Bill Frisell

小簡介
在一本和ECM這個唱片品牌有關(guān)的出版品當(dāng)中談?wù)摦?dāng)代爵士吉他手，其實是件很有趣的事，怎么說呢？一、二十年來，表現(xiàn)最好的幾位吉他手，幾乎都和ECM有密不可分的關(guān)系，當(dāng)今人氣最旺的帕特馬西尼（Pat Metheny）在ECM度過了他音樂生涯的前十年；約翰埃布爾孔比（John Abercrombie）從七零年代一直為ECM錄音到現(xiàn)在；洛夫唐納（Ralph Towner）在ECM旗下出了將近二十張專輯；甚至幾位風(fēng)格特異的頂尖大師，像是泰迪亞瑞普多（Terje Pypdal）、吉斯蒙提（Egberto Gismonti）等人，也都是ECM的長期合作伙伴。
當(dāng)然，還有比爾佛雷賽（Bill Frisell）。
大約一方面為了方便讀者記憶，另一方面也為了有事可作，美國的爵士評論很喜歡為樂手創(chuàng)造頭銜，這幾年來，談到當(dāng)代爵士吉他手，有所謂的「the big three」，講的是帕特馬西尼、約翰史考菲（John Scofield）和比爾佛雷賽，考慮這幾位的作品成績和獨特風(fēng)格，倒也有幾分道理。
悠游于放克與咆勃爵士之間的史考菲、融合爵士搞得風(fēng)生水起的馬西尼也許找個機(jī)會再來好好講，先來看看比爾佛雷賽。
這位吉他手一九五一年生于美國巴爾的摩，卻在丹佛市長大，從小演奏黑管，少年時期從收音機(jī)里聽到當(dāng)時流行的靈魂樂手詹姆士布朗（James Brown）、芝加哥藍(lán)調(diào)樂手的歌曲，開始彈起吉他。高中的時候，佛雷賽自行組團(tuán)玩票演出，完的都是些靈魂樂、R&B風(fēng)格的曲目，當(dāng)年在高中玩音樂的同學(xué)們，有幾位后來組成了放克名團(tuán)土風(fēng)火（Earth, Wind and Fire）。但是年輕的佛雷賽的口味卻在這段時間受到?jīng)_擊而轉(zhuǎn)向，他聽到了爵士吉他大師威斯蒙哥馬利（Wes Montgomery）的音樂，大受震懾之余，音樂方向轉(zhuǎn)到了爵士樂這一邊。
佛雷賽可以說是正宗科班出身的樂手，他念過北科羅拉多大學(xué)音樂系，也是波士頓百科理（Berklee）音樂學(xué)院的著名校友（說來好玩，佛雷賽的同學(xué)當(dāng)中確實有不少名人，帕特馬西尼跟他在百科理也有同窗之誼），甚至還特別投入他心儀的吉他大師吉姆霍爾（Jim Hall）門下學(xué)藝，霍爾那種肌理層次細(xì)膩的音樂美學(xué)，對佛雷賽這位高徒產(chǎn)生了相當(dāng)重要的影響。佛雷賽接受訪問時曾經(jīng)說過：「我16、7歲時整天在聽搖滾樂，所以后來有時聽我彈吉他，會覺得像是采用吉姆豪爾式的和聲手法，卻把吉他調(diào)成吉米漢醉克斯(Jimi Hendrix)的音色?！?
