{"id":619,"date":"2011-10-11T05:18:29","date_gmt":"2011-10-11T10:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=619"},"modified":"2011-10-11T05:18:29","modified_gmt":"2011-10-11T10:18:29","slug":"frippless-and-not-a-bit-slack-the-two-of-a-perfect-trio-tour-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/11\/frippless-and-not-a-bit-slack-the-two-of-a-perfect-trio-tour-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"The Men (and Woman) Who Would Be King (Crimson): The Two of a Perfect Trio Tour (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In <\/em>Part One<\/a> I laid out a potted history of King Crimson, with an emphasis on how that chronology led to the current Two of a Perfect Trio tour featuring Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto. When we left off, the players were explaining the tour\u2019s origins.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd,\u201d Pat Mastelotto<\/strong> adds, \u201cit seemed pretty obvious that with the two trios double-billed, we could bring everybody out. We were lucky when the \u2018kids\u2019 (Julie Slick<\/strong> and Tobias Ralph<\/strong>) came up while we were doing the camp, So we got a little bit of rehearsal in.\u201d (\u201cThat\u2019s the only<\/em> rehearsal we had,\u201d Adrian Belew<\/strong> interjects.) Owing to \u201ca bunch of visa issues,\u201d Markus Reuter<\/strong> wasn\u2019t present for those rehearsals.<\/p>\n

\"Half<\/p>\n

Pat Mastelotto doesn\u2019t see a huge difference between the drumming style he brings to progressive works like King Crimson\u2019s \u201cB\u2019boom\u201d and the technique he uses on more pop-oriented material for other artists. \u201cI\u2019m the same guy,\u201d he says. \u201cI was listening to King Crimson<\/strong> when I was 12, 13 years old. It\u2019s [about] the song and the material,\u201d he says, giving an example. \u201cThere used to be this thing called a record store,\u201d he laughs. \u201cAnd you used to think, \u2018Where is this record going to sit?\u2019 So if I go work for an artist that I don\u2019t know, I think, \u2018does she want to be next to Bjork<\/strong> or Sheryl Crow<\/strong>?\u2019 So,\u201d he continues, \u201cit wouldn\u2019t be appropriate to play some of the things we do in Crimson in a pop band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s overlap in terms of influences, and that pervades Pat\u2019s work in interesting and unexpected ways. \u201cThere\u2019s a Mr. Mister song, \u2018Kyrie,\u2019\u201d he notes, referring to that band\u2019s 1985 Billboard<\/em> #1 hit. \u201cThe drums don\u2019t come in [for a while] and then they bash in. That\u2019s a Crimson thing. That\u2019s the influence of being a kid listening to Crimson, a band that wants to scare ya<\/em>,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m silly enough,\u201d reflects Adrian Belew, \u201cthat even when I was a kid listening to music, [I thought] that avant-garde tastes and pop music tastes were compatible. I listened to Stravinsky<\/strong> at the same time as I listened to the Beach Boys<\/strong>. To me, it could all go together somehow, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve always tried to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Adrian<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough,\u201d Belew continues, \u201cSometimes you do — for the listener at least — separate it out a little bit for the listener, to make it clear for them that, \u2018This is what this<\/em> record is about, and this is not what that<\/em> record\u2019s about.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of Stravinsky, in concert Stick Men<\/strong> often play an arrangement of \u201cFirebird Suite\u201d that is both faithful to the composer\u2019s intent and decidedly modern and heavy. The Chapman Stick plays a large role in that. Though the instrument is not well-known and is still thought of as exotic, Tony Levin<\/strong> has been working with the Stick for thirty-five years. \u201cI got it in 1976,\u201d he recalls. Tony quickly gained proficiency on the Stick: \u201cIt\u2019s very different [from bass] but I didn\u2019t have a hard time with it, because I played the bass with a tapping technique before I got the Stick.\u201d Four years later, he brought it to King Crimson. There \u201cit seemed to come into its own,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause King Crimson seemed like the right setting for that sort of progressive instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played a lot of different styles of music,\u201d says Tony. “And I approach the music and play what\u2019s appropriate. I don\u2019t think about trying to bring one style into the other. But,\u201d he adds, \u201cI don\u2019t even think intellectually about the music. I just listen to it, and play what seems right for it. Except for classical, where I play what it says on the page,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

