Bill Frisell & Eyvind Kang Duet

In mid-March 2026, just before Big Ears began, Bill Frisell was celebrating his 75th birthday by doing exactly what has made him one of the most celebrated guitarists of the last half-century: playing. He had a theater gig in his hometown of Denver, built a band of all-star friends for San Francisco, did two nights at New York’s Lincoln Center with two distinct lineups. It was telling that, for almost all of those shows, Frisell was joined by bassist Luke Bergman and drummer Tim Angulo, a rhythm section several decades younger than him and with whom he has yet to release recordings. “I’m not sure if I feel 75,” Frisell said. “I really feel like I haven’t even started yet.” From his auspicious beginnings on ECM in the late ’70s to a four-decade collaboration with John Zorn starting in the late ’80s, from his tender but unsettled records for Nonesuch and Blue Note to his collaborations with Earth or Mary Halvorson or Julian Lage, Frisell is one of music’s most identifiable guitarists but unpredictable players, age be damned.

Frisell has played with the violist, composer, and improviser Eyvind Kang for more than three decades. Kang was part of Frisell’s sublime and explosive trio with Rudy Royston and the Big Sur Quintet that made the 2013 album of the same name. In 2010, working with oud master Rahim AlHaj, they debuted their Baghdad/Seattle Suite in Minneapolis. Kang is an ever-curious collaborator, who has played repeatedly with Sunn O))), recorded with Animal Collective, and worked with John Zorn, Mr. Bungle, and Billy Martin. His trademark, though, may be deep listening and response, as heard on a series of spellbinding records with his partner Jessika Kenney, or his 2025 album, Riparian, rendered on the 14-string viola d’amore. In this rather new duo, Frisell and King slowly swivel between long and luxurious drones, twinkling instrumental hymns, and a cover repertoire that includes a heart-rending “These Days.”