{"id":13425,"date":"2017-11-22T05:30:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T10:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=13425"},"modified":"2017-11-22T08:29:22","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T13:29:22","slug":"king-crimson-dont-write-an-epitaph-just-yet-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/22\/king-crimson-dont-write-an-epitaph-just-yet-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"King Crimson: Don’t Write an Epitaph Just Yet (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n

Jakszyk explains the group’s current thinking. \u201cWe are embracing the music as a whole, and we are going back and we are playing things that have either not been played in decades, or that have never been played live, ever.\u201d He mentions a suite of songs off one of the group’s least-known releases (a relative term, that), 1970s Lizard<\/i>. \u201cIt’s an amazing vibe to play,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then right at the end of it, I just get to stand there and watch Robert play ‘Prince Rupert’s Lament.’ That alone is a good night out for me; I don’t know about anybody else.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobert knows that no one in this version of the band is going to say, ‘No, I don’t like that. I’m not playing any of that old stuff,’\u201d Jakszyk says. \u201cEveryone’s going to go, ‘Yeah, let\u2019s give it a go. Fantastic.\u201d Levin’s comment on the subject illustrates Jakszyk’s point. Noting that he has no favorites to play from the King Crimson catalog, he says, \u201cI try to buy into each piece totally. If I’m not playing a great part on it, then it needs more work on my end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the many archival releases via the King Crimson Collectors’ Club, the group hasn’t released an album of new material since 2003 (a 2017 EP does feature a heartfelt reading of David Bowie’s \u201cHeroes\u201d). Still, despite erroneous reports to the contrary, the current lineup has plenty of new music, and plays it on the current tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a lot of stuff on forums slagging us off about the lack of new material,\u201d Jakszyk says, \u201cbut you know what? We currently have a repertoire of around 3 \u00bd hours. And of that, I would say there is about 40 minutes of new material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levin agrees. \u201cI’m looking at a couple of set lists from the last tour leg,\u201d he says, \u201cand I see ‘Radical Action Pt. 1,’ ‘Radical Action Pt. 2,’ ‘Radical Action Pt. 3,’ ‘Meltdown,’ ‘Interlude,’ ‘HellHounds of Krim,’ and ‘HooDoo.’\u201d To date, only one or two of those has been released in any form.<\/p>\n

In concert, the band’s three drummers set up along the front of the stage, with the other five musicians situated on risers behind them. One might think that playing with a roomful of drummers would pose challenges for a bassist, even one of Levin’s caliber and experience. \u201cIt has<\/i> been a challenge,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut not as hard as I expected it would be.\u201d He says that’s largely due to the great amount of work the drummers have done on each piece, devising ways to divide responsibilities in creative ways that don’t clutter things up. \u201cSo it’s not at all like playing along with a few drummers hammering out the same part,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And it’s not all one big drumfest, anyway. \u201cWe do ‘Islands,’ Mastelotto says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t even have any drums for about six minutes. So we have to patiently chill. And you’ll notice that we never leave the stage. You could say, ‘Oh, this drummer\u2019s not gonna play for five minutes; he can scoot off the stage, get a glass of water, or take a break,’ but we chose not to do that.\u201d He compares King Crimson’s approach to that of an orchestra. \u201cThe triangle player is waiting for his moment. The third bassoon guy, he\u2019s gonna sit there and be a listener and participate and not distract, and be in tune with the song until his moment comes. And that’s more of our modus operandi<\/i> now.\u201d<\/p>\n

There’s a long-standing stereotype that applies to fans of King Crimson and other artists in the progressive rock genre. \u201cThe core audience of Crimson, as you know, is older men,\u201d says Mastelotto with a chuckle. \u201cBlack t-shirt, spectacles, and usually a notepad and that whole thing; that’s kind of the joke. It\u2019s an overstatement and oversimplification, this whole thing about how ‘there\u2019s no line at the girls\u2019 bathroom.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Bill Kopp and Pat Mastelotto<\/p><\/div>\n

Mastelotto says that he’s noticed a change in the makeup of the band’s audiences. \u201cThere are more women,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re doing a few more ballads; we\u2019ve added ‘Islands,’ which is another real tear-jerker. And I\u2019ve heard directly back from women after the show, how much they respond to those songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the 2017 King Crimson lineup isn’t dialing back its overall intensity one single bit. He notes that some tunes like \u201cOne Time\u201d or \u201cWalking on Air\u201d draw in listeners who prefer something a little more conventionally accessible. \u201cBut then sometimes we\u2019ll play something like ‘Red’ or ‘Thrak,’ he laughs, \u201cand drive ’em right back out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, in some ways the current-day King Crimson seems a kinder, gentler band; that may help to explain why \u2013 unlike most of the band’s previous incarnations \u2013 the current lineup is very stable. \u201cWe\u2019re older and mellower,\u201d Mastelotto suggests. \u201cThe management has become more focused, and DGM, Robert\u2019s label, is more in control.\u201d Mastelotto makes the valid point that \u201cRobert doesn\u2019t need<\/i> to do this. He doesn\u2019t have<\/i> to do it. He retired. So the idea that he would want to start again is a powerful thing. He\u2019s a happy guy. You can actually see him on stage now; you know, there were those years where he was hidden behind his amp, or off in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jakszyk provides a bit more context. \u201cRobert said \u2013 and has said quite often \u2013 that this is the first version of King Crimson where there isn’t one member of the band that actively resents him.\u201d For his part, he mentions the support and good vibes he received from Mastelotto and Levin when he joined the band. \u201cThey’re both ‘encouragers,’\u201d he says. Jakszyk believes that with this lineup, \u201cRobert has ended up with a bunch of guys who enjoy being on the road. And in my case, I’m absolutely amazed that I’m doing this at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

King Crimson has already scheduled live dates into 2018, but it’s anyone’s guess as to the long-term future of the group. \u201cThis is supposition,\u201d Jakszyk cautions. \u201cThis isn’t a conversation I’ve had with [Robert], but my sense is that if this is going to be the last Crimson, let’s go out with a bang. Let’s leave an imprint.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One… Jakszyk explains the group’s current thinking. \u201cWe are embracing the music as a whole, and we are going back and we are playing things that have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,56],"tags":[1085,1250,1652,2246],"class_list":["post-13425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-prog","tag-jakko-jakszyk","tag-king-crimson","tag-pat-mastelotto","tag-tony-levin","cat-41-id","cat-56-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13425"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13688,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13425\/revisions\/13688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}