Welcome to the central myspace page for Sean Frenette (Elijah B)! Be sure to check here for updates on his comings and goings: gigs, events, artwork, communication, writtings, and more can be found here, as well as links to more pages containing Sean's various creative projects as well as his creative friends and family.
Sean is a performer, composer, teacher, improviser, and innovator with a background in diverse musical worlds. Through rooted in guitar, Sean's performing experience covers a wide range of instruments and styles (bass, mandolin, piano, drums, banjo, trombone, trumpet, voice; and classical, jazz, folk, afrobeat, hiphop, neo-soul, Brazillian, classical Hindustani, klezmer, bluegrass, rock, free improvisation- to name a few).
Sean also likes to create his own instruments and styles. In 2000 he stumbled across a new way of playing guitar when he decided that broken strings were a creative opportunity. Since then he has evolved his 3 string guitar playing in numerous groundbreaking directions from movement-based improvisation to Indian classical music.
He also works closely with instrument makers on new inventions. In a joint effort with the rare and talented luthier Carla Kelly , they created a stereo-phonic, 28-fret, hybrid electric-classical guitar ("El Class") which features startlingly new possibilities for nylon string guitar playing (like panning effects, extended range, tone manipulation, sustain, percussion...).For many years Sean has performed extensively around New England and last summer he toured the East Coast. In May 2006 he performed with musical pioneers Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall at Carnegie Hall as part of a workshop on the integration of roots and Western classical music. In April 2006 Sean performed his ever-evolving piece "Theme and Variations on the Big Bang" at New England Conservatory with a giant cast of musicians from all genres and backgrounds. This piece included improvisatory dancing, a Hindustani alap, Holst and Stravinsky quotes, and a fiery rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "3rd Stone from the Sun" backed by an orchestra.
This year he has performed and taught a international guitar festival (GuitarFest '07 in Boston), improvised with movement artists in a concert at MIT, tromboned his way through Boston City Brass Band parades, gigged at many a New England club playing afrobeat guitar, struck a chord with the fans and musicians in Tampa, Florida's music scene, played John Dowland's lute songs at a fancy art opening, recorded on 4 albums, and sang Hindustani repertoire during a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. He also does monthly performances at The Home for Little Wanderers homeless shelter and plays occassionally on streets and subways.
Sean performs often as a soloist and with many different musical projects. Each solo performance is unique, but probably uses some combination of the following ingredients: classical guitar, 3string guitar, electric-classical guitar, Hindustani singing, solo piano, songs, solo arrangements of Tool, something Hendrix, composed and improvised loop pieces, a multitude of instruments, and audience participation. Sean has performed with the two-time Boston Music Award-winning, 11-piece afrobeat ensemble The Superpowers (formerly The Boston Afrobeat Society), singer and social activist Gretchen Elise , the Zappa-inspired Frankpipe , the unique cross-genre quartet CBYD , the jamband-world-famous woodwind maestra Julee Avallone , soprano/improviser Jessyka Luzzi , movement artists Liz Roncka and Olivier Besson , tabla virtuosos Kazi Kamal and 'Chris' Pereji, singer-songwriters Sean Wood and Andreea Pauta , saxophonist Tom Arabia, legendary storyteller Brother Blue and many others.
Although throughly steeped in all that is usually called 'music', Sean's artistry also includes healthy portions of visual art, literature, poetry, film, dance, swimming, yoga, metadimensional geometry, gardening, philosophy, science, and activism. Sean hopes to be a leader in the new Renaissance in which art, science, and ethics converge to create a new paradigm of physical, mental, ecological, and spiritual health.