Two visionaries of outlier jazz joined forces some 40 years ago and unfortunately, there’s so little official recorded output available from them. Fortunately, there’s now more.
The Tim Berne / Bill Frisell duo’s Live in Someplace Nice (Screwgun Records) was taped about the same time the undersung treasure Berne/Frisell collaboration Theoretically came out, which until now has been the only released album from these two. Live in Someplace Nice adds more than just presenting the alto saxophonist and electric guitarist in a live tracking format; only “Inside The Brain” is a song also performed on the prior record. The rest are other Berne tunes with a Julius Hemphill number tossed in, which nominally makes this more of a Berne joint than a Frisell one. Characteristic of this guitar player, however, he’s no wallflower here.
By 1984, both had developed highly individualistic styles and were making music that’s not only stood the test of time, but were a little ahead of its time. The name recognition had yet to arrive for either, but with the benefit of hindsight, there’s just as much inventiveness and fearlessness here as the more celebrated works of either that were to soon follow. Moreover, it doesn’t sound much of its era, no small accomplishment as Frisell was deep into the latest effects gadgets of the day (but typical for him, he understood how to deploy these toys to give the material at hand a certain edge to it that might otherwise be missing).
Tim Berne and Bill Frisell have separately made music widely divergent from each other, and their time together represents music so unlike anything else in either man’s ginormous, rangy catalogs. Nevertheless, their approaches overlap in one very important aspect: in breaking outside of the normal parameters of jazz and improvised music, melodic development reigns supreme. That’s why the interplay is so, so good.
“Conversation With Harold” showcases Berne’s alto saxophone acumen well enough, but Frisell begins in the background, employing some of his pioneering looping and sampling for the atmospheric backdrop. Eventually, he moves into the co-lead role, actively engaging with Berne and before long, they’re matching advanced bop note progressions in perfect lockstep.
Berne tackles a piece from his gestational Empire days “Flies” and fleshes out its involved harmonics all alone on sax. On the Theoretically version of “Inside The Brain,” Berne’s horn is dubbed over itself but here, the illusion of that is created when Frisell is able to effectively emulate the sound of a second sax.
Back in those days, Frisell was a lot more prone to indulge his demonic side using then-leading edge effects. For “Eef Laat,” he spins off a random noise loop or two, then mingles with Berne on softened but dark tones, going from semi-benign to peculiarly menacing. The guitarist pulls out more bags of guitar pedal tricks for “Icicles,” yet making it conform to Berne’s pleading and wailing.
“Dirty Row” is an astonishing saxophone tour-de-force by its composer Hemphill; in place of him recording one sax over another, Frisell plays the foil to Berne and plays it to a “T.” As suggested by the title, “Dream Status” is a narcotic voyage where a vague sense of danger pervades, a sentiment both are well suited to carry out.
The cherry on top of these recordings is David Torn’s contemporary remastering job, making this a set of moments where the tightrope walk of playing challenging material live unites with the spotless sound of a studio production.
Live in Someplace Nice is out now, and here’s where you can get it.
Recommended Tim Berne CDs on Amazon:
Oceans And
Science Friction – The Sublime And
Hard Cell – Feign
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil – Shadow Man
Tim Berne – The Shell Game
- Jason Stein – ‘Anchors’ (2024) - September 10, 2024
- Tim Berne With Bill Frisell – ‘Live in Someplace Nice’ (1984; 2024 release) - September 6, 2024
- Patricia Brennan – ‘Breaking Stretch’ (2024) - September 4, 2024
