The Intercontinentals

The Intercontinentals

ASIN: B000088SX8

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Bill Frisell took the Downtown New York jazz scene to Nashville, and Marc Ribot did the same thing for Cuba with his Los Cubanos Postizos and Muy Divertido. But until Frisell's The Intercontinentals the robust, haunting sound of Malian blues guitar was largely untouched by six-stringing jazzoids. The aptly named Frisell ensemble here includes Brazilian guitar and vocal great Vinicius Cantuaria (playing solid drums half the time), Mali's premier percussionist Sidiki Camara, Greek oud and bouzouki virtuoso Christos Govetas, pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, and violinist Jenny Scheinman. Rather than cover all the band's continents, though, the focal point is largely singular: "Boubacar" (in honor of Malian guitar pioneer Boubacar Traore) opens the set and has its vibe continued with a cover of his "Baba Drame," and everywhere the notes are hit and moods invoked as if Ali Farka Toure were looking on from Timbuktu. This is, though, still Frisell. An American earthiness crops up in Leisz's steel, as does the Mediterranean in Govetas's oud. And Frisell's sampled loops create an atmospheric cloudiness grounded by Camara's calabash and djembe and Cantuaria's drumming. In the constant sonic middle ground are the trifecta of oud, violin, and bass, merging the melody and rhythm brilliantly. Rootsy and undeniable, The Intercontinentals is yet another Frisellian work of genius. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description
Blending Frissel's own brand of American twang and his inimitable improvisational style with Brazilian, Greek, and Milian guitarist Boubacar Traore and Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil. 14 tracks packaged in a slipcase. Nonesuch. 2003.

Tracks:

Boubacar
Good Old People
For Christos
Baba Drame
Listen
Anywhere Road
Procissao
The Young Monk
We Are Everywhere
Yala
Perritos
Magic
Eli
Remember

Amazon.com

Bill Frisell took the Downtown New York jazz scene to Nashville, and Marc Ribot did the same thing for Cuba with his Los Cubanos Postizos and Muy Divertido. But until Frisell's The Intercontinentals the robust, haunting sound of Malian blues guitar was largely untouched by six-stringing jazzoids. The aptly named Frisell ensemble here includes Brazilian guitar and vocal great Vinicius Cantuaria (playing solid drums half the time), Mali's premier percussionist Sidiki Camara, Greek oud and bouzouki virtuoso Christos Govetas, pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, and violinist Jenny Scheinman. Rather than cover all the band's continents, though, the focal point is largely singular: "Boubacar" (in honor of Malian guitar pioneer Boubacar Traore) opens the set and has its vibe continued with a cover of his "Baba Drame," and everywhere the notes are hit and moods invoked as if Ali Farka Toure were looking on from Timbuktu. This is, though, still Frisell. An American earthiness crops up in Leisz's steel, as does the Mediterranean in Govetas's oud. And Frisell's sampled loops create an atmospheric cloudiness grounded by Camara's calabash and djembe and Cantuaria's drumming. In the constant sonic middle ground are the trifecta of oud, violin, and bass, merging the melody and rhythm brilliantly. Rootsy and undeniable, The Intercontinentals is yet another Frisellian work of genius. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

Blending Frisell's own brand of American twang and his inimitable improvisational style with Brazilian, Greek, and Milian guitarist Boubacar Traore and Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil. 14 tracks packaged in a slipcase. Nonesuch. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Modal intercontinental music .......2005-07-04

The music Bill played in the sessions that produced this album is really modal. Almost all the tunes are modal vamp based on one chord orchestrated with the common Frisell extravaganza. This should not sound as a critic but on the opposite as a compliment to Bill's music. Infact the album is really a joy to listen, it has a strange amalgama of instruments and the music is in the end ipnotic and always interesting. I really really like the album but at the same time I can't find all this genius in Bill's work at least in the case of albums like this one. He is of course an extremely talented musician with a style of his own, very recognizable. He displayed his style all over a vast array of albums in which he still showed a lot of ideas. Nevertheless I can't talk about genius in the case of an album made almost entirely of modal vamp. It is really interesting, very well played and orchestrated, but genius is something else I think. And I think that this music cannot be called Jazz. Pay attention. This is not Jazz. It's modal music, contemporary music, improvisational music, but it is not Jazz. Jazz is that thing that swings. Anyway a very nice album. You can buy it with confidence if you love music with a lot of space and atmosphere in it.

