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 Bill Frisell ~ Big Sur (2013) Review by Thom Jurek
Bill Frisell's Big Sur, on Sony's resurrected Okeh imprint, collects 19 individual pieces in a suite commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival. He spent ten days in retreat at Big Sur's Glen Deven Ranch, where he composed most of it.
His band on this date is the string trio responsible for his Beautiful Dreamers recording -- Jenny Scheinman: violin; Eyvind Kang: viola; Hank Roberts: cello, and drummer Rudy Royston. Kang and Royston are also members of Frisell's 858 group, making this an unorthodox string quartet with drums. Those drums not only keep things grounded and earthy, they add force, dimension, and dynamics even on the ballads.
As is typical for Frisell's ensembles, it's not about soloing so much for these players -- though all are given opportunities -- as the strength of the work through the voice of the group, with Frisell's guitar as the unifying factor, whether it's in the opening waltz "The Music of Glen Deven Ranch," the slowly unfurling, darkly tinged ballad "Going to California," or "The Big One," which references surf rock. Read the entire review here.
 Harry Manx on Tour in Australia
Photos and Interview by Bill Quinn
Harry Manx, the ‘Mysticssippi’ blues man from Canada, a seamless blender of the East and West, has returned to Australia and is wending away around the country performing to audiences with great support from Yeshe Reiners. Having interviewed him briefly at the National Folk Festival in Canberra in April, Bill Quinn managed to track Harry down on a rest break in Darwin.
Bill Quinn: Welcome back to Australia. It hasn’t been that long that you were here last. It was a surgical strike in April for Bluesfest and The National Folk Festival. Does it feel like you’ve been away for long?
Harry Manx: Well, I’m starting to really get used to Australia at this point, and feeling pretty much at home. And I’ve had some wonderful journeys on this trip.
Bill Quinn: What are some of the highlights of what you’ve done since you’ve been in the country this time? Full interview here.
 A Tribute to the Music of Gráinne Yeats by Mairéid Sullivan
Legendary Irish harper, singer and historian Gráinne Yeats passed away on April 18, 2013. The Irish Times published her death notice here: https://notices.irishtimes.com/26035391 Gráinne Yeats was the first professional musician to revive and record the ancient Irish wire-strung harp.
Her beloved husband Michael Yeats (son of W.B. Yeats) died in January 2007. Their daughter Síle (journalist and producer at RTÉ) died in September 2007. She is survived by 2 daughters, Catriona and Siobhán, her son Pádriag, and grandchildren.
I had the great honour of conducting extended interviews with Gráinne on two occasions. First in March 1999, for my book Celtic Women in Music (1999). Gráinne was in her mid 70s when I interviewed her again at her home, in Dundalk, Ireland, in October 2000. This YouTube video is a short (1:22) excerpt from the October 2000 interview.
Full feature here.
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