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Fred Frith, born on February 17, 1949, in Heathfield, England, is a British composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist known for his work at the intersection of rock music and new music. He began his musical journey playing in R&B groups during his school years and performed solo folk club work from 1967 to 1969. In 1968, he embarked on exploratory musical activities, which led to significant collaborations, including with flautist in Ritual Theatre, guitar performances in Brecht-Weill productions, and teaching guitar while running a jazz workshop at Cambridge tech. Frith co-founded the British underground band Henry Cow, which existed from 1968 to 1978. He moved to New York in the late seventies, where he connected with influential musicians such as John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Tom Cora, Zeena Parkins, and Bob Ostertag. His 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 that performed an extensive repertoire of his compositions. In the 1980s, Frith expanded his work to include writing for dance, film, and theatre, composing for ensembles like the Rova Sax Quartet, Ensemble Modern, and Asko Ensemble, as well as his own critically acclaimed Guitar Quartet. He is best known as an improvisational guitarist but has also

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