Music / Jazz
Review: Bill Frisell Trio/Steve Banks Trio, St George’s – ‘A seamless jazz masterclass’
It’s been a while since US jazz guitarist Bill Frisell came to Bristol so it was unsurprising that St George’s was solidly sold out for the occasion.
Unquestionably one of the great masters of the electric guitar, his 40 year career at the top of the jazz tree has seen him embrace Americana, metal, African and Latin influences along the way.
His repertoire comfortably includes classic jazz and cheesy pop, all picked with an ear to great harmonic opportunities. This gig at St George’s was, unsurprisingly, a masterclass in how to get it right, whatever the material in question.
is needed now More than ever
Steve Banks Trio
It would always be tough to be a support act for a Bill Frisell and especially tough for a jazz guitarist. It was even tougher for the Steve Banks Trio given that they played in the bar after the main act had finished. However the contrasting sound and style between the two fretworkers was enough to avoid obvious comparisons.
The nicely balanced sound of Steve’s guitar with Sam Crockatt’s modulated tenor sax and Henryk Jensen’s ever-dependable bass gave the drumless trio a pleasing buoyancy in a set of Steve’s originals.
Moving through cool contemporary tunes and swinging hard bop numbers the various pairings within the threesome gave interesting tone shifts, with nicely organised arrangements and dextrous solo ideas.
Thomas Morgan, Bill Frisell – Bill Frisell Trio
Inevitably, Bill Frisell’s music had been far less conventional in structure. Clad in plain working trousers and an old-school plaid shirt the guitarist stood on the spot, head bent down, gently swaying as he played.
The two sets moved through unannounced segues of tunes, many picked from his Blue Note album Valentine. They were rarely played straight but rather plucked into sketchy shape by the flow of music, woven with bass player Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston. That they are a well-grounded trio was evidenced in the flawlessness with which the three players balanced their sound through what felt like quite free playing, albeit with a melodic focus.
Apart from the odd nod of the head from Bill there seemed to be no need for communication other than the exchange of musical ideas and in that respect they were a single-minded entity with six clever hands.
Rudy Royston – Bill Frisell Trio
The second half opened with a rolling palm wine guitar riff and a series of musical moods that coalesced into a beautiful deconstruction of the Beach Boys’ tune Surfer Girl – a recurrent Frisell favourite – featuring an elegantly shaped bass solo before seamlessly shifting into a more rock-like melody.
That was followed by another fave: Malian guitarist Boubacar Traore’s hypnotic Baba Drame, a Gnawa-style desert guitar riff that settled into a hefty groove as the guitar sound gravelled into the dirt and forceful drums morphed from Afrobeat towards Led Zeppelin.
As the drummer eventually reined himself back the number distilled naturally into a string chorale of neatly deployed guitar loops reminiscent of Terry Riley’s cascading music.
Bill Frisell Trio
Though not announced as such, when the set ended with Bacharach’s What The World Needs Now (Is Love, Sweet Love) the song’s lyrical simplicity felt almost like a political hope, given the way things are.
Any hint of seriousness was dispelled, however, by a short sparkly encore of When You Wish Upon A Star before the musicians left the stage to a well-earned standing ovation.
All photos: Tony Benjamin
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