The Letter (Cosa Brava album)

The Letter is a studio album by Fred Frith's United States experimental rock group Cosa Brava. It was recorded in France in June 2010 and Oakland, California in August 2011, and was released by Intakt Records in Switzerland on March 21, 2012.

Reception
Writing at All About Jazz, John Eyles described The Letter as "transcend[ing] genre", and Frith's songs as "melodic ... provid[ing] the group with plenty of scope for embellishment". He said the album "hangs together well", adding that Kihlstedt's violin has "inflections carrying great emotional weight", and Frith's guitar as "fluid [and] interwoven with wordless vocals, to stunning effect" on "Common Sense".

Track listing
Source: Intakt Records, Discogs

Personnel

 * Fred Frith – guitar, bass guitar, voice
 * Carla Kihlstedt – violin, bass harmonica, voice
 * Zeena Parkins – accordion, keyboards, foley objects, voice
 * Shahzad Ismaily – bass guitar, voice
 * Matthias Bossi – drums, percussion, mayhem, vocals
 * The Norman Conquest – sound manipulation

Guests

 * Michael Elrod – tambura (track 4)
 * William Winant – concert bass drum (track 10), crotales (track 2)

Recording and production
Source: Intakt Records, Discogs
 * Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12 recorded at Chàteau de Faverolles, France, June 1–4, 2010
 * The Norman Conquest – engineer
 * Tracks 3, 7, 9, 10 recorded at New Improved Recording, Oakland, California, August 9–11, 2011
 * The Norman Conquest – engineer
 * Mixed at Jankowski Soundfabrik, Esslingen, Germany, April 9–11, 2011, July 4–5, 2011, January 31, 2012, February 3, 2012
 * Peter Hardt – engineer
 * Mastered at Headless Buddha, Oakland, California, February 10, 2012
 * Myles Boisen – engineer
 * Artwork
 * Heike Liss – cover image
 * Jonas Schoder – graphic design
 * Production
 * Fred Frith – producer
 * Intakt Records – producer