Guitar in the Space Age!

Bill Frisell has never been one to paint himself into a corner because he always repaints the corner as he enters, creating a new sonic landscape. On Guitar in the Space Age!, the man whose catalog includes jazz, R&B, world music, blues, country and film scores, is back with a tribute to the songs that helped solidify his love of music growing up in the 1950s. Pete Seeger's “Turn, Turn, Turn” is given a more laid-back, almost dreamlike feel, while The Beach Boys' “Surfer Girl” maintains the romantic thrust of the original and adds an unexpectedly palpable sense of yearning for the past. “The Shortest Day” is one of two original tracks, and it has an easygoing Americana vibe that would have fit perfectly with Frisell's 1999 Good Dog, Happy Man album. The other original, “Lift Off,” is the album's most subdued number, seen through an adolescent Frisell's eyes as he looks skyward and tries to imagine rockets flying to the moon. Frisell's take on The Kinks' “Tired of Waiting for You” is the album's most perfect track, ironically playing into the song's theme of impatience with his penchant for wandering exploration. It is a clever trick, one that shows—as does the rest of the album—why Frisell is a master guitarist.