''Freedom in Fragments'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and improvisor

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

. It was composed by Frith in 1993 as "a suite of 23 pieces for saxophone quartet", and was performed by the

Rova Saxophone Quartet Rova Saxophone Quartet is an American, San Francisco-based saxophone quartet, formed in October 1977. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. Wh ...

between February 1999 and January 2000 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The album was released on

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

' Composer Series in 2002. Frith does not perform on this album. The ''Freedom in Fragments'' suite was also recorded in January 2008 by the

ARTE Quartett The ARTE Quartett was founded in 1995 by the saxophonists Beat Hofstetter, Sascha Armbruster, Andrea Formenti and Beat Kappeler. Their musical style consists of contemporary music, jazz, and free improvisation. The four musicians have commission ...

, and released by

Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich. History The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...

(Switzerland) in January 2009 on a CD entitled '' The Big Picture'' by Fred Frith and ARTE Quartett. One of the tracks from the suite, "Freedom Is Your Friends II" was performed by the

Fred Frith Guitar Quartet The Fred Frith Guitar Quartet was an American-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising Fred Frith, René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart. The group was formed in 1989 by Frith and they performed ...

on their 1997 album ''

Ayaya Moses ''Ayaya Moses'' is a 1997 studio album by the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, an American-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising Fred Frith, René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart. It is their debut ...

''.

Background

''Freedom in Fragments'' was commissioned by the

-based

and was composed by Frith specifically for them while he was living at

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He wrote it as a suite of 23 short pieces, or "stories", that can be played as a whole, or in part, and in any given sequence. Frith wanted a composition "which could reach their narrative potential by a force of accumulation ... small stories that, when heard together, become big stories."Frith, Fred. ''Freedom in Fragments'' (Tzadik Records, 2002). CD booklet. Frith also composed the suite in a way that the music could be

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

: "The determining factor was the understanding that Rova wanted material which they could transform through improvisation. Most of the stories, therefore, involve some question about what might constitute musical freedom." One reviewer of the album stated that " e suite's greatest strength is the way it lets Rova crawl around their instruments, from the melodic ballads to noisy skronk." The "story" sequence performed here by Rova was created by Frith, although it is just one configuration of the work, and only 16 of the 23 pieces appear on the album. The entire work was dedicated to the memory of

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

, with certain pieces inspired by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

and

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...

Track listing

All tracks written by

. #"Freedom Is Your Friends" / "Some Assembly Required" – 3:42 #"Advertising" – 0:17 #"Song and Dance" – 4:05 #"Void Where Prohibited" / "The Up and Up" – 4:50 #"Boyan's Problem" – 3:26 #"Ikue's Song" – 1:00 #"T Square Park Lark (for Frank Zappa)" – 9:15 #"Significant Restrictions Apply" – 1:17 #"Hey René" – 0:17 #"Chained to the Skyway" – 5:51 #"Batteries Not Included" / " Nostalgia" – 3:16 #"Water Under the Bridge (for Jimmy Giuffre)" – 5:05 #"Freedom Is Your Friends II" – 6:00

Personnel

** Bruce Ackley – soprano saxophone ** Steve Adams – alto saxophone ** Jon Raskin – baritone saxophone ** Larry Ochs – tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone

Sound and artwork

*Recorded at Mr. Toad's, San Francisco, February 1999 – January 2000 *Mixed by

Jeff Byrd Jeffrey Alan Byrd (born November 11, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher in 1977 for the Toronto Blue Jays. Career Texas Rangers Byrd was drafted out of El Capitan High School (California), El Capitan High School in Lakeside, Califo ...

and Larry Ochs *Cover artwork by Heike Liss

References

{{Authority control 2002 albums Fred Frith albums Rova Saxophone Quartet albums Avant-garde jazz albums Free improvisation albums Tzadik Records albums