Bill Frisell is bringing a brand-new five-piece band to Northern California this week, starting with a debut performance in Santa Cruz on Thursday before the group fans out to Berkeley, Grass Valley and Healdsburg over the following days. The ensemble, called Harmony Five, grew out of a quartet the guitarist assembled for his 2019 album Harmony, and it reunites him with longtime collaborators alongside one new face who has quickly become part of the family.
Frisell kicks off the run Thursday at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, according to the Mercury News, with singer Petra Haden, cellist Hank Roberts, Luke Bergman on guitars, bass and vocals, and drummer Tim Angulo rounding out the lineup. From there, the band moves to the Freight in Berkeley for two nights, Sept. 25-26, before a stop at the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley on Sept. 27 and a closing show at Healdsburg's Raven Performing Arts Theater on Sept. 29, per the San Francisco Chronicle.
Fans hoping to catch the 7 p.m. Santa Cruz show are out of luck — Kuumbwa Jazz Center lists that performance as sold out, though tickets remain available for a second, 9 p.m. set the same night. The Berkeley dates are priced between $54 and $74, according to the Mercury News, and advance tickets for the Sept. 26 show specifically run $54 for general admission and $69 for premium seating, per the Freight's own box office listing. The Healdsburg finale at the Raven is listed at $44 to $89 for its 7:30 p.m. start.
An Expansion, Not a Replacement
Harmony Five builds directly on the quartet that recorded Frisell's 2019 album Harmony, an ethereal, folk-tinged record that wove his original compositions together with songs by Stephen Foster, Lerner and Loewe, and Billy Strayhorn, the Mercury News reports. Frisell described the addition of a fifth member as a creative jolt rather than a tweak, saying that bringing in one new person puts a million possibilities in the ensemble, the outlet's report notes. He added that the new configuration will probably lean more instrumental even as it keeps its vocal identity, telling the paper, “There will still be all this singing, but probably more instrumentals.”
Kuumbwa Jazz Center's own description of the group frames the sound as blending jazz, traditional Americana and chamber music, while the Chronicle's report characterizes the new project as having jazz and Americana traditions at its core even as it expands on the 2019 band. The current members of Harmony Five reportedly first shared a stage together at Frisell's 75th birthday concert at the SFJazz Center in March, according to the Mercury News.
Decades of History Behind the New Name
The relationships underpinning Harmony Five stretch back decades. Frisell and Hank Roberts have collaborated since the mid-1980s, first recording together on Frisell's 1988 album Lookout for Hope, the Mercury News reports. Petra Haden's connection to Frisell runs deep too — the two launched their recorded partnership with an eponymous 2003 duo album and deepened it on Frisell's 2016 record When You Wish Upon a Star, according to the same report. Haden is also the daughter of bassist Charlie Haden, who recorded several times with Frisell over the years.
The lineup's newest member, drummer Tim Angulo, brings his own résumé from outside Frisell's usual circle. A graduate of the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific who went on to study at the New School in New York City, Angulo has performed around the Bay Area with trumpeters Ambrose Akinmusire and Ralph Alessi and with avant-pop artist L'Rain, the Mercury News reports. Frisell reportedly connected with Angulo through Akinmusire, with whom the guitarist also performs in the trio Owl Song. Angulo's arrival into that circle wasn't gradual — when Owl Song's drummer couldn't make a major Los Angeles gig at the last minute in 2023, Angulo stepped in and saved the show, according to the outlet.
What's Next for the Extended Circle
The Harmony Five tour is just one thread in a busy stretch for the musicians involved. Frisell is reportedly writing new music specifically for the band, per the Mercury News, suggesting the current shows may only be an early chapter for the expanded lineup. Meanwhile, one Northern California source, the Chronicle, notes that career-spanning claims about Frisell vary — Kuumbwa Jazz Center describes his career as spanning more than 45 years, while a Bandsintown listing puts it at more than 25 years and over 200 recordings, including 25 albums of his own.
For now, the focus stays local: four Northern California stages over six days, anchored by a guitarist who has spent decades building the kind of musical friendships that can suddenly expand into something new. Santa Cruz gets the first look Thursday, with Berkeley, Grass Valley and Healdsburg following before the week is out.
