FRED FRITH & CHRIS CUTLER - The Stone: Issue 2 - Live At The Stone December 15th, 2006 (Tzadik 0003 LTD Edition; USA) Incredible! Exactly three months after the December, 2006 DMG Festival of Music, Magic & Mystery at The Stone, the first offering and evidence of what was an amazing and historic month of performances is finally here!
This was the first of three nights of the much-anticipated reunion of three former members of Henry Cow. The first set that night was a trio featuring Fred Frith & Chris Cutler with special guest Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper. It seemed too restrained in part and was a bit disappointing for some in attendance. The second set was just the Frith and Cutler duo and it was phenomenal! Although Fred & Chris' musical relationship goes back the beginning of Henry Cow in the late sixties/early seventies, they have been doing duo gigs periodically since 1979. They have three previous live duo discs out, the last one is from 1999. The duo seemed primed for this particular set and it was an indeed an incredible occasion. Although Fred played an electric guitar with a variety of pedals and a small table of objects and Chris played a drum kit with even more assorted percussive objects, electronics and a small mixing board, when one is listening and even watching the duo play, it was and is difficult to tell who was doing what. The disc itself captures their entire nearly 51-minute set and immensely fascinating throughout and even throttling at times. It begins with a splash that sounds like magic and lets you know that something wonderful is about to take place. It sounds like a soundtrack to a movie that has you at the edge of your seat. Each sound, each gesture is filled a most compelling vibration. There is a great deal of discussion about "noise" nowadays... what we have here is some of the most well-sculptured and musical noise that I've heard in a long while. I am truly proud of the way the entire month of performances turned out and especially elated that way this disc has captured the magic of this set. Now it is your turn to dig in and enjoy the great journey within. Thanks to our friends Robert O'Haire for the recording, Scott Friedlander for the cover photo and to Fred & Chris for the music. - BLG
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