The unassuming Bill Frisell casually dressed in a flannel shirt. He mesmerized a close to full house at the Egg with his quiet command of his guitar along with drummer Rudy Royston and bass player Luke Bergman.

The whole concert was as unassuming as it was mind blowing. There was no formal introduction, the band simply walked onto the stage, There was no set list. There was no need for hearing protection. Except for the closing number and the encore, the set was seamless. The band played almost as one.

Frisell is a guitar player’s guitar player. Except for the use of some looping and controlling sustain with his volume knobs, there was minimal use of effects. Many styles were displayed during the set. Roots Americana, Rock, country and yes even the root jazz were seamlessly woven.

Bass player Luke Berger’s role in the ensemble was very much in the spirit of the late Phil Lesh. Like Phil, bass was not his original instrument but he was a bass player for this band. His lines were both melodic and counterpoint.

Rudy Royston’s drumming created much of the texture of the sound. He varied this with the use of drumsticks, brushes, mallets or even his hands. His efforts were detailed by the use of 2 microphones above and behind him to pick up the nuances of the sound, He had 2 drum solos in the set. These showed more finesse than power.

Inspite of not having a light show, the audience was locked in. There was no rules against using cell phones , not I did not see a single cell phone lit up in the audience except for the encore.

The tunes played seemed like stream of consciousness, picked from jazz standards, movie tunes and pop music. The Gil Evans /Miles Davis composition “Milestones” was recognizable as was a snippet of the Temptations “My Girl”. The Duke Ellington was also mined the exotic “Isfarhan” popped out, Out of an intense rock jam, the pop song”The World Needs Now”appeared and was played with the sincerity of the pop hit. The encore may have been familiar only to baby boomers or James Bond nerds, the theme song from”You Only Live Twice”.

A truly mesmerizing evening created by music minimally supplemented by lighting, electronics and volume. Hope I can experience another one soon.

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