The Multidimensional Dave Frishberg (and the Talented Rebecca Kilgore)

BY HIMSELF
DAVE FRISHBERG
ARBORS ARCD 19185

Dave Frishberg (p, vcl*). Portland, Oregon. June 30 & August 4, 1997.

I WANT TO BE A SIDEMAN*/ AIN'T SHE SWEET/ LAST NIGHT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG/ YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ME/ SARATOGA HUNCH*/ GROOVIN' HIGH/ IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN TO A DREAM/ CAN'T TAKE YOU NOWHERE*/ MY SWAN SONG/ KANSAS CITY Medley (How Long, How Long Blues/ I Want a Little Girl/ Jumpin' The Blues/ Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You/ Confessin' The Blues/ Sometimes I'm Happy)/ I COULD CARE LESS*/ JUMP FOR JOY/ THE TROUBLE WITH ME IS YOU/ I'LL NEVER SMILE AGAIN. Time: 58:49.

DOUBLE PLAY
DAVE FRISHBERG & JIM GOODWIN
ARBORS ARCD 19118

Dave Frishberg (p); Jim Goodwin (ct). Newport Beach, California. October 3-4, 1992.

RUSSIAN LULLABY/ EASY COME, EASY GO/ THERE AIN'T NO SWEET MAN THAT'S WORTH THE SALT OF MY TEARS/ ONE, TWO, BUTTON YOUR SHOE/ STAR DUST/ WILLIE THE WEEPER/ SHOESHINE BOY/ BLUE RIVER/ IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD/ ROSALIE/ MY KINDA LOVE/ SHOUT 'EM AUNT TILLIE/ THERE'S A CABIN IN THE PINES/ CLEMENTINE (FROM NEW ORLEANS)/ WININ' BOY/ SAY IT ISN'T SO/ DEAR OLD SOUTHLAND. Time: 67:18.

LOOKING AT YOU
REBECCA KILGORE & DAVE FRISHBERG
PHD 1004-CD (Available from Rebecca Kilgore, P.O. Box 13142, Portland Oregon 97213-- $16.50 incl. postage.)

Rebecca Kilgore (vcl); Dave Frishberg (p). Portland, Oregon, April 1993.

BRAZIL/ MARTHA/ THE DREAM PEDDLER/ THE TELEPHONE SONG/ IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING/ LULLABY IN RHYTHM/ OUR LOVE ROLLS ON/ ROBIN HOOD/ NAMELY YOU/ HUMMIN' TO MYSELF/ MY IDEAL/ LOOKING AT YOU/ PIEL CANELA/ AIN'T NO MISERY IN ME/ DETOUR AHEAD/ THERE AIN'T NO SWEET MAN THAT'S WORTH THE SALT OF MY TEARS. Time: 52:29.

NOT A CARE IN THE WORLD
REBECCA KILGORE AND DAVE FRISHBERG
ARBORS ARCD 19169

Rebecca Kilgore (vcl); Dave Frishberg (p); Dan Faehnle (g*). Portland, Oregon. November 21-22 & 28,1995.

MEDLEY* (Evenin'/ Topsy/ Swing, Brother, Swing)/ NOT A CARE IN THE WORLD/ A KISS TO BUILD A DREAM ON*/ MEDLEY* (Samba da Minha Terra/ So Danco Samba)/ ALL MY LIFE*/ AN OCCASIONAL MAN/ I'VE GOT A FEELIN' YOU'RE FOOLIN'*/ IN THE LAND OF OO-BLAH-DEE*/ MY MELANCHOLY BABY*/ NIGHT WIND/ BLAH, BLAH, BLAH/ MEDLEY (South American Way/ Say "Si Si")/ TALKIN' TO MYSELF ABOUT YOU*/ KISS AND RUN/ GEORGIA ON MY MIND*/ MEDLEY (Ballerina/ I Won't Dance)*/ THE GLOW-WORM. Time: 52:19.

I SAW STARS
REBECCA KILGORE & DAN BARRETT
ARBORS ARCD 19136

Rebecca Kilgore (vcl); Dan Barrett (tb, tp, ldr, arr); Scott Robinson (reeds); Chuck Wilson (as); Dave Frishberg (p); Bucky Pizzarelli (g); Michael Moore (b). NYC. April 13-14, 1994.

HAPPY AS THE DAY IS LONG/ SWEET SUBSTITUTE/ I SAW STARS/ FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE/ SAY IT ISN'T SO/ HE NEEDS ME/ JEEPERS CREEPERS/ NO LOVE. NO NOTHING/ EVERYTHING I HAVE IS YOURS/ EXACTLY LIKE YOU/ A LONELY COED/ THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER/ A FINE ROMANCE/ I'LL BE AROUND/ YOU CAN'T LOSE A BROKEN HEART/ SYMPHONY/ PRINCESS. Time: 60:51.

