Frisell heading to the Englert Theatre

Keeping an open mind is integral for adventurous musicians like Bill Frisell.

The versatile jazz guitarist never would have guessed he would record duet albums with Petra Haden when he started working with her father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden, in 1981.

“Petra was so young when I recorded with her father,” Frisell said while calling from his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment. “She was just a kid (who was 10) at the time. When we started playing together (during the late ’90s) it felt like we knew each other for a long time.”

Haden is an accomplished vocalist and Frisell a guitar virtuoso.

“We work together very well,” Frisell said. “We can do a Stevie Wonder song. We can do whatever. There's no parameters. A lot of that comes from growing up with Charlie, who could play anything. Charlie grew up playing country music. Anything goes with Petra and I.”

Frisell, 71, and Haden, 51, who will perform Saturday night at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, will surprise and engage the audience.

“I’ve always loved playing out,” Frisell said. “I have the greatest job, since I get to embrace all types of music.”

He’s an underappreciated prolific chameleon, who has had no problem veering from jazz to rock to country to R&B.

“Music is music,” he said. “I enjoy all of it.”

Like many boomers, Frisell was inspired after catching the Beatles during their “Ed Sullivan Show” debut in 1964.

“I was just 12 at the time, but what I experienced on the television that night was super inspiring,” he said. “The Beatles inspired so many people. You just wanted to make music.”

One of his favorite projects is 2011’s “All We Are Saying …,” which is a hat tip to the Beatles and John Lennon. Frisell interprets Fab Four tunes and Lennon solo tracks in a fascinating manner. The album is neither a rock or a jazz project. Frisell lovingly explores Lennon’s material in a fresh manner, particularly with a novel take on “Beautiful Boy,” “In My Life” and “Revolution.”

“That album was a labor of love,” Frisell said. “I was paying the Beatles back for the impact they had on my life. When I saw them on ‘Ed Sullivan,’ that was a life changer. I had a guitar and I was thinking about playing the guitar. But it wasn’t just me who was inspired — it was the whole Earth.”

Frisell is inspired by living in the vibrant section of Brooklyn known as Flatbush. He lived in New York at the peak of its avant-garde music scene in the ’80s. By 1988, Frisell dialed down the stimulation by moving to Seattle.

“I needed to catch my breath, since New York back then became too much for me,” he said. “I wanted to be in a place in which I could take stock of things. Seattle was the perfect place. There was an energy. It was a super-creative environment, but it’s not in your face like New York. But I’m happy to be back here and glad to be productive.”

Frisell is always creating. The laid-back Baltimore native has played on nearly 100 albums.

“That’s just what I do,” he said. “This is my passion. It’s funny, because sometimes I think I’m dreaming to be able to do this for a living.”

Iowa connection

Frisell often drove through Iowa as a child, but has seldom performed in the Hawkeye state.

“My grandparents lived in Minnesota, and we would drive through Iowa when I was a kid,” he said. “But I've only played Iowa a few times during my career, which is strange. I’ve played the Iowa City Jazz Festival, but not many shows.

“I’m overdue for a performance in the state I’ve driven through so many times, especially as a recording artist. It’s about time I get back to Iowa.”