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Fred Frith, Wu Fei, Janet Feder Wednesday, January 30, 2008, First Unitarian Church, Denver Better than: Any Eric Clapton guitar solo. Expectations, at least last night, were useless. The venue, a small, yet comfortable church stowed away off Colfax, was not a place where one would expect to see one of the most influential avant guitar players of the last 25 years. But there he was, Fred Frith, former guitarist for the influential art-rock group Henry Cow, joined tonight by localists Janet Feder and Wu Fei, all of them just as comfortable as us, safe from the snow. Each performer was to do a solo set, with the three coming together at the end of the night for a trio set. Frith went on first. More well known for his solo work and collaborations with the likes of John Zorn, Mike Patton, and The Residents, Frith began his set tapping out random notes on his hollow body guitar, providing the percussive background for the rest of his set. From there everything that could be found was used to channel, random, yet coherent noises. Sounding like a cross between Neil Young and an industrial ceiling fan, Frithfs set provided both chaos, and at times, rough-hewn, organic beauty. Armed with just two instruments, the guzheng, one of China's most ancient string instrument, and her voice, Wu Fei picked up the visceral sounds that Frith left behind from his set and reconfigured them into a dream-like state. It was nothing short of amazing to hear her voice interweave with the guzheng. At times it was like the two instruments were one in the same. If you havenft yet, check her out. Ending the solo sets was Janet Feder. The shortest of the three sets, Federfs began with short-spaced strokes on the classical guitar. Slowly her songs splayed out into a Gamelan style that, like Frith's, relied on random objects. Federfs songs stayed in the air and seemed to haunt the holy room as the notes lingered from her guitar. Sadly she played only three songs, any of which couldfve easily gone on a bit longer. Closing it out, the trio combined the earlier performers, The Three Ffs, as it were. Each of the players launched into their instruments full bore, with Frith taking the lead during both pieces, while Wu Feifs voice floated over the top of the miasma. The only problem was that Federfs playing was lost in the mixed. When she was audible, Federfs playing meshed perfectly with Frithfs, and the result was a solid, pulsing cohesion of sound that bound the three players. -- Jeremy Brashaw http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2008/01/last_night_fred_frith_wu_fei_j.php |
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BLOW UP - Dicembre 2007 www.blowupmagazine.com Live in Roma, Italy with Tasaday Trio & Ioioi- 1st November 2007 Wu Fei che vive a cavallo tra Denver, Colorado, Milano e il Beijing e vanta una notevole esperienza sia in ambiti contemporanei che propriamente improvvisativi, si esibisci in solitario al guzheng, strumento a corde di origine cinese dalla tradizione piu` che millenaria. Davvero toccante la sua esibizione, nel fervore e nel rispetto di una nomenclatura etnica, solo di rado avvicinata da sentori di modernita` nella forma e nell'esecuzione. Nel suo pedigree puo` contare esibizioni e collaborazioni al fianco di Alvin Curran, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros ed Ikue Mori (la lista e` in realta` piu` ampia), dimo- strazione ennesima di un talento sopra le righe. Riaffermato nell'esibizione con Tasaday, ora stabilmente attivi nella formazione live a 3 (Carlo Ronchi, Xabier Iriondo, Daniele Malavasi) e peraltro raggiunti dalla chitarrista/vocalist maceratese Ioioi, a dare ulteriore spessore ad una joint- venture che seppur dai tratti vagamente prolissi, si dimostrera` ricca di colpi di scena ed allestimenti multipli, sempre a cavallo tra sfregi sonori e momenti di riaffermazione delle corde piu` classiche. Rumori, sfregamenti, tipologie kraute, etno music che diventa metafisica, nelle decine e decine di combinazioni possibili perpetrate dall'inedito quintetto. Una serata in cui sono il valore del confronto e della genuinita` stilistica a vincere. Luca Collepiccolo
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Reviews - Live