National treasure Dave Frishberg is a piano player, singer, songwriter, accompanist, and sideman. As these discs demonstrate, he's a master of all these trades. His piano playing ranges from stride to bop, although he generally comes down somewhere around Monk and McKenna. His most distinguishing characteristic is his good humor-- he never clowns, but there's a playfulness in his playing suggesting that he's entertaining himself as well as the audience.

Of these sessions, By Himself gives him the most latitude, and his solos are consistently imaginative. The "Kansas City" medley is a barrelhouse tour de force. The four vocal selections (plus My Swan Song) are his own compositions. There's a Bix influence in them, as there was in Hoagy Carmichael's songs, and Frishberg's singing recalls Hoagy. His lyrics mix nostalgia for integrity with Tom Lehrer wit. A long time ago, Frishberg and Bob Dorough wrote the classic I'm Hip, and the team is together again with the nicely sarcastic I Could Care Less.

For many years now, Minnesota-born Frishberg has been based in Portland, Oregon, a town he found comfortable for raising his children. That brought him together with Jim Goodwin, a native of Portland who returned home after years of playing trumpet and piano all over the world. On Double Play, Goodwin sticks to cornet, and his duets with piano inevitably recall the Armstrong-Hines combination of the 'twenties. The resemblance is enhanced by the selection of tunes and by Goodwin's staccato approach and his bending into the notes. Frishberg gets in the spirit with many Hines touches and a few nods to Jelly Roll Morton. Although Frishberg's most notable service as a sideman was with Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, before that he'd played with Bud Freeman, Wild Bill Davison, and Bobby Hackett-- his roots go very deep.

Frishberg first went to New York to accompany Carmen McRae, and another felicitous Portland encounter was with Rebecca Kilgore. Massachusetts-born Kilgore has been living in Portland for the last twenty years and performing there with many local groups, including duet gigs with Frishberg in a hotel lounge. Her voice is somewhat reminiscent of Julie London's and she is delightfully proficient in jazz idioms of the past and present. Looking at You and Not A Care in the World are less song programs with piano accompaniment than series of playful duets by two compatible musicians, a couple of decades ahead of those in the Frishberg-Goodwin set.

The PHD album has several re-workings of big band items, beginning with the Bing Crosby-Whiteman There Ain't No Sweet Man and going through Martha (Connee Boswell-Bob Crosby) and John Frigo's Detour Ahead (Mary Ann McCall- Herman) to Gene Roland's rarely heard Ain't No Misery in Me (Christy-Kenton). The Kilgore-Frishberg treatment of Lullaby in Rhythm recalls the good creations of Jackie & Roy in their Charlie Ventura days. The multilingual Kilgore sings in Portuguese on Brazil and Piel Canela, and she sings the French translation of It Might As Well Be Spring. Frishberg wrote the lovely ballad Our Loves Rolls On.

On several of the tracks in Not A Care in the World, Dan Faehnle adds variously rhythm guitar, tasteful solos, and chase choruses with Frishberg. The Basie medley that opens the disc sets a high standard that lasts all the way through. The good humor extends to the selections, as in the medley in which "Dance, ballerina, dance," is answered by I Won't Dance.

In the I Saw Stars album, Rebecca Kilgore is out front and Frishberg is one of the sidemen in Dan Barrett's "Celestial Six". That sterling aggregation has something of a John Kirby sound, and with the rock steady support of Michael Moore and Bucky Pizzarelli, it dispenses with a drummer. Kilgore's style converts smoothly into the role of band singer, and her good vocals are matched by good solos by all the participants, not least Dave Frishberg. Several of the tracks are all improvisation-- Exactly Like You is a swinging duet for just Kilgore and Pizzarelli, with Kilgore's guitar as well as her voice. They also share I'll Be Around with only Bucky on guitar. A final treat is Princess, which is Dave Brubeck's infectious The Duke, with lyrics added by Ruth Price. Kilgore easily steers through the changes, accompanied by Moore, Pizzarelli, and Frishberg.

These five albums display the versatility of Dave Frishberg, along with the charm of Jim Goodwin and the great talent of Rebecca Kilgore. Although they cover a wide range of decades and musical styles, there's an underlying compatibility. I appreciate for the first time the value in having a random play capability on my multidisc cd deck. Mixing tracks from all four sessions adds to the fun.