Fred Frith is a pioneer of the extended electric guitar. He learned to compose in Henry Cow, developed his song-writing skills in Art Bears, explored his multi-instrumentalism in Skeleton Crew, rocked the house with Massacre and is still doing all of those things, having been in one band or another continuously since 1964.

Meanwhile his work has been performed by ensembles, string quartets, chamber orchestras, and a whole range of groups and artists in the ever-expanding field of semi-popular music. Fred composes extensively for film and dance, and taught improvisation for years at Mills College in Oakland, California and the Musik Akademie in Basel, Switzerland. 

His passion for improvising, evident from the beginning, has increasingly led him to work with artists who don’t necessarily define themselves as improvisers. 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Fred’s pioneering first  record, Guitar Solos, but this is his first ever visit to Latvia.

Frith has been described as “an avant-garde giant” by Chicago Reader and hailed as “revered” and “highly influential” by The Village Voice. 

Frith is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel’s much-loved Step Across the Border, cited by Cahiers du Cinéma as one of the 20th century’s hundred most influential films.

He has collaboration with the following people who’ve previously also played at Skaņu Mežs: John Butcher, Lotte Anker, Phil Minton, Irvine Arditti, Evan Parker and Anthony Braxton. 

Supported by Trust for Mutual Understanding.