The aptly named Fresh Sound series at Bread & Salt in Logan Heights continues on February 17 with New York pianist David Friend, whose compositions are informed both by his background growing up in coastal Louisiana and his years at the Manhattan School of Music, where he marinated in the city’s experimental music scene, underground art world, and street culture and activism. In addition to his solo works, Friend has performed and toured with a number of ensembles, including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Alarm Will Sound, and Transit New Music, in configurations ranging from the Bent Duo to the Grand Band Piano Sextet and the American Composers Orchestra.

Pursuing his musical ambition has taken him around the world, from rural Alaska to Carnegie Hall, European experimental music festivals, and countless orchestral performances. As a solo artist, Friend updates the traditional piano-recital format with wildly inventive explorations that veer into the realms of experimental electronica and noise, while maintaining at least a patina of the structure and discipline of classical music. According to the Fresh Sound press for this show, “By programming and collaborating with composers and creative artists who are working on the cutting edge, and by rethinking the conventional frameworks in which we are usually presented piano music, David Friend seeks to create new pathways of mutual relevance between piano music and contemporary culture in the twenty-first century.”