Bill Frisell, When You Wish Upon a Star, album review

When You Wish Upon a Star features Bill Frisell’s interpretations of film and television themes, some – like “Bonanza” and “Tales from the Far Side” – revealing fond memories of youthful gogglebox habits. He’s assisted by his jazz trio, expanded by the singer Petra Haden and violist Eyvind Kang – the latter effective in uncovering the Irish flavour of the lilting “To Kill a Mockingbird”, while Haden brings clarity and charm to “You Only Live Twice” and “When You Wish Upon a Star”, recalling Crystal Gayle’s work on One from the Heart. Frisell is meticulous throughout, never playing more than necessary, and slanting the arrangements to bring out the themes’ essential characters. The two major pieces are a three-part suite of Morricone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West”, which shifts between haunting, tense and elegiac, and a poignant 10-minute take on “The Godfather”.