LEWISTON – After Grammy-winning guitarist Bill Frisell performs center stage at the Newport Jazz Festival, he will head to the Maple Room for two intimate solo performances Friday, Aug. 15.

Frisell has become one of the contemporary jazz world’s most celebrated musicians, winning Best Guitarist of the Year accolades from Down Beat Magazine seven of the past 10 years. The Jazz Journalist Association named him 2008 Guitarist of the Year. His 2005 CD “Unspeakable” won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

Over the past decade, Frisell has launched an extensive exploration of the American songbook and Americana, releasing praised CDs on Nonesuch Records that blend jazz, country, bluegrass, blues and pop. He has recorded the songs of Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach, Bob Dylan, Aaron Copland and Muddy Waters.

He has written three scores for the classic silent films of Buster Keaton and has collaborated with artists as diverse as bluegrass great Jerry Douglas, rock drummer Jim Keltner and jazz diva Cassandra Wilson.

“For over ten years, Bill Frisell has quietly been the most brilliant and unique voice to come along in jazz since Wes Montgomery,” according to Stereophile magazine. Spin Magazine compares him to musical mavericks Jimi Hendrix and Thelonius Monk, calling him quite simply “a guitar genius.”

Showtimes are 5:30 and 8 p.m., open to all ages. Tickets, $35, are available online at www.themapleroom.info. The 80-seat Maple Room is at 22 Park St. For more information, call 1-866-901-1036.

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