In a career spanning more than 20 years and 150 recordings, guitarist, composer, and bandleader Bill Frisell has established himself as a visionary presence in American music. He has been hailed by The New York Times as "the most significant and widely imitated guitarist to emerge in jazz since the beginning of the 1980's." Frisell's Nonesuch discography, comprising 17 albums primarily featuring his own compositions, was recently cited by Downbeat as "the best recorded output of the decade."

Highlights include a solo guitar album, Ghost Town; a CD of original scores for Buster Keaton films; a recording with Nashville colleagues such as Union Station mandolinist Adam Steffey and banjo player Ron Block, dobroist Jerry Douglas and bassist Viktor Krauss; a trio recording with Elvin Jones and Dave Holland; and collaborations featuring Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz, Ry Cooder and Krauss. His recorded works also include covers of music by Charles Ives, Stephen Foster and Bob Dylan, among others.

In addition to his work as a soloist and bandleader, Frisell has established himself as one of the most sought-after collaborators in contemporary music. He has worked with such diverse artists as Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach, Ron Carter, Ginger Baker, Gavin Bryars, Marianne Faithfull, Fred Hersch, Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, Paul Motian, David Sylvian, William S. Burroughs, Hal Willner and John Zorn, among others. Frisell's upcoming Nonesuch recording was produced by Willner and will be released this spring.

Frisell and his band The Intercontinentals were recently nominated for a Grammy Award in the contemporary world music category for their 2003 Nonesuch recording The Intercontinentals. The band members—including the Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist and percussionist Vinicius Cantu‡ria; Greek-Macedonian musician Christos Govetas on oud, bouzouki and vocals; Mali's Sidiki Camara on percussion and vocals; Greg Leisz on pedal steel and various slide guitars; and violinist Jenny Scheinman—joined Frisell in September 2003 for a concert at Carnegie Hall's newest stage, Zankel Hall, recorded live for the next Creators At Carnegie program.

Blending Frisell's own brand of American roots music and his improvisational style with the influences of Brazilian, Greek and Malian sounds enabled him to expand upon his compositional technique in unique ways. The resulting sound has been described by Downbeat as possessing "fine webs of guitar interlacings, swaying momentum, dense textures and rhythmic urgency." The concert also includes compositions by Cantuaria, Govetas, Malian guitarist Boubacar Traore and Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil. As Frisell says, "With this group I've been finding all kinds of new musical connections. It's been a challenge and an inspiration."

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