Fred Frith

Guitarist Fred Frith is one of the most celebrated and influential figures in the world of improvisational and avant-garde music. Capable of artful and technically skillful performances, he is also willing to approach the guitar in unconventional ways in pursuit of new sounds and unusual tonal colors. A thorough overview of his massive catalog is essentially impossible in a limited space, but 1974's Guitar Solos is a fine introduction to his improvisational work, 1983's Cheap at Half the Price puts a curious but wry spin on pop music, and 2023's Laying Demons to Rest was recorded with composer and trumpeter Susana Santos Silva. In 2024, Frith looked back to his solo debut with Guitar Solos/Fifty, which paired the original recordings with a batch of fresh material, and 2025's The Life and Behavior was drawn from unreleased collaborations with harpist Shelley Burgon.