The ridiculously talented and eclectic Bill Frisell dips his toe into musical pond after musical pond, never getting wet, always looking for new horizons and new motivations. Recently his focus has been almost exclusively trained on the ’50s duo “Speedy” West and Jimmy Bryant, who were nominally country musicians but wouldn’t be out of place on a jazz bill (Bryant’s biggest influence was Django Reinhardt) except for the fact that both men are long dead. Bill Frisell is still a vibrating wire, however, and so he’s bringing a set of West/Bryant material to the Portland Jazz Festival, which kicks off tonight; Frisell’s in town on the 24th and 25th. (FULL ARTICLE: Paul de Barros, Seattle Times)