Bill Frisell - Nashville (1997)

Bill Frisell is a gentle giant of modern guitar, pure in his jazz-influenced mission to uncover and reinvent American music across a disparate styles. At once unmistakable for the fluid, elastic sound of his instrument and restless in his pilgrimage across often widely varied sources, Frisell can find the lyrical gold beneath pop, rock, and classical sources--devling into Madonna, Aaron Copeland, and John Hiatt with equal success. Nashville finds Frisell exploring the kindred small group dynamics and string-bending aesthetics of country and bluegrass in the company of a shrewdly-chosen players including members of Alison Krauss' esteemed Union Station band, virtuoso dobro player Jerry Douglas, and vocalist Robin Holcomb, who confers an earthy beauty to the set's three vocals culled from Neil Young ("One of These Days"), Hazel Dickens ("Will Jesus Wash the Bloodstains from Your Hands"), and Skeeter Davis's country crossover, "The End of the World." Keening lyricism, soul-deep emotions, and the kinship of wonderful musicians communicating across putative stylistic borders make Nashville a stunning achievement. --Sam Sutherland