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.
James "Kermit" Driscoll is an American jazz bassist. He is known for his long association with guitarist Bill Frisell in the 1980s and '90s. Driscoll has worked in many genres and music settings: Broadway, classical, jazz, folk, rock, film, and television. He has taught at SUNY Purchase College and Sarah Lawrence College.
Guy Klucevsek is an American-born accordionist and composer. Klucevsek is one of relatively few accordion players active in new music, jazz and free improvisation.
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.
Donald Byron is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer.
Billy the Kid is a 1938 ballet written by the American composer Aaron Copland on commission from Lincoln Kirstein. It was choreographed by Eugene Loring for Ballet Caravan. Along with Rodeo and Appalachian Spring, it is one of Copland's most popular and widely performed pieces. It is most famous for its incorporation of several cowboy tunes and American folk songs and, although built around the figure and the exploits of Billy the Kid, is not so much a biography of a notorious but peculiarly appealing desperado as it is a perception of the "Wild West", in which a figure such as Billy played a vivid role.
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.
The Big Gundown is the third studio album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn. It comprises radically reworked covers of tracks by the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone.
Lookout for Hope is an album by the Bill Frisell Band, recorded in March 1987 and released on ECM the following year—Frisell's third album as leader. The quartet features cellist and vocalist Hank Roberts and rhythm section Kermit Driscoll and Joey Baron.
Before We Were Born is the first album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1989 and features performances by Frisell, cellist Hank Roberts, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron. Guests include guitarist Arto Lindsay, keyboardist Peter Scherer, alto saxophonist Julius Hemphill and baritone saxophonist Doug Wieselman.
Is That You? is the second album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1990 and features performances by Frisell, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz and drummer Joey Baron, who were all members of Naked City at this time.
Where in the World? is the third album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1991 and features performances by Frisell, cellist Hank Roberts, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron.
This Land is the fifth album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1994 and features performances by Frisell, alto saxophonist Billy Drewes, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, clarinetist Don Byron, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron.
Music for the Films of Buster Keaton: Go West is the sixth album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1995 and features performances by Frisell, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron. The album is designed as accompaniment to the Buster Keaton's silent film classic, Go West (1925), and was released at the same time as another album of Keaton soundtracks by Frisell, The High Sign/One Week (1995).
The High Sign/One Week: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton is an album by the guitarist Bill Frisell, released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1995 and features performances by Frisell, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron. The album is designed as accompaniment to Buster Keaton's first two silent film classics, The High Sign (1921) and One Week (1920). It was released at the same time as another album by Frisell of Keaton soundtracks, Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton (1995).
Quartet is the eighth album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1996 and features performances by Frisell, trumpeter Ron Miles, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes and violinist and tuba player Eyvind Kang. Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 12 are from Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side (1994), an animated television special created by Gary Larson. Tracks 3 and 13 are from the Italian film La scuola (1995) directed by Daniele Luchetti. Tracks 4 and 10 were written for the Buster Keaton film Convict 13 (1920).
Live is a live album by guitarist Bill Frisell released on the Gramavision label. It was released in 1995 and features a performance by Frisell, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Joey Baron recorded in 1991 at Terceros Encuentros de Nueva Musica, Teatro Lope de Vega, Seville, Spain.
Miracle Mile is an album by American keyboardist and composer Wayne Horvitz's band The President recorded in 1992 and released on the Elektra/Nonesuch label.
The Sound of Summer Running is a 1998 studio album by jazz bassist Marc Johnson released by Verve Records. It features an all-star Quartet with guitarists Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, and John Zorn's frequent drummer Joey Baron. The title was borrowed from a story by Ray Bradbury.
Bug Music is an album by clarinetist Don Byron featuring music from the 1930s, specifically Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, John Kirby, and Raymond Scott. It was released on the Nonesuch label in 1996.
