To celebrate his 75th birthday, guitar legend Bill Frisell is embarking on a major birthday tour. With his unmistakable sound, he has left his mark on music history and continues to thrill his audiences to this day. For the concert at the Schauspiel Leipzig, Frisell will be joined on stage by two like-minded partners: Luke Bergman and Tim Agula.

How do you create a one-in-a-million sound? If Bill Frisell is to be believed, it starts with being true to yourself and not hiding your own preferences. And he should know: His style is admired worldwide, and his guitar playing—which encompasses both delicate, nuanced chords and ethereal, lingering moods—is instantly recognizable from the very first notes. 

To mark his 75th birthday, Bill Frisell is embarking on a major birthday tour, which almost makes a brief retrospective a must. After all, the guitar virtuoso, who grew up in Denver, can look back on an exciting career full of transformations and curiosity.

But Frisell had to take a few detours before he found his own voice. Influenced by Wes Montgomery, he took up the guitar as a child. None other than the guitar innovator Jim Hall would later become his teacher in Boston. With his move to New York and a few groundbreaking encounters, a shift away from traditional jazz gradually began to take shape. 

Through the ECM label head Manfred Eicher, he met drummer Paul Motian, who would remain a close collaborator until Motian’s death. He also began a fruitful collaboration with free jazz avant-gardist John Zorn. He experimented with effects pedals, loops, and reverb, and developed specific techniques such asneck-bending andsustained notes intohis signature style. His constant search for new collaborators led him not only to jazz and pop greats like Ginger Baker and Marianne Faithfull, but also to Wim Wenders and Gus Van Sant. 

And to this day, he shows no signs of tiring. His two stage partners, with whom he will grace the stage in Leipzig, are no mere supporting actors either: “So much to look forward to. Adventures to come. Luke and Tim are my teachers.”

Previously: Norma Winstone & Kit Downes