| Valentine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 14, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | late 2019 | |||
| Studio | Flora Recording & Playback, Portland, OR | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 65:27 | |||
| Label | Blue Note | |||
| Producer | Lee Townsend | |||
| Bill Frisell chronology | ||||
| ||||
Valentine is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. [1] The album was released on August 14, 2020, by Blue Note Records. [2] This is his second release on the label.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz |   [3] |
| AllMusic | [2] |
| Financial Times | [4] |
| DownBeat | [5] |
| Jazz Journal | [6] |
| RIFF | 8/10 [7] |
| Spectrum Culture |  [8] |
| The Times | [9] |
Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated, "Valentine is a portrait of this trio at a creative peak. While not the liveliest record in Frisell's catalog, it is one of his most inquiring, rhythmically inventive, and lyrical. Given his voluminous discography, that's saying plenty." [2] Ian Patterson of All About Jazz noted, "With Valentine, Frisell, Royston and Morgan revel in the tight but loose interplay that is a hallmark of the best groups, plying a course as deeply lyrical as it is adventurous. Feels like the beginning of a great adventure." [3] Jazz Journal review by Elliot Marlow-Stevens commented, "Valentine represents the more reserved, gentle approach to music that he demonstrated on albums like 1992’s Have a Little Faith . Nonetheless, it is still a highly original album, delivered with the ability and skill of a veteran jazz guitarist." [6] Jake Cole in his review for Spectrum Culture stated, "A breezy combination of blues, folk and jazz, Frisell’s latest is the sound of a maestro gently flexing his immense skills." [8] Chris Pearson of The Times wrote, "Bill Frisell has been exploring the fringes of jazz guitar so much lately that a trio album arrives as a bold departure. Yet the familiar elements remain: nostalgia, solitude and contemplation cloaked in an atmosphere of dead-of-night tranquillity." [9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Baba Drame" | Boubacar Traoré | 4:59 |
| 2. | "Hour Glass" | Frisell | 2:59 |
| 3. | "Valentine" | Frisell | 6:28 |
| 4. | "Levees" | Frisell | 6:04 |
| 5. | "Winter Always Turns to Spring" | Frisell | 5:11 |
| 6. | "Keep Your Eyes Open" | Frisell | 6:05 |
| 7. | "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" | Billy Strayhorn | 7:23 |
| 8. | "Electricity" | Frisell | 3:19 |
| 9. | "Wagon Wheels" | Billy Hill, Peter DeRose | 4:15 |
| 10. | "Aunt Mary" | Frisell | 3:19 |
| 11. | "What the World Needs Now Is Love" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 5:56 |
| 12. | "Where Do We Go?" | Frisell | 3:09 |
| 13. | "We Shall Overcome" | Traditional | 6:26 |
| Total length: | 65:27 | ||
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.
It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago is an album by the Paul Motian Trio recorded in July 1984 and released on ECM March the following year. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano—the three had previously recorded together on Psalm (1982), The Story of Maryam (1984), and Jack of Clubs (1985) in Motian's quintet.
Strange Liberation is the 21st album by jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the Bluebird imprint of RCA Records in 2004. The album features the Dave Douglas Quintet plus guest guitarist Bill Frisell. The album received widespread critical acclaim and did well on the jazz album charts, reaching number three on Billboard's and number one on CMJ's.
I Have the Room Above Her is an album by American jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded for ECM in April 2004 released on January 24, 2005. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, their first release since At the Village Vanguard in 1995.
Time and Time Again is an album by jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded in May 2006 released on ECM the following year. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano.
The Paul Bley Quartet is an album by the Paul Bley Quartet, recorded in November 1987 and released on ECM March the following year. The eponymous quartet features reed player John Surman, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Paul Motian.
HandPicked is a studio album by jazz guitarist Earl Klugh released on July 30, 2013. This is Klugh's first album of new material since he released The Spice of Life in 2008 and it is also his first for the Heads Up label. The album features Klugh playing solo guitar arrangements on 13 of the 16 songs in a style similar to his earlier albums Solo Guitar and Naked Guitar. On the remaining three tracks, Klugh plays duets with guitarist Bill Frisell, ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, and guitarist and vocalist Vince Gill.
Big Sur is an album by Bill Frisell which was released on the OKeh label in 2013.
The Windmills of Your Mind is an album by Paul Motian released on the German Winter & Winter label in 2011, the final release during his lifetime. It features Motian’s long-standing colleague, guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Thomas Morgan and vocalist Petra Haden.
Beautiful Dreamers is an album by Bill Frisell which was released on the Savoy label in 2010.
I Long to See You is an album by the jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, recorded in 2015 and released on the Blue Note Records label the following year.
Small Town is a live album by Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan recorded at the Village Vanguard in March 2016 and released on ECM May the following year—Frisell's first album as leader for the label since 1987's Lookout for Hope. More music from the same recording session was released in 2019 as the follow-up album, Epistrophy.
Floratone II is the second album by the collective Floratone, which comprises guitarist Bill Frisell, drummer Matt Chamberlain along with producers Lee Townsend and Tucker Martine which was released on the Savoy label in 2012.
Sign of Life: Music for 858 Quartet is an album by Bill Frisell which was released on the Savoy label in 2011. The album features the same lineup that played on Frisell's 2005 album, Richter 858.
Lágrimas Mexicanas is an album by guitarists Vinicius Cantuária and Bill Frisell which was released on the French Naïve label.
Music IS is a solo studio album by American jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, which was released on the OKeh label on March 16, 2018.
Lebroba is an album by drummer Andrew Cyrille recorded in July 2017 and released on ECM November the following year. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. "Lebroba" is an abbreviation of Leland/Brooklyn/Baltimore, the trio's respective hometowns.
Harmony is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. The album was released on October 4, 2019, by Blue Note.
Rainbow Sign is a studio album containing original compositions by American jazz musician Ron Miles on the label Blue Note Records. Released on October 9, 2020 to positive critical reviews, it is Miles' final studio album, coming two years prior to his death in March 2022.
The News is an album by the Andrew Cyrille Quartet recorded in August 2019 and released on ECM in 2021. The quartet features guitarist Bill Frisell, David Virelles on synthesizer and piano, and bassist Ben Street—the same lineup as 2016's The Declaration of Musical Independence with the exception of Virelles, a last-minute replacement for Richard Teitelbaum, who was suffering from health problems at the time of the recording session, and who died in 2020.