Fred Frith

Artist

Fred Frith

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About

Born: 17th February 1949, Heathfield, England.

British composer, improviser and multi-instrumentalist, who has situated himself for more than thirty years in the area where rock music and new music meet.

Played in R & B groups at school and did solo folk club work from 1967-1969. Began exploratory musical activities with Tim Hodgkinson early in 1968 which led to the start Henry Cow.
Between times since then he has been involved with flautist Clive Bell in the Ritual Theatre, played guitar in Brecht-Weill productions, taught guitar and ran a jazz workshop at Cambridge tech.

Co-founder of the British underground band "Henry Cow" (1968-78), Frith moved to New York in the late seventies and came into contact with many of the musicians with whom he’s since been associated, for example; John Zorn; Ikue Mori; Tom Cora; Zeena Parkins and Bob Ostertag. Fourteen years in New York gave rise to groups like "Massacre" (with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher), "Skeleton Crew" (with Tom and Zeena), and "Keep the Dog", a sextet performing an extensive repertoire of Frith compositions.

In the eighties Frith began writing for dance, film, and theatre. This, in turn, led to his composing for "Rova Sax Quartet", "Ensemble Modern", "Asko Ensemble" and a number of other groups, including his own critically acclaimed "Guitar Quartet".

Best known world-wide as an improvisational guitarist, Frith has also performed in a variety of other contexts, playing bass in John Zorn’s "Naked City", violin in Lars Hollmer’s "Looping Home Orchestra" and guitar on recordings ranging from "The Residents" and René Lussier, to Brian Eno and Amy Denio. Frith was also the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzels’ award-winning documentary film "Step Across The Border".

He became Professor of Composition at Mills College in Oakland, California, near his home with photographer Heike Liss and their children, Finn and Lucia.

Data provided by Discogs

Top Tracks

Most popular songs on Last.fm · click ▶ to preview on Spotify

1

Norrgarden Nyvla

Fred Frith

2

Too Much Too Little

Fred Frith

3

Evolution

Fred Frith

4

Sparrow Song

Fred Frith

5

Hello Music

Fred Frith

Setlists

20 live performances · data from Setlist.fm

All · 20
2025
2024

Setlist data provided by Setlist.fm

December 12, 2025

The 4-Star Theater

San Francisco, California, United States


November 2, 2025

Fondazione Masini

Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy


November 1, 2025

OPOS

Milan, Lombardy, Italy


October 14, 2025

La Malterie

Lille, Hauts-de-France, France


September 16, 2025

The Bug Theatre

Denver, Colorado, United States

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Fred Frith's most-played tracks include Norrgarden Nyvla, Too Much Too Little, Evolution, Sparrow Song, Hello Music. Listen to these songs and explore more from their catalog on this page.

Born: 17th February 1949, Heathfield, England.British composer, improviser and multi-instrumentalist, who has situated himself for more than thirty years in the area where rock music and new music meet. Played in R & B groups at school and did solo f... Read the full biography on this page.

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