Blues Dream Explained

Blues Dream
Type:Album
Artist:Bill Frisell
Cover:Blues Dream.jpg
Released:January 30, 2001
Genre:Jazz fusion, folk jazz, Americana
Length:61:58
Label:Elektra Nonesuch
Producer:Lee Townsend
Prev Title:Ghost Town
Prev Year:2000
Next Title:With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones
Next Year:2001

Blues Dream is the 13th album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 2001 and features performances by Frisell, steel guitarist Greg Leisz, trumpeter Ron Miles, alto saxophonist Billy Drewes, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, bassist David Piltch and drummer Kenny Wollesen.[1] The cover photograph was taken by George A. Tice in 1974 at Kresson Road, Cherry Hill, New Jersey.[2]

Reception

Response was positive, with Metacritic assigned album an aggregate score of 86 out of 100 based on 7 critical reviews indicating "Universal Acclaim". The AllMusic review by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. awarded the album 3.5 stars, stating, "Blues Dream is a perfectly chosen title: the material, steeped in the blues, is approached in a lazy, dreamlike fashion. Frisell's fondness for putting unusual combinations of instruments together adds to the overall effect, leaving the listener to wonder why no one has ever tried this before. Blues Dream is a lovely release that should satisfy Frisell fans as well as jazz, country, and blues fans looking for a genre-bending experience.".[3] PopMatters Will Layman said "Blues Dream is a movie for your ears, a soundtrack for your passage through a daydream, a kind of classical music even: a set of most careful compositions that orchestrate sounds beyond our imaginations. Blues Dream moves from beautiful to strange and back again. But it’s a classic".[4] In JazzTimes, Bill Shoemaker was less enthused, writing, "Certainly, Blues Dream will reinforce the media consensus that Frisell is an American original. However, this is a strangely antiseptic album. ... Yet Blues Dream is not a compelling album. ... It’s a pat atmosphere only occasionally disrupted by a busy loop or a blast of distortion from Frisell, or a raucous horn statement".[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Bill Frisell.

  1. "Blues Dream" – 2:31
  2. "Ron Carter" – 6:45
  3. "Pretty Flowers Were Made for Blooming" – 3:20
  4. "Pretty Stars Were Made to Shine" – 1:45
  5. "Where Do We Go?" – 5:21
  6. "Like Dreamers Do (Part One)" – 1:34
  7. "Like Dreamers Do (Part Two)" – 2:37
  8. "Outlaws" – 4:19
  9. "What Do We Do?" – 7:08
  10. "Episode" – 0:49
  11. "Soul Merchant" – 2:42
  12. "Greg Leisz" – 6:14
  13. "The Tractor" – 2:27
  14. "Fifty Years" – 1:31
  15. "Slow Dance" – 3:11
  16. "Things Will Never Be the Same" – 4:49
  17. "Dream On" – 3:06
  18. "Blues Dream (Reprise)" – 1:53

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. https://www.billfrisell.com/discography/blues-dream Bill Frisell discography
  2. Web site: Musical Maps.
  3. Lankford, R. Allmusic Review accessed June 21, 2011
  4. Layman, W. PopMatters Review, April 17, 2012
  5. Shoemaker, B. JazzTimes Review, May 2001

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Blues Dream".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.