Bill Frisell and Skúli Sverrisson | ©Jordan Kleinman
“I’ve never been at a session like the one that we had in June of 2017 with Skúli Sverrisson and Bill Frisell,” says Newvelle Records co-founder Elan Mehler. “With Skúli and Bill there’s a shared internal language — a sense of inevitable logic — hypnotizing and surreal.”
Originally released as part of Newvelle Records’ third season of subscription vinyl, Sverrisson and Frisell’s exquisite album Strata brings together two poets of modern jazz for a program that resonates with beauty, mystery and imagination. Sverrisson, a composer and bass guitarist, is an Icelandic jazz icon. He has appeared on more than 100 recordings by international artists, including American trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and the rock experimentalist Lou Reed. In 2005, Sverrisson founded Seria, an ensemble featuring Amedeo Pace, Ólöf Arnalds, David Thor Jonsson, Anthony Burr, Eyvind Kang and Hildur Guðnadóttir. The group’s self-titled album from 2006 won the Icelandic Music Awards for Best Album of the Year.
Bill Frisell, whose career as a pathbreaking guitarist spans more than 40 years, is one of today’s leading voices in jazz, with a style that merges modern jazz with elements of folk, early rock and roll, country music, bluegrass, Americana and the avant-garde. With more than 35 albums as a leader, Frisell has carved a path for himself through the modern jazz landscape with a guitar sound that is pure, shimmering and richly hued. When their voices intertwine, Frisell and Sverrisson create an entrancing musical dialogue that tracks between dreamy, ethereal landscapes and penetrating counterpoint.
Strata will receive special re-release as a single on April 13 for Record Store Day. Below, we present a video of Frisell and Sverrisson performing “Afternoon Variant,” and we are proud to partner with Newvelle to offer this exclusive link to purchase the album before its official re-release date. This exclusive offer will only be available until Friday, April 12, so act now.
