Chris Batchelor's Strange Meeting - The Music of Bill Frisell

Chris Batchelor - trumpet
Margrit Hasler - viola
John Parricelli - guitar
Dave Whitford - double bass

East Side goes Far Side!

Lots of the repertoire is from Frisell's Quartet record and the soundtrack he did to a Gary Larson Far Side animation.

Strange Meeting was formed in 2023 to explore the distinctive, fluid and witty music of guitarist Bill Frisell. The band cover a range of Frisell’s stylistically varied output, including pieces from the albums In Line, This Land, Good Dog Happy Man, but with a particular focus on repertoire from the 1996 album Quartet.

Considered one of Frisell’s finest recordings, Quartet features the unusual instrumentation of guitar, violin, trumpet and trombone and a unique balance of intricate arrangements and collective improvisation. Many of the album’s compositions were written for Gary Larson’s surreal animation Tales From the Far Side.

John Parricelli and Chris Batchelor have a long history going back to the 1980’s as founder members of Loose Tubes. Recently they have reunited alongside violist Margrit Hasler in Batchelor’s chamber jazz group Zoetic, releasing their debut CD Telling The Tale. Completing the quartet with his warm sound and melodic approach is double bassist Dave Whitford.