Laurie Anderson gives a free performance with bassist/producer Bill Laswell at the Castle Clinton National Monument in New York City's Battery Park this evening as part of the River to River Festival. The two artists will collaborate in an evening of improvised beats and melodies. Since the '80s when they first worked together in the studio, Anderson and Laswell have pursued radically different musical paths. Recently they played together as part of a trio with John Zorn, and their performance at Castle Clinton show will build on those new ideas and forms.

"Many musicians might bill a performance as a chance to 'build on new ideas and forms,'" says the Wall Street Journal's Andy Battaglia, "but few could make as good on the prospect as Laurie Anderson and Bill Laswell. Both are lifers, with restless legacies tracing back to the 1970s, and both maintain a healthy creative metabolism in ways that make it hard to chart their trajectories with tidy lines. Ms. Anderson continues to work in a blurry boundary zone between the avant-garde and approachable pop."

The New York Times's Amanda Petrusich, in recommending the show, describes both performers as "unusually fearless; expect something high-concept and possibly explosive."

Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the River to River Festival is Lower Manhattan’s largest free summer arts festival featuring music, film, dance, theatre, and art in a variety of public venues that canvases the beautiful backdrop of Downtown New York—from Chambers Street down to Battery Park and across the island from the Hudson River to the East River.

Tickets for tonight's performance, which begins at 7 PM, are available on a first-come, first served basis at the gate starting at 5 PM. Please be advised that the venue has limited seating. For more information, visit rivertorivernyc.com.

Laurie Anderson will give another free performance in New York later this summer as part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival. For more information on this and other upcoming live shows from Anderson, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of her latest album, Homeland, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.