Silent Film with Live Music: The Mesmerists

John Scofield once said that his colleague Bill Frisell »transcended the guitar«. What Scofield was referring to was the stylistic range of the American guitarist. Born in Baltimore in 1951 and bred in Denver, Frisell started to play with a lyrical, »singing« sound that later became more vigorous. Frisell conjures up two-dimensional tones and harmonies with echo and sampling effects out of thin air, but he can also really make the guitar howl, as he did during his cooperation with John Zorn in the New York downtown scene. He is a truly eclectic artist who plays bluegrass, country and Brazilian music in addition to jazz. For more than 20 years now, Bill Frisell has also been writing film soundtracks – e.g. for »The Million Dollar Hotel« by Wim Wenders and for Gus Van Sant’s »Finding Forrester«. Tonight he is joined in the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall by bass player Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen: together, they create soundtracks live for Bill Morrison’s film collages and for the brilliant silent films of comedian Buster Keaton.