{"id":11079,"date":"2019-04-25T13:32:50","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T20:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=11079"},"modified":"2019-04-25T16:39:55","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T23:39:55","slug":"bill-frisell-and-thomas-morgan-epistrophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2019\/04\/bill-frisell-and-thomas-morgan-epistrophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Frisell And Thomas Morgan: &#8220;Epistrophy&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Bill Frisell<\/strong>, <strong>Thomas Morgan<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Epistrophy-Bill-Frisell-Thomas-Morgan\/dp\/B07NN2TYCY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Epistrophy<\/a> (ECM)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/717HL8t6GqL._SX522_-e1556223714704.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-11077\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/717HL8t6GqL._SX522_-e1556223714704.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"369\" height=\"369\" \/><\/a>As in their 2017 ECM release <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Small-Town-Frisell-Thomas-Morgan\/dp\/B06XRJNC4K\/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_15_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=ZVRZEHKB05HB4P19DW29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Small Town<\/a><\/em>, guitarist Frisell and bassist Morgan are captivating in their exploration of pieces whose variety extends from the harmonic challenges of Thelonious Monk to the deceptive simplicity of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Red River Valley.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This second installment was also recorded at the duo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2016 appearance at New York\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Village Vanguard. I write \u00e2\u20ac\u0153deceptive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in reaction to their approach to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Red River Valley\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because they generate power and blues feeling that have been beneath the song\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s surface for the century or more since it first appeared in Canada. Those elements have been tapped by genre singers like Marty Robbins and Stevie Nicks, but with their jazz sensibility Frisell and Morgan go far deeper into the song\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s harmonic possibilities.<\/p>\n<p>When they come to the album\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two Monk pieces, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Epistrophy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pannonica,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the interaction and serious listening to one another take on even more concentrated energy. That power does not flag\u00e2\u20ac\u201dif anything it increases\u00e2\u20ac\u201din the late drummer Paul Motian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mumbo Jumbo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Billy Strayhorn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lush Life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the concluding ballad.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This is an album whose chief characteristic may on first hearing seem to be pleasantness. But early on, during Frisell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Morgan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s development of the opening \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All In Fun\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Jerome Kern, it demands and rewards close llistening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan: Epistrophy (ECM) As in their 2017 ECM release Small Town, guitarist Frisell and bassist Morgan are captivating in their exploration of pieces whose variety extends from the harmonic challenges of Thelonious Monk to the deceptive simplicity of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Red River Valley.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This second installment was also recorded at the duo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2016 appearance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}