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William Richard "Bill" Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is a North American jazz guitarist, progressive folk musician and composer. Frisell uses a wide range of effects (delay, distortion, reverb, octave shifters, and volume pedals, to name a few) to create unique sounds from his instrument.

Frisell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent most of his youth in the Denver, Colorado area and went to the University of Northern Colorado to study music. His original guitar teacher in the Denver area was Dale Bruning, with whom Frisell has released a duo album. After graduating from Northern Colorado, where he studied with Johnny Smith, Frisell went to Berklee School of Music in Boston and studied with Jim Hall. This experience was to make a lasting impression on his playing.

Frisell's major break came when Pat Metheny, unable to make a session, recommended him to Paul Motian, then playing for ECM Records. Frisell became ECM's in-house guitar player, and worked on several albums, most notably Jan Garbarek's 1981 Paths, Prints. Frisell's first solo release was In Line, and was solo guitar except for some tracks featuring Arild Andersen on bass.