仔細(xì)聽佛雷賽的音樂，會覺得他的情緒隱藏得極深，表面聽起來，總是很美，很協(xié)調(diào)，像是這位吉他手一直以近乎完美的精確和品味在主題旋律與和聲結(jié)構(gòu)之間盡情追求即興變化，但是他又經(jīng)常給人一種「欲語還休」的印象，好像他要說的話，難得真正地放聲直言，他的音樂有的時候滿布懸疑，像一本根本就不告訴你兇手是誰的偵探小說。
這幾年，帕特馬西尼、貝斯名家查理海登（Charlie Haden）、鼓手金杰貝克（Ginger Baker）等人都嘗試過結(jié)合鄉(xiāng)村、搖滾、民謠與爵士樂風(fēng)格，表現(xiàn)出海登稱之為「Americano」的美國式復(fù)古風(fēng)情，在九零年代末期受到聽眾相當(dāng)?shù)臍g迎，然而，此一風(fēng)格的音樂，佛雷賽早在八零年代就已經(jīng)玩得出神入化?！禦ambler》、《Lookout For Help》等作品，可說很早就為馬西尼與海登的《密蘇里天空下Beyond the Missouri Sky》專輯開風(fēng)氣之先。
盡管身為美國人，佛雷賽的音樂生涯正式開展卻是在歐洲，70年代末期，他在比利時遇到ECM唱片的老板曼佛艾克（Manfred Eicher），開始在ECM旗下錄音，推出了數(shù)張個人專輯，也出現(xiàn)在鼓手保羅莫遜（paul Motian）、挪威薩克斯風(fēng)手楊葛柏瑞克（Jan Garbarek）等人的專輯之中。佛雷賽的第一張個人專輯是《In Line》，在這張一半獨奏，一半與貝斯手亞歷安德森（Arild Andersen）二重奏的唱片里，佛雷賽演奏得非常與眾不同，和所有吉他手都不一樣，標(biāo)題曲里面，佛雷賽一個人以重復(fù)錄音的方式，用原音吉他在極為輕描淡寫的氣氛當(dāng)中，創(chuàng)造出層次豐富細(xì)致的音樂，襯底的反復(fù)節(jié)奏勾勒出簡單的結(jié)構(gòu)輪廓，主題樂句則是一波波地浮上表層，佛雷賽別出心裁的語法讓每一個段落的出現(xiàn)都給人難以預(yù)測的驚喜，但是句子與句子之間的聯(lián)系又顯得合情合理，樂曲給人一種單純淡泊的感覺，但是音樂當(dāng)中的細(xì)致精巧，卻是令人目不暇給，值得再三咀嚼。
但佛雷賽并不是純?nèi)惶鹈赖?，從來不是?！禠ookout For Hope》專輯中，好幾首歌曲，都是乍聽之下一派恬淡悠遠(yuǎn)，但是內(nèi)在卻隱約有一絲逐漸升高的不安，有的時候，在和聲、伴奏沒有激烈變化的狀況下，欣賞佛雷賽怎么樣在結(jié)構(gòu)相同的反復(fù)樂句當(dāng)中，利用節(jié)奏、音色的一點點細(xì)微差別，堆棧出不同的情感，實在是頗為有趣的聆聽經(jīng)驗。
八零年代出道之后，二十多年來，佛雷賽的作品眾多，也出現(xiàn)在各種錄音場合擔(dān)任伴奏，搖滾樂手埃爾維斯卡斯特羅（Elvis Castello）、瑪麗安費茲佛（Marianne Faithful）、前衛(wèi)薩克斯風(fēng)手約翰佐恩（John Zorn）、鋼琴家保羅布雷（Paul Bley）、爵士黑管大師唐拜倫（Don Byron）、貝斯手馬克瓊森（Marc Johnson）等人的作品中都有佛雷賽的貢獻(xiàn)，寬廣的詮釋風(fēng)格，證明了他的彈性。佛雷賽的作品，結(jié)合了鄉(xiāng)村、搖滾與爵士樂等多種風(fēng)格，到今天，樂迷回顧比爾佛雷賽的音樂作品，將會發(fā)現(xiàn)，這位聽來恬淡冷靜的樂手，這些年來，確實有不凡的音樂成就。
The defining characteristic of any given jazz musician is frequently his sound. The more control a player has over the nature of that sound, the more likely he is to project a distinctive musical personality. For example, a saxophonist has virtually unlimited physical control of the sound that comes through his horn, and therefore a wide range of tonal expression at his command — which partially explains the disproportionate number of saxophonists in the pantheon of great jazz musicians. On the other hand, few electric guitarists inhabit that realm, in part because the typical jazz guitar sound differs little from player to player. In general, guitarists do not have the same degree of physical control. Without the use of signal processing — which jazz purists shun — theyre mostly stuck with the generic sound that comes out of their amp. Hence, guitarists have historically tended to sound more or less the same.
