Jazz icon Bill Frisell’s four-decade career as a guitarist and composer has been cited by Downbeat as “the best recorded output of the decade.” “Frisell has had a lot of practice putting high concept into a humble package,” writes the New York Times. “Long hailed as one of the most distinctive and original improvising guitarists of our time, he has also earned a reputation for teasing out thematic connections with his music… There’s a reason that Jazz at Lincoln Center had him program a series called Roots of Americana.” Critics and peers have lauded Frisell as one of the music’s most treasured participants, praising his playing as well as the anatomy of his compositions — how he structures a form around often a simple melody or progression, creating a gesture at once complex and elemental.

Recognized as one of America’s 21 most vital and productive performing artists, Frisell was named an inaugural Doris Duke Artist in 2012. He is also a recipient of grants from United States Artists, Meet the Composer among others. In 2016, he was a beneficiary of the first FreshGrass Composition commission to preserve and support innovative grassroots music. Upon San Francisco Jazz opening their doors in 2013, he served as one of their Resident Artistic Directors. Bill is also the subject of a new documentary film by director Emma Franz, entitled Bill Frisell: A Portrait, which examines his creative process in depth.

His most recent recording with acclaimed bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston—the same trio that will play Santa Fe—is Valentine (Blue Note), which has been hailed as “a masterpiece” by Downbeat: “They consistently and strikingly play as one, voices intertwined, completing phrases as if sharing a single thought… Even overdubs are so perfect that everything feels utterly organic… the performances represent jazz playing at its most sublime.”