Bill Frisell - East/West
Keith Jarrett - Somewhere Before
Why would anyone want to cover a Dylan song without the lyrics? I suppose there's the pop notoriety - it's what led Wes Montgomery and George Benson to cover the Beatles. What led Miles Davis to record version after version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time." The audience "knows what to expect" when presented with pop material. But it can also be alienated if the presentation varies too greatly from these expectations.
So even without the lyrics, any artist covering Dylan has to shoulder the cultural baggage of the material. Or else let it carry them away.
Other than that they are both renditions of Dylan songs performed live by trios, today's selections could not be any more different. Bill Frisell, guitarist, tends to exert a lead role in his expansive take on "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," while Keith Jarrett, pianist, alternates with the bass player Charlie Haden between leading and comping in his take on "My Back Pages."
So even without the lyrics, any artist covering Dylan has to shoulder the cultural baggage of the material. Or else let it carry them away.
Other than that they are both renditions of Dylan songs performed live by trios, today's selections could not be any more different. Bill Frisell, guitarist, tends to exert a lead role in his expansive take on "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," while Keith Jarrett, pianist, alternates with the bass player Charlie Haden between leading and comping in his take on "My Back Pages."
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