| Clearing Customs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 2011 | |||
| Recorded | November–December 2007 | |||
| Studio | SWR studio 1, Baden-Baden and Saarbrücken, Germany | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 67:50 | |||
| Label | Intakt | |||
| Fred Frith chronology | ||||
| ||||
| External image | |
|---|---|
 SWR New Jazz Meeting featuring Fred Frith – Clearing Customs, November 2007 by Walter Layher |
Clearing Customs is a studio album by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith.[1] It is based on a week of recordings and performances in November and December 2007 at a New Jazz Meeting at SWR, a radio station in southwest Germany. Two hour-long national broadcasts were made.[2] The album was released by Intakt Records in February 2011.
The music is based on a 75-minute composition by Frith, and improvised by all the performers.[1] It uses a "graphic structural model" that links "diverse types of musical events" on a time line.[3] Traditional jazz instruments were used, plus Asian guzheng and tablas, and electronics. Frith drew on English theatre maker Peter Brook's approach of bringing together performers from completely different cultural backgrounds.[3]
According to Frith, a key aspect of the music is the fact that the performers were meeting for the first time. He reflected: "The expression 'clearing customs' had multiple meanings for me – 'crossing borders', of course, but also 'getting rid of old habits', and also 'the things you do when you have space around you'. It was playful and deep at the same time, and those musicians were and are amazing."[4]
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linernoteswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Breznikar, Klemen (6 January 2012). "Fred Frith interview about Henry Cow & beyond". It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine. Retrieved 27 July 2022.