Not many words were said from the Largo at the Coronet stage Tuesday night. Armed with a new trio featuring frequent collaborator Kenny Wollesen on drums and celebrated New York pianist Jason Moran, guitarist Bill Frisell was mostly mum apart from some humorously incredulous comments regarding Hank Williams being awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize (taking issue with the timing, not the honor).

Of course, given what was transpiring, there really wasn’t much that needed to be said. Though celebrating the country legend isn’t a surprise move for Frisell, an innovative player who’s been constructing a rather beautiful bridge between the worlds of instrumental jazz and country for years. But what was a welcome treat was hearing Frisell stretch out in ways that moved well beyond his usually elegant, Americana-informed comfort zone.

Driven in no small part by the ever-restless Moran and Wollesen, who has played with the raucous New York jazz party-band Sex Mob, Frisell showed a different side from last year's performance of the rustic chamber-jazz of his compelling Disfarmer project. Instead,  the veteran guitarist flexed the searching and dissonant playing that lay at his roots with downtown New York fixtures such as Joey Baron and John Zorn.

There seems to be a perception in modern jazz that free playing must be harsh and grating or at least difficult to absorb on first listen. With a number of inside-out improvisations mixed with respectfully reshuffled standards, this jazz guitar summit between 50-year veteran Jim Hall and Americana-dusted experimentalist Bill Frisell dispels that notion.

The sprawling two-CD package offers a set of home-recorded duo explorations and another with Hall and Frisell backed by a sympathetic rhythm section. The pairing is most striking when the players allow their most unfettered whims room to flower, such as on the 15-minute spacescape, "Migration." Frisell's effects-pedal orchestra forms a hypnotic backdrop for Hall's most atmospheric impulses, while drummer Joey Baron adds a few unexpected rumbles and textures to the quartet's session.

Mostly, this bright, elegant collection sounds like everyone is trying desperately not to wake the neighbors as the two gracefully intertwining guitars lead the way. The results are warmly intimate if somewhat monochromatic, but it's an undeniably appealing color.

-Chris Barton

Jim Hall & Bill Frisell
"Hemispheres"
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* * * (three stars)