Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
The Rhythm of the Saints [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]
Ta Lam Zehn: Vancouver Concert [Live]
Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphu**in Compton [Clean]
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Elvis Costello has always had great taste in guitar players, from his early devotion to Wes Montgomery to his frequent use of Marc Ribot, while Bill Frisell has shown a special empathy for Costello's songwriting on The Sweetest Punch, his instrumental cover of Costello's collaboration with Burt Bacharach. This barebones duet meeting with Costello singing to just the accompaniment of Frisell's guitar comes from a 1995 London performance. Charles Mingus's "Weird Nightmare," with the composer's own lyric, is a moody, dissonant minor piece that establishes a common ground and sets one of the tones for the performance. While Costello's songs may sometimes be bleak, they're also driven by a reality principle with a sense of accomplishment in their own hard-won experience. Frisell is an excellent partner for him, creating a densely resonant atmosphere that stages and echoes the often haunted, memory-filled lyrics. The guitarist picks up on the singer's every vocal nuance, too, expanding on his complex moods and lifting every rising melodic line with his own sense of light. Songs like "Shamed Into Love" almost glitter with Frisell's serene and trebly arpeggios, and Lerner and Loewe's "Gigi" grows from an initial sense of loss to genuine wonder. The collaborative "Deep Dead Blue," with Frisell's compositional input, has an intriguing, almost fragmented structure. --Stuart Broomer
Album Details
This 1995 Recording Brings Together Two Artists (Elvis Costello and Bill Frisell) who Otherwise Might Not have Performed Or Recorded Together. Features "Poor Napoleon", "Love Field", a Rendition of Charles Mingus' "Weird Nightmare" and Four More Tracks. Recorded Live at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall During the Meltdown Festival on June 25, 1995.