years_active label article_title past_members background genre image origin
1989 -- 1999 ambiances magnétiques fred frith guitar quartet
 fred frith rené lussier nick didkovsky mark stewart group_or_band experimental , contemporary classical , free improvisation fredfrithguitarquartet.jpg united states
fred frith guitar quartet

the fred frith guitar quartet was a united states-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising fred frith , rené lussier , nick didkovsky and mark stewart .
the group was formed in 1989 by frith and they performed extensively across north america and europe for the next ten years , including at the 14th festival international de musique actuelle de victoriaville in victoriaville , quebec , canada in may 1997 .
they recorded their first album , `` ayaya moses '' in 1996 and released a live album , `` upbeat '' in 1999 .
the quartet experimented with guitar music , composing and performing their own material , improvising , and re-arranging existing guitar pieces by other composers .
their music varied from `` tuneful and pretty , to noisy , aggressive and quite challenging . ''
