Recorded in 1989 while Frisell was still a member of Naked City, Is That You? finds the guitarist already trending away from that band's scattershot assault and toward the more pastoral leanings he would embrace in the upcoming decade.
At its best, as on the title track, Frisell creates nostalgic but heartfelt melodies that have the sense of being a soundtrack to a bittersweet movie.
Wayne Horvitz' "Yuba City" is also evocative and very much in keeping with his other work from around that time, all sumptuous melodic hooks overlaying somewhat clunky rhythms.
There are other nice touches here and there (the charming "Rag," for instance), but too often the gauziness that is an inherent problem with much of Frisell's music comes to the fore.
While his cover of "Chain of Fools" chugs along with some dopey panache, "The Days of Wine and Roses" threatens to evaporate into the mist altogether.
Fans of his later work may welcome this approach and, indeed, consider it one of his most attractive attributes, but those listeners hoping to hear more of the bite and devil-may-care attitude shown in his work with Zorn may feel suffocated.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Man's LandBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 06:42 | 15 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Someone in My BackyardBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | RagBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Is That You?Bill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 06:53 | 15 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | The Way HomeBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 06:01 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Twenty YearsBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Chain of FoolsDon Covay | Bill Frisell | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Hello NellieBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Yuba CityWayne Horvitz | Bill Frisell | Play | 05:44 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Half a MillionBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Hope and FearBill Frisell | Bill Frisell | Play | 01:07 | 2 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | The Days of Wine and Roses | Bill Frisell | Play | 09:20 | 21 MB | 0 MB |
| 58 mins | 133 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Baron | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 2 | Don Covay | Composer |
| 3 | Jay Follette | Engineer |
| 4 | Stephen Frailey | Photography |
| 5 | Bill Frisell | Banjo, Bass, Clarinet, Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Ukulele |
| 6 | Jon Goldberger | Assistant Engineer |
| 7 | Dave Hofstra | Bass, Guest Artist, Tuba |
| 8 | Wayne Horvitz | Bass, Composer, Drum Programming, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Producer |
| 9 | Robert Hurwitz | Executive Producer |
| 10 | Henry Mancini | Composer |
| 11 | Manhattan Design | Art Direction, Design |
| 12 | Johnny Mercer | Composer |
| 13 | Roger Moutenot | Mixing |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |