Inside Straight

John Zorn (alto sax), Bill Frisell (electric guitar), Wayne Horvitz (piano, keyboards), Fred Frith (bass) and Joey Bron (drums). From the album Naked City (1990).

During the 1980s and 1990s, Bill Frisell played and recorded with pop, rock, avant-garde musicians and with classical composer Gavin Bryars. He also wrote soundtracks for silent films of Buster Keaton and recorded two songs for Daniele Luchetti’s film “La Scuola”. In the mid-1990s he began to incorporate elements of bluegrass and country into his music and by the end of the decade he was one of the most well-known guitarists, with an eclectic audience and style.

During the 2000’s he continued recording as a leader for the Nonesuch label and in 2010 he changed to Savoy Records, with whom he recorded three albums. In 2013 he published Silent Comedy with the Tzadic label, in which he plays alone and that same year he joined Okeh Records, with whom he still records today. In 2017 he worked again occasionally with ECM appearing as a sideman on two albums and recording Small Town, a live performance at the Village Vanguard.

The introduction stars Zorn, Horvitz with the organ and Frisell successively. Soon chaos takes place for a few seconds and then the group exposes the theme with a simple jazz style melody. Zorn plays a phrase several times at the end to give way to a long collective improvisation in which Zorn stands out once in a while with his shrieks. You can tell that everyone is comfortable putting all the meat in the grill. After that, Zorn and Frisell play a melody in unison several times until Zorn splits up making squawks and finally the group plays a brief arrangement to finish.