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Guitarists Bill Frisell and Bryan Sutton Headline First Improvised Roots Series Concert in Denver

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DENVER, CO—Denver bassist Greg Garrison, in association with trumpet luminary Ron Miles and Dazzle Jazz Club, has created a new concert series called the “Improvised Roots Series," which kicks off on July 16 and 17, 2011 at Dazzle. The series is designed to feature nationally known artists from the folk/bluegrass and jazz worlds performing together with some of Denver's finest open-minded improvisers. The first concerts feature a unique pairing of two Grammy winning guitarists performing alongside Garrison and Miles: Bill Frisell and Bryan Sutton. Garrison says, “I think the music we'll play will wind up being a really interesting cross section of American styles. Some bluegrass and folk tunes, some original compositions, and who knows what else. I've worked with Bryan a bunch with Chris Thile and on a couple of his own things, and Frisell and Ron are two of my biggest musical heroes, so I couldn't be more excited about what's going to happen on those two nights!"

Frisell is one of the most influential improvising musicians of the modern era, and his music seamlessly winds through the borders of many different styles. The New York Times says, “It's hard to a more fruitful meditation on American music than in the compositions of guitarist Bill Frisell. Mixing rock and country with jazz and blues, he's found what connects them: improvisation and a sense of play. “Over the years, Frisell has contributed to the work of such collaborators as Paul Motian, John Zorn, Elvis Costello, Ginger Baker, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainwright III, Van Dyke Parks, Vic Chesnutt, Rickie Lee Jones, Vinicius Cantuaria, Ronald Shannon Jackson and Melvin Gibbs (in “Power Tools"), Marianne Faithful, John Scofield, Jan Garbarek, Lyle Mays, Vernon Reid, Julius Hemphill, Paul Bley, Wayne Horvitz, Hal Willner, Robin Holcomb, Rinde Eckert, The Frankfurt Ballet, film director Gus Van Sant, Petra Haden and numerous others, including Bono, Brian Eno, Jon Hassell and Daniel Lanois. This work has established Frisell as one of the most sought-after guitar voices in contemporary music. The breadth of such performing and recording situations is a testament not only to his singular guitar conception, but his musical versatility as well. This, however, is old news by now. In recent years, it is Frisell's role as composer and band leader which has garnered him increasing notoriety. His most recent recording, Sign of Life, written for his 858 Quartet, was released on Savoy Records in April of this year.

Sutton is known as one of the top flatpicking guitarists in bluegrass and country music. He has toured and recorded with Charlie Haden, Doc Watson (with who he won a Grammy in 2007), Ricky Skaggs, Tim O'Brien, Harry Connick Jr., Chris Thile, and Béla Fleck. As a top call session guitarist in Nashville, he has been enlisted to play on recordings by the Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, and Jerry Douglas. He has been honored as the International Bluegrass Association Guitar Player of the Year five times, and his own solo recordings have received critical acclaim and Grammy nominations. Sutton seemed to come out of nowhere as part of Ricky Skaggs' return to bluegrass in 1997. Bluegrass Unlimited's review of Bluegrass Rules! took special note of his “spellbinding solos...[which] establish him as a musician who bears close scrutiny," while an appearance on Tina Adair's Just You Wait And See (Sugar Hill) led another reviewer to call him “a guitarist to be reckoned with."

Ron Miles' resume includes time with Bill Frisell, Don Byron, Charlie Hunter, and Madeline Peyroux. Besides being solicited all over the world for his unique sound, Ron is a staple of the Denver jazz scene and his recent releases as band leader show off his skills as an improviser, composer and arranger. According to Bill Frisell, “What is so exciting about Ron is that he really has his own voice. It seems like everything that is going on right now is either very conservative or it rejects everything. Ron has found a way to include everything and not reject things, and still be his own person." Miles said of his playing with Bill, “I think we share a fondness for striking melody, patience and the importance of individual timbre."

Perhaps best known as the original bassist and a founding member of the genre-bending bluegrass/chamber music band Punch Brothers as well as for his work Leftover Salmon, Greg Garrison has also performed and recorded with Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton, Jayme Stone, and Ron Miles. He has been an active performer in the Denver area music scene for many years, having shared the stage with John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Art Lande, Fred Hess, Vassar Clements, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Little Feat, Cracker, Peter Rowan, Moby, Nellie McKay and Del McCoury among others. He recently completed a DMA in Jazz Studies at the University of Colorado, where he focused on the connections between American improvised musical styles.

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