Bill Frisell is a notable exception. Among jazz guitarists, Frisell is unique in his exploitation of variable timbre. Frisells sound swells and breathes like a saxophonists (interestingly, Frisell played clarinet as a child). In many ways his sound is reminiscent of a pedal steel guitar. And although his work is steeped in jazz, Frisell is a man of catholic tastes. His music includes characteristics of rock, country, and bluegrass, among various other styles. Such liberality explains his willingness to expand his tonal palette beyond that of the typical jazz guitarist. Where so many conventional jazz guitarists define themselves by how many notes they can play, Frisell has carved a niche by virtue of his sound. His ability as an original, lyrical player of melody combines with a unique (if much imitated) sound to make him one of the most singular musicians of his generation.
Born in Baltimore, Frisell grew up in Denver, CO. He began playing the clarinet in the fourth grade and took up guitar a few years later for his personal amusement. He continued with the clarinet, playing in school concert and marching bands. Frisell briefly considered playing classical clarinet professionally. He played guitar in rock and R&B bands as a teenager (high school classmates included Philip Bailey, Andrew Woolfork, and Larry Dunn, future members of the funk group Earth, Wind & Fire). He discovered jazz in the music of Wes Montgomery and began to study the music. Dale Bruning, a Denver-based guitarist and educator, fed his fascination with jazz.
Frisell decided to make guitar his primary instrument. After briefly attending the University of Northern Colorado, he moved to Boston in 1971 to attend the Berklee School of Music. There he studied with Michael Gibbs and John Damian. While at Berklee, Frisell connected with other like-minded players (Pat Metheny was a classmate). He also studied with Jim Hall, who became an important influence, especially in terms of harmony. In the mid-70s, Frisell began moving away from pure bebop and began fusing jazz with his other musical interests. At about this time he began developing his atmospheric, quasi-mictrotonal style. He discovered that, by using a guitar with a flexible neck, he could manipulate the instruments intonation. A combination of experimental techniques and signal processors like delay and reverb gave Frisell a sound unlike any other guitarist.
In the late 70s, he traveled to Belgium. There he met Manfred Eicher, the founder of ECM Records. Beginning in the early 80s, Frisell recorded prolifically for the label, as leader and sideman with such musicians as Paul Motian and Jan Garbarek. He continued with the label throughout the decade, earning a reputation as ECMs house guitarist. Frisell became much acclaimed by critics for his sophisticated yet accessible work. Frisell moved to New York in the 80s, where he worked with many of the most creative musicians active on the citys downtown jazz scene.
In the 80s and 90s, he would record and perform with a huge variety of artists, not all of them jazz musicians. Collaborators would include rock and pop musicians (drummer Ginger Baker, singers Marianne Faithfull and Elvis Costello), experimental jazz musicians (saxophonist/composers John Zorn and Tim Berne), and at least one classical composer (Gavin Bryars). Frisell composed soundtracks for the silent films of Buster Keaton. His 1996 album Quartet won the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, the German equivalent of the Grammy. Frisell became an annual winner of various magazine polls for his solo work and recordings.
By the end of the 90s, Frisell was one of the most well-known jazz musicians in the world, with an audience and an aesthetic that transcended the boundaries of any given style. It should be mentioned that, while Frisell is best known for his somewhat ambient guitar technique, he is a swinging, harmonically fluent jazz player when the occasion warrants. Frisell moved to Seattle, WA, in 1989 and stayed active as the 21st century opened, releasing Ghost Town in 2000, followed by a set with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones in 2001. Blues Dream also appeared that same year, followed by The Willies in 2002. East/West and Richter 858 were both released in 2005, and a set with Ron Carter and Paul Motian in 2006.