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Fred Frith

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith has been making noise of one kind or another for almost 50 years, starting with the iconic rock collective Henry Cow, which he co-founded with Tim Hodgkinson in 1968.

Fred is best known as a pioneering electric guitarist and improviser, song-writer, and composer for film, dance and theater. Through bands like Art Bears, Massacre, Skeleton Crew, Keep the Dog, the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet and Cosa Brava, he has stayed close to his roots in rock and folk music while branching out in many other directions.

Composing for dance throughout his long career, Fred has worked with Rosalind Newman and Bebe Miller in New York, François Verret and Catherine Diverrès in France, and Amanda Miller and the Pretty Ugly Dance Company over the course of many years in Germany, as well as composing for two documentary films on the work of Anna Halprin.

Theater credits include the Creation Company in New York and François-Michel Pesenti’s Théâtre du Point Aveugle in Marseille, where he spent six months in 1990 working with “jeunes rockers en chômage des quartiers défavorisés” (young unemployed rock musicians from the ghettos) on the opera Helter Skelter.

His compositions have been performed by ensembles ranging from Arditti Quartet and the Ensemble Modern to Concerto Köln and Galax Quartet, from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to ROVA and Arte Sax Quartets, from rock bands Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Ground Zero to the Glasgow Improvisers’ Orchestra.

Film music credits include the acclaimed documentaries Rivers and Tides, Touch the Sound and Leaning into the Wind, directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer, The Tango Lesson, Yes and The Party by Sally Potter, Werner Penzel’s Zen for Nothing, Peter Mettler’s Gods, Gambling and LSD, and the award-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Last Day of Freedom, by Nomi Talisman and Dee Hibbert-Jones.

Fred has performed works by and sometimes alongside composers John Luther Adams, Gavin Bryars, Sylvie Courvoisier, Alvin Curran, George Lewis, René Lussier, Jose Maceda, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, and Christian Wolff; improvised with Paolo Angeli, Lotte Anker, Derek Bailey, Chris Brown, Lol Coxhill, Chris Cutler, Janet Feder, Joëlle Léandre, Miya Masaoka, Phil Minton, Ikue Mori, Butch Morris, Bob Ostertag, Evan Parker, Zeena Parkins, and Camel Zekri, to name a few; collaborated with classical virtuosi Evelyn Glennie, Katia Labèque, Viktoria Mullova, and Werner Bärtschi; and—as session musician—recorded on albums by, for example, Brian Eno, The Residents, Robert Wyatt, The Swans, Violent Femmes, Material, Negativland, John Zorn, Matthew and the Unfortunates, and Half Japanese.

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Album Review

Susana Santos Silva, Fred Frith: Laying Demons To Rest

Read "Laying Demons To Rest" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Un unico ampio brano di quasi quarantadue minuti copre questo album inciso dal vivo a Mulhouse a fine agosto 2021. Vi trova posto la più lapalissiana, eloquente, paradigmatica improvvisazione senza rete che sia lecito immaginarsi, del tutto consequenziale per quello che è il rito di questo tipo di pratica musicale. Nonostante i due musicisti siano divisi da trent'anni (esatti: il chitarrista inglese è del '49, la trombettista portoghese del '79) e di conseguenza, del tutto prevedibilmente, da esperienze largamente differenti, ...

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Album Review

Fred Frith - Susana Santos Silva: Laying Demons To Rest

Read "Laying Demons To Rest" reviewed by John Sharpe


It seems Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva is riding the crest of a wave, following acclaimed collaborations with the likes of saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Mats Gustafsson and pianist Kaja Draksler. It is a trajectory only likely to be reinforced by her alliance with British guitarist Fred Frith on Laying Demons To Rest. They've been playing together since at least 2018, with Silva an occasional guest with Frith's trio, as documented on Road (Intakt, 2021). But that in no way ...

Album Review

Fred Frith, Ikue Mori: A Mountain Doesn't Know It's Tall

Read "A Mountain Doesn't Know It's Tall" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Elettronica a gogo in questo album inciso oltre sei anni fa, nel gennaio 2015, a Esslingen, sud-ovest tedesco, tra due degli improvvisatori più radicali (ma per altri versi anche sufficientemente versatili, visti i molteplici terreni toccati nelle loro ormai lunghe carriere) in circolazione, Fred Frith, classe 1949, da Heathfield, East Sussex, e Ikue Mori, classe 1953, da Tokio. Le coordinate del lavoro possono essere a questo punto anche piuttosto intuibili, e in effetti non ci si discosta ...

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Festivals Talking

Moers Festival Interviews: Fred Frith

Read "Moers Festival Interviews: Fred Frith" reviewed by Martin Longley


The Moers Festival in Germany celebrates its 50th anniversary during this year's edition, between 21st and 24th of May. The English guitarist Fred Frith was always a frequent player at this festival, particularly during the 1980s, whether with Massacre, Skeleton Crew or playing bass with John Zorn's Naked City. In comparatively more recent years, he appeared with the Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie (2013) and led his own Gravity Band (2014). Now it's time for a return, so Frith will be ...

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Interview

Ariele Monti: la filosofia inclusiva di Area Sismica

Read "Ariele Monti: la filosofia inclusiva di Area Sismica" reviewed by Libero Farnè


A Ravaldino in Monte, pochi chilometri a sud di Forlì, in una rustica e isolata casa di campagna ai piedi delle colline romagnole, per la precisione una Casa del Popolo costruita nel 1947, ha sede Area Sismica, uno dei locali più vivaci, autentici e accoglienti in cui ascoltare musica dal vivo con poche preclusioni di genere. Il circolo è gestito da un'Associazione di Promozione Sociale senza fini di lucro, attiva dal 1991 ma trasferitasi nel 2001 in questa sede, allestita ...

