Robert Fripp Outstanding British avant-garde guitarist and progressive composer Date of Birth: 16.05.1946 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Robert Fripp

Robert Fripp, an outstanding British avant-garde guitarist and progressive composer, was born on May 16, 1946. He began his musical career in the semi-professional instrumental group "League of Gentlemen," which earned a living by accompanying overseas artists who toured in England. In 1967, Fripp, along with the Giles brothers, Peter (bass) and Michael (drums), formed the project "Giles, Giles & Fripp." The trio released a couple of singles and one album before disbanding, after which Robert and Michael went on to create "King Crimson." From their first album, "KC" established themselves as a strong progressive band, with Fripp rightfully becoming their undisputed leader. However, the confines of the group soon became too narrow for the talented musician, and he started working on the side.

In the first half of the 70s, Fripp collaborated with English jazz musician Keith Tippett, participated in sessions with "Van Der Graaf Generator," and recorded a couple of albums with Brian Eno. Both albums with Eno were experimental, and it was on these records that Robert honed his technique of using loops and guitar layers, which became known as "frippertronics." In 1974, Fripp disbanded "King Crimson" and took a break from music for a while. He was brought back into the showbiz by a call from Eno, who offered him to work together on David Bowie's album "Heroes." Around the same period, Robert collaborated as a guitarist and producer with Peter Gabriel, and in 1979 released his first solo album, "Exposure." Soon after, his second work, "God Save the Queen / Under Heavy Manners," was released, and in 1980, Fripp assembled a new version of "League of Gentlemen," described by him as a "second-division touring new wave instrumental dance band."

In the early 80s, Robert also revived "King Crimson" and recorded a couple of albums with "cop" Andy Summers. In 1985, when "KC" and "League of Gentlemen" were dissolved again, Fripp became involved in teaching, but his "Guitar Craft" courses led to the project "The League of Crafty Guitarists," in which the guitarist performed and even recorded. The beginning of the 90s was marked by close collaboration between Fripp and former "Japan" frontman David Sylvian, resulting in several joint albums. In 1994, Fripp modernized his "Frippertronics" technique, transferring it to new technologies and replacing tape loops with digital processing capabilities. The result of his work was a series of recordings under the collective name "Soundscapes."

In 1995, the mechanism called "King Crimson" came back into motion, but soon its so-called "fractalization" began, with band members starting various "inter-group" projects. In 2003, the "projeKts" merged again, and the following year, Fripp, along with Brian Eno, recorded the ambient album "The Equatorial Stars" and became the third member of the guitar project "G3" with Satriani and Vai. However, while Robert's musical explorations no longer surprised anyone, many were amazed when he agreed to work for Microsoft and composed sounds for the new Windows family operating system.