Guitarist Bill Banfield Debuts Intimate Solo Recital, “TAKE TIME TO LISTEN”

New album from Detroit’s Bill Banfield from Mesa/ Bluemoon Recordings – available now.

Jazz guitarist BILL BANFIELD‘s father just turned 100 years old. At a recent celebration, family and friends gathered virtually and in person to celebrate his life and ask his advice. Bill had been learning his father’s lessons for years, but a recent phone conversation led his dad to give him the title for his new Mesa/ Bluemoon Recordings album. As Bill tells it, he was speaking with his dad when he suddenly realized that he had something else that he needed to do. His father said, “Bill, I will talk to you, but you must TAKE TIME TO LISTEN.” The words hit Bill like a thunderbolt, as his album was designed as encouragement to concentrate on the stories found deep in his music. 

Bill opposes the sound bites of music presented on social media. He programmed the album’s songs like a live concert, where the music becomes a wordless conversation between the guitarist and his audience. Most of the tracks are first takes (without “punched-in” corrections) with minimal overdubbing. In addition to a generous collection of Banfield’s tuneful originals, the playlist draws from a wide range of pop classics like Sting’s “Fragile,” Elton John’s “Your Song,” and Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” along with jazz standards such as “Autumn Leaves,” “Summertime,” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Following the examples of great jazz interpreters, he hints at the well-known melodies rather than playing them verbatim, saying that it only takes a few notes to communicate the essence of a great song.

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