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Album Review

Davis - Frith - Greenlief: Lantskap Logic

Read "Lantskap Logic" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Guitarist Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Massacre, Arte Quartett) is one the earth's greatest improvisers. He is joined on Lantskap Logic by a pair of attuned futurists--pipe organist, educator Evelyn Davis (Cheer Accident), and saxophonist/composer Phillip Greenlief (They Might Be Giants)--to record this album at the Mills College chapel, which houses the pipe organ, and seemed to be an ideal venue for this rather utopian electro-acoustic musical event. Soon after this recording, Frith retired from his position as Professor ...

Radio & Podcasts

Fred Frith Solo Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam

Read "Fred Frith Solo Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam" reviewed by BIMHUIS


Since the 1960s, composer and multi-instrumentalist Fred Frith has been blurring the borders between rock, folk, improvisation and contemporary music. His influence as an artist was already evident in the early seventies, first as a result of his work with the innovative British rock band Henry Cow and later with Brian Eno. He moved to New York at the end of that decade, and began collaborating with artists like John Zorn, Tom Cora and Bill Laswell. He has worked as ...

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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Fred Frith

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Fred Frith

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, let's have a look at some videos featuring guitarist Fred Frith, who's coming to St. Louis to perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, December 14 at Joe's Cafe. While he's in town, he also will present a free master class on Sunday, December 15 at the 14th St. Artists Collective in north St. Louis. Fred Frith, who turned 70 this year, was born in Sussex, England and first came to wide attention in ...

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Event

Brilliant Corners Brings Four Days Of Jazz To Belfast

Brilliant Corners Brings Four Days Of Jazz To Belfast

Source: Ian Patterson

Hello and welcome to the third edition of Brilliant Corners! You seem to be enjoying our little festival and we’re delighted to be back with another stellar line-up. The four-day event is better than ever, meshing local talent with international contemporaries. We’ve the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra, Fred Frith, Troyka, Get The Blessing, together with performances from local musicians and bands including Steve Davis’ ‘Human’, Meilana Gillard Quartet, Robocobra Quartet, Dave Stockard & Edward Lucas, and a very special ‘Guitar ...

Event

Fred Frith & Friends Play Gravity

Fred Frith & Friends Play Gravity

Source: Dominique Leone

FRED FRITH & Friends play GRAVITY Saturday, Aug. 25 @ SLIM'S 333 11th St, San Francisco, CA (415) 255-0333 Doors 8:00 pm, Music 9:00 pm PRICE: $20 (Dinner and admission: $44.95) Imagine a world where dance, rock, punk and DIY music, experimental classical, prog and free improvisation mix like rogue strains of cultural DNA. Think of an environment where anything is game for musical consumption, and musicians and listeners cross paths in ...

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Interview

Multi-Instrumentalist/Composer Fred Frith Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Multi-Instrumentalist/Composer Fred Frith Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz

Since emerging in the 1970s with the fearless British group Henry Cow, multi-instrumentalist Fred Frith has built a career that's as comfortable in the realm of contemporary classical music as it is the equally innovative arena of free improvisation. From collaborations with John Zorn to his latest “rock" group, Cosa Brava, Frith refuses to sit still; instead, constantly mining the farthest reaches of musical style for a personal amalgam that's as far-reaching globally as it is intimate in its reflection ...

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Interview

Anthony Braxton & Fred Frith Interviews

Anthony Braxton & Fred Frith Interviews

Source: All About Jazz


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Performance / Tour

NEC Presents Music of Guitarist/Improviser Fred Frith, Sept. 20 in Jordan Hall

NEC Presents Music of Guitarist/Improviser Fred Frith, Sept. 20 in Jordan Hall

Source: All About Jazz

Free Concert Features, Frith on Guitar, NEC Contemporary Improv Students, Callithumpian Consort New England Conservatory will present an evening of music by Fred Frith, September 20 at 8 p.m. in NEC's Jordan Hall. The concert features students from NEC's Contemporary Improvisation Department, who along with members of the Callithumpian Consort will present structured improvisations, chamber pieces, and songs by Fred Frith. Frith himself will be featured on guitar, as well as other instruments. The concert is free and open to ...

“Few contemporary musicians have explored as many different – and frequently overlapping – genres as Fred Frith: traditional folk, indie rock, free improv, chamber composition, po-mo retro, graphic scores, and several…that may not have a name yet.” Art Lange, Point of Departure (USA)

“At once familiar yet like nothing you’ve heard before or since.” Peter Marsh, BBC

“An extraordinary sound source for decades, and he isn’t letting up.” John Fordham, Guardian

“It might be…useful, perhaps, to think of him as a folk musician who makes miniatures of the world around him using scraps torn from corners of the map.” Mark Dery (Guitar Player) (USA)

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Amy E. Denio
multi-instrumentalist
Ignaz Schick
saxophone
Tom Weeks
guitar, electric

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A Mountain Doesn't...

Intakt Records
2021

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Lantskap Logic

Clean Feed Records
2018

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Everybody's...

Clean Feed Records
2016

buy

Another Day in...

Intakt Records
2016

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Backscatter Bright...

Intakt Records
2014

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