In the later configurations of King Crimson, Robert Fripp\u2019s role on record increasingly took the form of an atmospheric style, one closer to his Soundscapes<\/em> projects than to the bruising, metallic shards of sound found on, say, 1974\u2019s Red<\/em>. When the six players on the Two of a Perfect Trio tour convene onstage to cover classic Crimson material, Adrian Belew says that the arrangements are \u201cpretty close\u201d to the originals. \u201cWe did a little bit of editing on \u2018Frame by Frame\u2019 and \u2018Dinosaur\u2019 and so on. Markus kind of takes over Robert\u2019s parts whenever needed.\u201d Reuter ably handles what Belew characterizes as \u201csome of the fast running lines, and some of the Soundscape-type things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Markus<\/p>\n

\u201cI was already playing \u2013 in the Trio \u2013 six or seven King Crimson songs,\u201d Adrian says, \u201cSo I had already pared them down a little bit.\u201d He chuckles inwardly and notes that \u201cThey sound a lot better this way; \u2018Dinosaur\u2019 is back to where it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our conversation took place backstage at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville TN, the third night of the Two of a Perfect Trio tour. Sound check \u2013 open to VIP ticket holders \u2013 was brief and allowed little in the way of fine-tuning. \u201cI look forward to the day when we get to do a big, long sound check,\u201d says Belew. With long drives between gigs most days on this tour, that day may not come soon.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

On the subject of live sound mix quality, all three players agree that they haven\u2019t paid much attention to technological advances; to a man they believe that the room often has more to do with the sound quality than anything else. (Most would agree that the Bijou is a good room.) And in the end, the players onstage have the most influence over it. \u201cI remember when I saw Jimi Hendrix<\/strong>,\u201d Pat Mastelotto recalls. \u201cHe had Billy Cox<\/strong> [on bass] and Mitch Mitchell<\/strong> [on drums]. You couldn\u2019t hear a note of Mitch Mitchell; all I heard was guitar. But the act before them was Buddy Miles<\/strong>. And I heard every fuckin\u2019 note of the drums. So it impressed me as a kid: \u2018Oh, that\u2019s<\/em> the way a guy cuts through so you hear him in the house.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Two of a Perfect Trio tour, the combined groups reach back into the King Crimson catalog, often performing \u201cRed\u201d and selections from Discipline<\/em> and Beat<\/em>. \u201cA lot of what we\u2019re trying to do here,\u201d Belew says, \u201cis [VROOOM<\/em> and THRAK<\/em> era] double-trio material, because we finally have that instrumentation.\u201d After the Power Trio set, another trio (Belew, Levin and Mastelotto) comes out and does \u201cThree of a Perfect Pair\u201d and \u201cSleepless.\u201d Then they\u2019re joined by Markus Reuter, covering Fripp\u2019s parts and creating an alternate version of the 80s Crim lineup. Finally, they\u2019re joined by Julie Slick and Tobias Ralph for the double trio material.<\/p>\n

\"Adrian<\/p>\n

So — again \u2013 is this endeavor King Crimson, a ProjeKct, or something else? Belew gamely attempts to unpack the issue. \u201cThe new Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins<\/strong> album, A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em>, which Tony plays on \u2013 that\u2019s<\/em> a ProjeKct. We don\u2019t call this [tour and configuration] a ProjeKct. As far as I\u2019m concerned, I\u2019ve been in King Crimson for thirty years — Tony has, too \u2013 and it\u2019s a celebration of that. But it\u2019s not a ProjeKct, and we\u2019re not necessarily planning on putting out any records or anything.\u201d So for fans \u2013 of King Crimson and\/or of one or several of the players involved \u2013 this Two of a Perfect Trio tour is a rare opportunity to witness this musical spectacle. The final date on the tour is scheduled for Asheville NC\u2019s annual Moogfest festival, October 28-30.<\/p>\n

On the subject of King Crimson itself — whatever that name means in 2011 \u2013 Belew offers an update. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I know. Robert [Fripp] has talked to me a few times, and he\u2019s said that for the next two years at least, he\u2019s going to be dealing with litigation. [He\u2019s] trying to get money owed to him, and he doesn\u2019t have the time to concentrate on music. So for at least the next two years, he has said to me, \u2018I\u2019m not going to be doing music.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight after he said that,\u201d Belew adds with a laugh, \u201cthey put out the new Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins album! So, I don\u2019t know. We just wait around and find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy this collection of vignette-style anecdotes<\/a> from the TOAPT tour. — ed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow \u201cthe_musoscribe\u201d on Twitter<\/a> and get notified
\nwhen new features, reviews and essays are published.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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