Bill Frisell: When You Wish Upon a Star

Jeff Tamarkin on March 28, 2016

You can count on Bill Frisell never to repeat himself, but When You Wish Upon a Star shares something with its predecessor, Guitar in the Space Age! Like that 2014 gem, it’s a nostalgic look back at the golden years: Where the previous set found the ever-innovative guitarist reimagining surf and folk-rock tunes from the ‘60s, the new album is Frisell’s nod to his favorite movie and TV themes. This time, he casts a wider net. The title track, first heard in Disney’s 1940 Pinocchio, is a long way chronologically from Nino Rota’s theme from “The Godfather,” and Frisell treats them as the strange bedfellows they are: The former, wistful and whispering, is one of a handful of tunes sung by Petra Haden (daughter of late jazz great Charlie), while the latter is increasingly foreboding and imposing. Frisell loves his Westerns, and divvies Ennio Morricone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” into three sections, each with its own distinct personality. “Psycho,” in two parts, is alternately crazed and creepy. Other highlights include Mancini/Mercer’s ever-romantic “Moon River” and a perky “Bonanza.” When You Wish Upon a Star is Frisell and band taking their raw materials and fashioning from them a thriller of their own.

Artist: Bill Frisell
Album: When You Wish Upon a Star
Label: OKEH