Bob has been performing, composing, recording and producing original music all his life, spanning a wide range of styles and musical disciplines. Since 1997, Bob has been exploring piano improvisation, in both solo and expanded configurations, bringing elements of traditional and avant garde jazz together with electronica to create a new, 21st century fusion.
Recently Bob has been producing a new body of work - improvised music for keyboards, bass, and drums performed on state of the art digital musical instruments in real time, capturing the dynamic interplay that's possible only with live musicians.
Previously, Bob has produced commercial music, sound design, and underscores for clients including David Mellor Production Music Library, REN Music, BMW Designworks USA, Visual Music Artists, Digital Entertainment Network, POP.com and Sound Source Interactive. He's worked closely with major performing and recording artists during the introduction of key new musical instruments from Yamaha, and has programmed synthesizer voices and sample libraries for recording artists and major manufacturers.
As the founder of the Jazz/Fusion group Purl Bob played a full calendar of club dates in San Diego, and also appeared in concert as opening act for Jeff Lorber, Lee Ritenour, Airto & Floria Purim, Larry Carlton, Stephane Grappelli, Jaco Pastorious, and Seawind performing original compositions and selected jazz standards.
Bob studied music composition with Roger Reynolds, John Cage, and Pauline Olivieros while enrolled in the Master's program at USCD, in LaJolla, California. He taught undergraduate electronic music classes and worked extensively in the graduate Electronic Music Studio which featured a huge Buchla 200 series modular synthesizer and a Moog Model III modular synthesizer. While at UCSD, Bob also studied jazz improvisation with the great jazz trombonist Jimmy Cheatham. During the summer of 1975, Bob lived in Holland and took part in master classes in classical organ performance with Arthur Howes, of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and performed concerts of classical and modern organ music in Holland.
Bob earned a Bachelors Degrees in Performance and Composition from the University of New York at Fredonia. Bob was one of the first to work in the schools electronic music studio which featured a Moog Model III modular synthesizer, and in the school's 24 track music recording studio.
The videoclip below is a performance by the Bob Frye Trio of the original composition "Six Till Monk" at La Trova House in Los Angeles, CA.
Bob's CD "Everything You Always Were" is now available on iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbump layListId=192477086