To some, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell is known for tastefulness and restraint.

New Orleans is … not. “Yeah,” he acknowledges with, well, tasteful restraint, carried by a slight, genial chuckle.

That, though, might be unfair to both Frisell and New Orleans. Well, at least to him. “Yeah,” he says again, the chuckle fading a bit.

“Oh,” he says, measuring his words and tone on a video cha...