Before We Were Born

by Bill Frisell

Before We Were Born cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 28 March 1989
  • Label: Elektra Musician
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 47:00
  • Community rating: 3.66/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Establishing himself as one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, Bill Frisell delivers an incredibly dense, genre-defying masterpiece. The album is split into diverse suites featuring production and arrangements from John Zorn, blending frantic avant-garde jazz with heavy rock dynamics and twisted Americana. It brilliantly showcases his unique, chorus-heavy tone and eccentric compositional vision.

Genres

Descriptors: Avant Garde, avant-garde, suite, complex, instrumental, nostalgia, experimental, fusion, theatrical, diverse

Tracklist

  1. Before We Were Born) (Some Song and Dance (6:51)
  2. Freddy's Step (3:05)
  3. Love Motel (6:48)
  4. Pip, Squeak (5:27)
  5. Goodbye (1:41)
  6. Hard Plains Drifter (13:22)
  7. The Lone Ranger (7:33)
  8. Steady, Girl (2:08)

Credits

  • Bill Frisell - primary artist, acoustic guitar [for the bill frisell band], banjo, arranged by, composed by, electric guitar, electric guitar [for the bill frisell band], acoustic guitar, banjo, music by
  • Billy Drewes - alto saxophone [for the bill frisell band], Alto Saxophone
  • Julius Hemphill - alto saxophone [soloist for the bill frisell band], Alto Saxophone, Soloist
  • Doug Wieselman - baritone saxophone [for the bill frisell band], Baritone Saxophone
  • Hank Roberts - cello [for the bill frisell band], voice [for the bill frisell band], Cello, Voice
  • Joey Baron - drums, drums [for the bill frisell band], Percussion, Electronics
  • Kermit Driscoll - electric bass
  • Cyro Baptista - shaker
  • Arto Lindsay - Arranged By, Electric Guitar, Lyrics By, Voice
  • Peter Scherer - Arranged By, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Bass [Keyboard Bass]
  • John Zorn - Arranged By

More from Bill Frisell: full discography