| Summary: | "To say the least, the relationship between John Lennon and the United States was no walk in the park. In 1971, just after the break-up of the Beatles, the self-proclaimed ""working class hero"" arrived in the self-proclaimed ""land of the free."" A year later, he received a deportation order. The pretext? An arrest, years earlier, for drug possession. The reality? The FBI was keeping a suspicious eye on the star's ""revolutionary activities."" Despite injunctions, Lennon and Yoko Ono would resist until his assassination in 1980 outside his Central Park West apartment building ... Four decades later, the Jazz à la Villette Festival asked Bill Frisell to take on some of Lennon's music. When the most American of jazz guitarists pays homage to the icon known for his anti-American sentiments, it can't help being symbolic. A posthumous reconciliation between the song writer from Liverpool and American tradition, rising from the depths of this conquering nation whose excesses he so often denounced. With dedication, mastery and a peaceful presence, Frisell and his musicians, including the brilliant Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar (the Country instrument par excellence), shed unexpected light on Lennon's repertoire, including ""Strawberry Fields Forever"", ""In my Life"" and the pacifist anthem ""Imagine"". In this way, they consecrate his timeless dimension, granting the artist the dual nationality he was never able to secure during his lifetime. Michaël Patin"
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