Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
William Richard Frisell is an American jazz guitarist. He 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, notably as a participant in the Downtown Scene in New York City, where he formed a long working relationship with composer and saxophonist John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of veteran drummer Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until Motian's death in 2011. Since the late 1990s, Frisell's output as a bandleader has also integrated prominent elements of folk, country, rock ‘n’ roll and Americana. He has six Grammy nominations and one win.
Tim Berne is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones.
Hank Roberts 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 New York City jazz scene of the 1980s and is associated with its post-modern tendencies.
Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He is noted for working with John Zorn's Naked City among others. Horvitz has since relocated to the Seattle, Washington area where he has several ongoing groups and has worked as an adjunct professor of composition at Cornish College of the Arts.
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.
Marc Alan Johnson is an American jazz bass player, composer and band leader. Johnson was born in Nebraska and grew up in Texas. He is married to the Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias.
Curtis Fowlkes was an American jazz trombonist and singer. He was a founding member of The Jazz Passengers. He had a twin brother James May Fowlkes and his parents were James Ray and Rosa May Fowlkes.
Hans Wendl is a producer. He began his career in the music business with the record label ECM Records in his hometown of Munich in the mid-1970s and was associated with the German label for twelve years before moving to the United States in 1986. He was also director of the Gramavision Records label for Rykodisc for three years during the mid-1990s.
Mark Feldman is an American jazz violinist.
Edwin Gunther Schuller is an American jazz bassist and composer. His father is Gunther Schuller, a composer, horn player, and music professor, and his younger brother is drummer George Schuller.
Lee Townsend is an American independent music producer, curator, artist manager and co-owner of Songtone, specializing in recordings of singer-songwriters, contemporary composers, improvising musicians, and cross-cultural musical collaborations. He is also a psychotherapist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Psalm is an album by the Paul Motian Band recorded in December 1981 and released on ECM June the following year—Motian's fifth album for the label and first with the quintet, featuring guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Ed Schuller, and saxophonists Joe Lovano and Billy Drewes.
Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian is the 19th album by Bill Frisell, released on the Elektra Nonesuch label.
Tribute is an album by American jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded in May 1974 and released on ECM later that year—Motian's second for the label. The quintet features alto saxophonist Carlos Ward, guitarists Paul Metzke and Sam Brown, and bassist Charlie Haden.
On Broadway Volume 2 is the fourth album by Paul Motian to be released on the German JMT label. It was released in 1989 and features performances of Broadway show tunes by Motian with guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Charlie Haden and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. The album was followed by three subsequent volumes, and it was rereleased on the Winter & Winter label in 2003.
Jerome Harris is an American jazz musician specializing in electric and acoustic bass guitar, electric guitar, voice, and occasionally lap steel and small percussion.
This is the discography of American jazz musician Paul Motian.
Gyan Riley is an American guitarist and composer. He is a son of minimalist composer Terry Riley. They frequently toured together as a duo between 2016 and 2020. Gyan Riley studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has released two solo albums and several collaborative recordings on John Zorn's Tzadik Records. He has also performed with Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Zakir Hussain, Dawn Upshaw, Nels Cline, Lee Ronaldo, Iva Bittová., and currently frequently tours with Grammy-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab. Recently he was featured as a performer and composer for two acclaimed PBS documentary series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick: Hemingway, and The U.S. and the Holocaust. Currently Gyan is engaged as the 2023/24 Lou Harrison House Composer in Residence in Joshua Tree, CA.