Bill Frisell: ‘In My Dreams’

There are some musicians who can only be described as legends, and Bill Frisell is one of those. His new album - ‘In My Dreams’ - takes him on a new adventure with a group of trusted musical collaborators.

Out today, In My Dreams brings the guitarist together with a unique sextet: Jenny Scheinman (violin); Eyvind Kang (viola); Hank Roberts (cello); Thomas Morgan (bass); and Rudy Royston (drums). Although Frisell has worked with them all before, this is their first project together.

Frisell has spoken about a dream that transformed the way he thinks about music and his instrument, chasing the ideal of purity and vibrancy he experienced that evening. He says: “There have been times, over the years, where I’d be playing with these guys and it felt like I was approaching that dream I had all those years ago, where all that music was happening simultaneously.”

The brief opening track Trapped in the Sky features the remarkable string section and serves as an introduction that leads into When We Go, with plucked strings juxtaposed with Frisell’s guitar in an effortless combination with the jazz trio.

Although my reviews rarely discuss album tracks in order, there are times when the music makes that necessary. The third, title, track begins with Frisell’s guitar and it seems to be the real perfecting of this sextet. It makes sense that this was one of the early singles released in advance. Perhaps In My Dreams of all the tunes sums up this purity and vibrancy the initial dream had heralded.

On tunes like Hard Times, Frisell’s guitar wends its way between the string melodies, while simultaneously creating links to the jazz trio context with which we are perhaps more familiar. By the time we reach Home on the Range, the conclusion of this delightful album seems to combine all the elements of Frisell’s dreamscape in collaboration. A false end takes us back into the dream of this sextet, away from the original tune.

The core tracks were recorded live in 2025, at concerts in Brooklyn, Denver and New Haven: the additional studio work is combined into a flawless whole that brings In My Dreams into the light and reality.

‘In My Dreams’ is released on Blue Note on 27 February 2026