Rambler [Original recording reissued]

Bill Frisell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B0000261PQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #489,055 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tone

2. Music I Heard

3. Rambler

4. When We Go

5. Resistor

6. Strange Meeting

7. Wizard Of Odds

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Guitarist Bill Frisell has always had an ear for unusual tonal colors, and they're particularly strong on this 1984 recording, an early and enduring document of a major musician's work. There's a distinctive emphasis on brass and the lowest registers, with Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flügelhorn, Bob Stewart on tuba, and Jerome Harris on electric bass; drummer Paul Motian completes the quintet. The thick, bass-heavy textures and contrasting layers of sound give the music an almost orchestral quality, while Frisell and Wheeler's shared love of pitch bending sometimes gives the eerie sense of funhouse mirrors, a dream of sonic and temporal distortion. "Rambler" is a mirthful echo of mariachi music, "Music I Heard" is propelled by unlikely allusions to march rhythms, and "Resistor" has some of Frisell's most animated playing on disc, his guitar synth creating a Pandora's box of unexpected sounds and twisting, mercurial lines. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice surprise from 1984, December 21, 1999

By 

M.Richards - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rambler (Audio CD)

I avoided this cd despite it's great reviews because I always like Frisell's later works from the early '90's. I was wrong. This is a strong as some of his best recordings today. If you are a Frisell fan and haven't heard this cd, you will be pleasantly surprised. It is on par with "Quartet", another great Frisell album.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a true gem, December 13, 2001

By 

Curt W. Smith (tyrone, nm USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rambler (Audio CD)

this cd was my introduction to bill frisell when it was released back in the 80s. rambler still stands as one cd i would take with me if moving to a desert island... it holds up better to repeated listening than almost any other recording due to its haunting melodies and deeply textured atmospheres. imagine two jazz trios performing on stage at the same time - one with guitar, bass and drums - a second trio with tuba, trumpet and drums. now imagine them sharing the same drummer and sounding totally comfortable with each other. that's rambler!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frisell's absolute finest, December 17, 2007

By 

Steward Willons (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Rambler (Audio CD)

This is perhaps Frisell's finest effort. He has explored a number of styles over the course of his long career, but "Rambler" is so unique, so creative, and so inspired. This is vintage Frisell back when he was making so very bizarre sounds with his guitar. It's exactly this sort of bold experimentalism that drew me to Frisell in the first place.

The writing is uniformly strong: there are some lovely pieces such as "Rambler" and "When We Go", some harsh dissonance such as "Tone" and "Wizard of Odds", and some that really defy categorization such as "Music I Heard", a quasi-march in odd meter.

The other treat is the side men. Kenny Wheeler is in prime form here. His dark tone blends nicely with Bob Stewart's tuba (when was the last time you heard tuba on a jazz album?) and Frisell's legato synth/guitar strangeness. Wheeler's odd solos definitely take things "out", as they say, but in a different manner than Frisell.

The musicianship is outstanding as is the sense of ensemble. There are times when albums feel like the players were thrown together for the session without time to play as a group, but that's not the case here - they play like they've been together for years. Their blend and balance is further enhanced by EMC's trademark "cloud chamber" sound creating a thick, luxurious ambience.

I would put this in the top ten jazz albums of the last 30 years. That sounds extreme, but this is just that good. Rambler is an absolutely essential album not just for Frisell fans, for all fans of avant garde, progressive jazz music. Check it out.