Very nice but tends to sit on the shelf.......2004-10-16

I am a huge fan of Boubacar Traore and a big fan of Frisell's, so I should LOVE this cd, but I only like it. The idea that this is "uncharted territory" for Frisell is silly. The best tracks are those which derive the most from Boubacar. Other tracks, like track 5, are not uncharted territory, they are virtually indistinguishable from any of Frisell's recent albums. Frisell again seems content to mostly play session and studio man rather than take chances creatively.

That said, it was wise to draw inspiration from the great Boubacar, and this cd is probably my favorite of Frisell's recent work, along with Ghost Town; and I'd recommend it over Blues Dream or Good Dog and some of the others.

UPDATE AFTER A YEAR: After a year, I'd have to say that I think it's not quite as ethereal as it wants to be. Again, the tracks that cut-and-paste some Boubacar are nice though not really better than the sum of the parts, but the other tracks (try track 3) are nondescript, unimaginative, and oh-so-how-familiar-Frisell. I remember Bruce Willis describing in an interview that his approach to acting in the movie "Unbreakable" was to do "as little as possible." That seems to be Frisell's approach all too often, and while it sounds like brilliant philosophy, it doesn't suit either's work. Frisell is not flamboyant or showy by nature, so toning down doesn't contain the fire, it extinguishes it. When he goes all out in either direction, he's better. But too often he sits in the middle, laying down a simple atonal progression of a few notes, and then meandering alongside (tracks 3 and 13). It works for me about as well as when classical compositions which front a Hungarian melody or something: it doesn't. Some tracks here are great. I think we need to get Ginger Baker to get him to actually do some lead guitar again.

Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm...This is What Music Should Be!!.......2004-09-09

On this 2003 release, Bill Frisell teams up with a group of world musicians. This album was nominated for "World Album of the Year" at the Grammmies, and I can certainly see why. The music is so textural, melodic, and at times quite breathtaking. This album is has a real open quality to the music. Even though this is Bill Frisell's world music album it still has the Frisell guitar sound in tact. The album is very eclectic yet very accessible. That's the thing that I admired about Bill especially in the last 4 years is that he's been making music that is VERY accessible and easy on the ear unlike his avant-garde jazz excursions in the earlier part of his career. The instrumentation on this album is strange, but it really works out well. This album should appeal to those already fans of Bill's music and those who just enjoy good music.

From one intercontinental to another...........2004-07-14

Being both an intercontinental myself and a Bill Frisell lover, I was naturally pleased when this was released. But little did I know how absolutely magical it would be. Vinicious Cantuaria and Jenny Shineman make this album for me, they, like Frisell and everyone on this album, are the type of Artists the world needs more of. Intercontinental, unpredictable, modest, and beautiful.

Wake Up!.......2004-06-02

This album is, as my favorite cut is named, "Magic." Over sixty-five minutes of constant surprise: I get into the African groove and suddenly it's Greek; I sink into the Greek and a violin comes in and suddenly disappears; then there's an Appalachian twang, a Brazilian dance rhythm, and some sounds I didn't know existed till now, voices humming and wailing or incanting Portuguese or Senegalese, and everything blends, flows, and carries me somewhere I've never travelled. I sit down to listen to this with my earphones on and enter a new world. Absolutely mesmerizing. Haunting. Dreamlike. Beautiful beyond description. I'm going to move into this album and live in it till further notice.

Average customer rating:

Nonesuch At Carnegie
Randy Newman, Youssou N'Dour, John Adams, Caetano Veloso , Audra McDonald, Dawn Upshaw, Kronos Quartet, Gidon Kremer , Bill Frisell & the Intercontinentals, Taraf De Haidouks, Steve Reich , and Adam Guettel, Emmylou Harris Frederic Rzewski
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000M69DRS

Product Description

Promotional pre-release copy

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music