No, not that one… This one, with trusty bass in hand… Phil Fried is a composer long known to me as a regular,  astute — and often very funny — participant in musical discussions on the NewMusicBox forums and ‘chatter’ commentary. Phil comes from a musical family; His father, Louis Fried, was an original cast member in several Broadway shows including Brigadoon and Carousel. His cousin was the noted composer Isadore Freed. Second only to music is Phil’s passionate interest in literature. He has written several texts and librettos, including that for his operatic adaptation of Hemingway’s short story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”. Most recently Phil became the composer in residence and core member for Opera Bob, a new-music collaborative in Minnesota.

This Monday evening at the Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia Street, NYC / 212-989-9319 / March 22, 8:30 PM / cover $10NewMusicBox‘s own Frank J. Oteri will doing the introduction honors as Phil comes to town to present a concert of his new music for bass, voice and piano (joined by soprano Anna Brandsoy and pianist Jill Dawe). As Phil himself tells it:

“After working 10 years on my opera The Snows of Kilimanjaro I was in the mood for funny. I found my voice as a solo instrumentalist performing on an upright electric bass. The sound is amplified/unamplified, processed/unprocessed, and mixed via touch and foot pedals in real time. The “soundscapes” I create explore many angles of experimental music. My approach is non tonal, as in my composed music, but its effect is more intimate and personal. It was critical for me that my first explorations into non-extended tonal materials were with jazz music. I’ve come full circle, and have returned to improvisation after the careful study of composed music and classical string bass technique.”

Be there or be… well, if you go you’ll probably still be square. But you’ll be a very hip square!