Fred Frith’s solo improvisations are like narratives in sound or voyages of discovery. His main instrument is the guitar, but not as you know it—he manipulates his sound by sliding objects such as drum sticks, bows, metal objects and resonant bowls along, or placing them on or between, his guitar strings. He has been giving solo performances all over the world since releasing his album Guitar Solos in 1974.
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 starting to spread by 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 improvising with artists like John Zorn, Tom Cora and Bill Laswell. He has collaborated as a composer with some of the leading ensembles of modern music, such as Asko|Schönberg, the Arditti Quartet and Ensemble Modern.
‘An extraordinary sound source for decades, and he isn’t letting up’ (The Guardian).
‘At once familiar yet like nothing you’ve heard before or since’ (BBC).