Fripp

Winner of the 2018 ROSL Annual Music Competition Gold Medal, saxophonist Jonathan Radford returns to ROSL to celebrate the launch of his debut album The Saxophone Craze with pianist and 2011 Annual Music Competition Keyboard Winner Ashley Fripp.

When Robert Fripp’s Music For Quiet Moments started to appear with relatively little fanfare in May 2020, as a series of weekly uploads to YouTube and streaming services, their overall effect was one of balm. Moving through the digital ether, Fripp’s ambient soundscapes slowly drifted their way through a collective psychological environment grappling with the uncertainty of pandemic times…

In May 2020, with much of the world in lockdown and reeling from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, Robert Fripp began uploading the first of 52 individual Soundscapes on his YouTube channel, streaming platforms, and DGMLive. 

EntitledMusic For Quiet Moments and appearing once a week, these pieces created a space for reflection, offering a means of pausing from the day-to-day concerns and to provide a point of calm and perhaps, a sense of hope, in such troubled times.

Almost 30 years on since Evening Star, Robert Fripp and Brian Eno resume their collaboration, and remarkably, they seem to have picked up right where they left off. Remarkably, because Fripp's more recent soundscaping has had a different quality than either his collaborations with Eno or his proper "Frippertronics" albums like Let the Power Fall or the solo side of God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners. Surely they're not back to using the old Revox tape machine setup, but having Eno in the producer's chair (not to mention making his own musical contributions) seems to add a warmth that's been missing from albums like 1999. But much like Evening Star showed a progression from No Pussyfooting, The Equatorial Stars is another step forward while retaining all the same elements as their previous work together…

New collaborative album from electronic duo The Grid (aka Richard Norris and Dave Ball) and Robert Fripp. Combining Fripp Soundscapes with synth, drums, programming and effects by The Grid.

At the same time Brian Eno was working on Here Come the Warm Jets, he was flexing his experimental muscle with this album of tape delay manipulation recorded with Robert Fripp. In a system later to be dubbed Frippertronics, Eno and Fripp set up two reel-to-reel tape decks that would allow audio elements to be added to a continuing tape loop, building up a dense layer of sound that slowly decayed as it turned around and around the deck's playback head. Fripp later soloed on top of this. (No Pussyfooting) represents the duo's initial experiments with this system, a side each. "Heavenly Music Corporation" demonstrates the beauty of the setup, with several guitar and synth elements building on top of each other, the music slowly evolving, and Fripp ending the piece with low dive-bombing feedback that swoops over the soundscape, bringing the piece to its conclusion…

Damage is derived from the closing shows of the 1993 Road to Graceland tour, which heralded the collaborative reunion of King Crimson's Robert Fripp (guitar) with David Sylvian (guitar/keyboards/vocals), the former leader of Japan. This hour-plus set finds Sylvian in tremendous voice and Fripp sonically enveloping spaces and respecting silences in a bout of well-manicured fretwork. The pair is augmented by soon-to-be Krim members Pat Mastelotto (drums) and Trey Gunn (Chapman stick/vocals) as well as former Martha & the Muffins axeman Michael Brook (guitar). The contrast in styles from Fripp's ethereal Soundscapes and edgy guitar inflections to Sylvian's smoother and refined demeanor is reminiscent of Brian Eno's early collaborations with Roxy Music…

The long-awaited 32-disc boxed set of Robert Fripp in the studio and in concert 1977 - 1983 will be released on 27th May 2022. The set will feature many previously unreleased tracks, outtakes and rarities as well as a number of tracks appearing on CD for the first time. The largest in the series, Exposures is the ninth boxset release collecting King Crimson / Robert Fripp material from 1969 to 2008.

Many a guitar fan would have predicted that a summit between legendary guitarists Andy Summers (the Police) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) would result in a guitar solofest. But the music on their first collaboration together, I Advance Masked, stresses guitar textures and moods over indulgent soloing. Although the recording sessions weren't entirely enjoyable for Summers (who was experiencing marital problems at the time), some very beautiful music can be found on the resulting album…