Fred Frith is touring again in 2022. Back in March he did several shows in Europe with Jordan Glenn and Jason Hoopes in the Fred Frith Trio. This trio has been playing together since 2013. COVID got in the way, of course, but the group still managed to release a double live CD in 2021 called Road on Intakt Records.

The FF Trio is back on the road in June/July for a short US west coast tour. They kicked this off last Thursday at The Ivy Room in Albany CA (near Berkeley). I got to see this show, and I will be writing about it soon as part of my video interview with Jordan and Jason. For now, let me just quote a friend of mine at the show who turned to me after the trio finished their first number and simply said “WOW”! They’ve added compositional elements to their work which give the improv sections more punch than I remember from previous performances. Their entire set seemed much heavier … more rockin. More of what I love. There are only a few more chances to see this for yourself, so don’t miss these remaining shows:

2022-06-24 Los Angeles, Zebulon FF Trio

2022-07-02 Portland, Kelly's Olympian FF Trio / TWANS

2022-07-03 Seattle, Royal Room FF Trio / Sheridan Riley-Wayne Horvitz-Neil Welch

Fred Frith Trio at The Ivy Room 16 June 2022

The day before the show at the Ivy Room, Fred and I spent some time exchanging email about his plans for the rest of 2022. Enjoy the interview below, and you can always find updated concert information for Fred at his website.

http://www.fredfrith.com/blog/

RR: How did the Trio tour back in March go?

FF: The tour was great, but intense (12 concerts in 14 days in 9 countries, so a lot of travel) and Jordan tested positive for Covid on entry into Tel Aviv, so he ended up having to stay there for a week while we carried on without him which was pretty frustrating. He was ably replaced by Sam Dühsler and Tom Malmendier who are both good friends and great drummers, but it’s not the same, obviously. We had started to prepare some composed material for the first time and that kinda went out of the window until the very end of the tour (we’ll be presenting it on our West coast tour coming up). But looking back it went remarkably well, with the beginning of the Ukraine war casting a long shadow and friends I expected to meet having Covid at the last minute, and all of that. Jesus. Interesting times to say the least…

RR: Also during COVID, the Trio released a live CD. How did that come together, and how was the process different because of COVID?

FF: Yeah, covid did afford us the time to do a lot of things that would have otherwise been on the back burner - I did a lot of digital archiving of old files for example, and created a database of every concert I’ve done since 1973! And I took the time to listen to a vast number of cassettes and create a double live CD of Skeleton Crew (1982-1986) - would never have happened except through lockdown! So by comparison the live Trio double CD was not a lot of work - we had excellent recordings, including with our guests Susana Santos Silva and Lotte Anker, and it kind of compiled itself really! But the most important answer to your question about Covid, is , I believe, that it has meant we’ve all listened a lot more, and hopefully become better listeners, and learned how to look and see and listen and hear. This has been hugely inspiring.

RR: One last thing about COVID.

Did you enjoy any "free time" or was it mostly dread about an unknown future? Did you receive much support, from government or elsewhere?

FF: I absolutely enjoyed the slowed down pace, the chance to do things I never got around to before, the weekly bird walks on the coast, and the kindness and presence of friends, the deepening of friendships. Also of course dealing with losses and goodbyes. And the general unraveling of sanity. I did receive some support from various sources, when I was truly in need, as many of us did, I believe. I have been touched by the generosity of all kinds that I have experienced during these last two years.

RR: Back to the Trio ... how does this upcoming short west coast tour in June/July feel different for you. Is there something you look forward to the most, or the least? Has your bond with Jason and Jordan changed given the "interesting times" of your March tour?

FF: It’s different inasmuch as organizing a string of gigs in the USA is always challenging, conditions here being so much inferior to just about anywhere else we visit! At least there’s never any question that this will be about money! This is all about love, and the chance to play for audiences we cross paths with relatively seldom. And about emerging from our covid cocoons. We’ve been rehearsing every other week. It feels good, always. We are nothing if not road warriors! The thing is, Jordan and Jason are very busy people with their own wonderful projects, which means a) I’m delighted they have stuck with me all these years and b) I’m very excited alway...

An entire issue of this gazette could be easily devoted to the extensive, half-century career of guitarist Fred Frith, from his work as a founding member of Henry Cow to other ensembles (Art Bears, Massacre, Skeleton Crew), his solo work and dozens of collaborations. Now retired as a full-time college instructor, he has lately turned his attention to a trio with bassist Jason Hoopes and drummer Gordon Glenn he has had going since 2013, with two earlier Intakt albums under their belt.

This expansive, wide-ranging double-CD is their first live album. Known for his unique guitars and technique (using toys, found objects, live sampling), this time Frith deploys a specially-designed guitar made for upper registers, creating an extraordinary vocabulary of sounds.

The first disc, a set for the Weekend Festival in Köln in October 2019, is based around seven-part "Lost Weekend" (note the lovely pun), which includes striking contrasts such as sections of screeching and shuttering string noise over cymbal crashes ("Lost Weekend 1"), quiet guitar along with howling in tongues ("3") and spidery guitar runs combined with ghostly tones and jingling bells ("4").

The second disc is looser with guest horns, recorded earlier the same month at the University of Virginia and later the same month back in Germany. This disc is framed by the unwinding and slow simmer of 18-minute “Color Of Heat", which features trumpeter Susana Santos Silva rapturously fluttering around Frith's alternately gentle and roaring, majestic tones, and 15-minute “Color of Heart", starting out riding on a more regimented, martial feel (reminding us what a Kurt Weill fan Frith is) before entering spacier vistas of sound, recalling ‘70s Miles Davis. In comparison, the second disc's middle pieces give saxophonist Lotte Anker room to expand into high-flying antics before Frith returns to passages of electric solitude ('The Tree Speaks") and thorny, punctuated segments ("Sinking In"). If this is any evidence of Frith's latest phase of his career, 'retirement' suits him very well indeed.