Bill Frisell
Have A Little Faith

Now, one can have all the prejudices possible for a cover album. Let's add that there's even a cover of a Madonna song here, "Live to tell", so one indeed would have plenty of reasons to be biased.

However, we are talking about a true genius of the six strings, who has a mischievous face like a character from a cartoon, but there's nothing to be done, among the best and most original guitarists in the world. The group also includes Joey Baron (percussionist from Masada), the clarinet of Don Byron, the bass of Kermit Driscoll and the accordion of Guy Klucevsek. Something like this can hardly fail before it starts, and indeed it's truly sensational, even though it's, as I said, an album of only covers.

In reality, there's a bit of everything, a jumble like this, if one doesn't know how to manage it, would have all the makings to be grotesque, to say the least, a musical freak. But our hero is used to much more; in fact, it is from these years that the glorious membership in Naked City dates back, where he managed to consistently change genre 10 times in half a minute.

Besides Madonna, there are jazz standards like "When I fall in love", a military march ("Washington Post March"), a piece by Dylan (the famous "Just like a woman"), one by Sonny Rollins ("No Moe") and even "Billy the Kid" by Aaron Copland, a 1938 ballet known for its eclectic mix of cowboy songs and American folk tunes. Don Byron's clarinet sounds extremely fresh and vibrant. The background accordion gives the whole thing slightly unusual sounds for a jazz ensemble. Bill Frisell's playing on this album is varied to say the least, ranging from crazy lunar landscapes to folk-country-bonanza arrangements to more purely jazz tones. Membership in Naked City shows. But this is a more subdued and less extreme thing, if you will.

It's a bit like Frisell gave his version of the music that would come out of a hypothetical radio. Something with not-so-serious intent, even at times almost a bit mocking. Nevertheless sensational in results.

Especially recommended if you're intrigued by the crazy ways of mixing folk, country, and jazz.