{"id":649,"date":"2011-11-22T04:52:26","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T09:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2011-11-22T04:52:26","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T09:52:26","slug":"album-review-jakszyk-fripp-and-collins-a-scarcity-of-miracles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/22\/album-review-jakszyk-fripp-and-collins-a-scarcity-of-miracles\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins – A Scarcity of Miracles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my recent feature<\/a> on the Two of a Perfect Trio tour featuring the Adrian Belew Power Trio<\/strong> and Stick Men<\/strong>, I posited the (largely rhetorical) question: when is a band King Crimson<\/strong><\/a>, and when is it not? That question \u2013 one which has no real answer, I believe \u2013 comes racing back to me as I listen to A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em>, the new album credited to Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The three artists name checked, of course, all have major connections to King Crimson: Robert Fripp<\/strong> may insist he\u2019s not the \u201cleader\u201d of King Crimson, but he\u2019s certainly the only constant over the band\u2019s on-off history (1969 to now, more or less). Renowned reedman Mel Collins<\/strong> appeared on three Crimson LPs: In the Wake of Poseidon<\/em>, Lizard<\/em> <\/a>and Islands<\/em> <\/a>(all of which have been reissued as part of the 40th<\/sup> anniversary remaster project). And Jakko Jakszyk<\/strong><\/a> was the able stand-in for Fripp (guitar) and Greg Lake<\/strong> (voice) in the 21st<\/sup> Century Schizoid Band<\/strong><\/a>, a project that \u2013 while technically not Crimson \u2013 was truer to the early Crimson in sound and lineup than anything else.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the rhythm section for this album is Tony Levin<\/strong> (bass, stick), a man who\u2019s been on nearly every King Crimson recording since Discipline<\/em>, and Gavin Harrison<\/strong> (Porcupine Tree<\/strong>\u2019s drummer, but also the official King Crimson drummer from 2007-2009, at which point Crim went on its umpteenth hiatus). And A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em> is officially designated as \u201cA King Crimson ProjecKct\u201d (\u201cP7\u201d for those keeping score).<\/p>\n

With that out of the way, what sort of music have we on A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em>? Well, the genesis of the project offers remarkably little in the way of clues. As explained in Fripp\u2019s liner notes, the recordings grew out of an afternoon of extemporaneous improvisation between Fripp and Jakko. With such a basis of sound, one might expect an unconventional product, one with few connections to the pop song idiom.<\/p>\n

One would be mightily wrong, as it happens. Jakszyk took the sound files from the session and constructed them into a half-dozen highly melodic songs \u2013 yes, songs<\/em> — \u00a0<\/span>that make up A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em>. Mel Collins added his alto sax, soprano sax and flute to the recordings. And then \u2013 only then \u2013 Levin and Harrison added rhythm tracks. So, although the players involved followed an almost inverse-to-tradition methodology, the result ranks among the most melodic and accessible collections to come out of the Crimson camp in ages.<\/p>\n

In those liners, Fripp also notes that \u201cfor the first time since 1981, the gene pool drawn upon is more English than American\u201d (Levin is American). Exactly what to make of that is up to the reader\/listener, but it\u2019s true that A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em> (an official Crimson ProjeKct) is very different than \u2013 yet inextricably related to \u2013 the Two of a Perfect Trio aggregation (tellingly not<\/em> an official ProjeKct), a mostly American group.<\/p>\n

The songs are all credited to Jakszyk\/Fripp\/Collins, but it\u2019s Jakko who assembled the songs from the raw files, wrote the lyrics, and sang them. Thus it is his style that most indelibly forms the character of A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em>. Fripp does play more of his trademark guitar runs — not just soundscapes, though there are plenty of those as well \u2013 and he is more prominent here than on (relatively) recent Crimson albums or on any of his numerous guest spots (John Wetton<\/strong><\/a> etc.). Collins\u2019 lyrical reedwork floats in and out of the mix, always seeming to appear at precisely the right time to offer the right thing, and then receding into the shadows when it\u2019s someone else\u2019s (usually Fripp\u2019s) turn to shine.<\/p>\n

The songs drift by in a melancholy mist: A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em> rarely rocks out in a traditional sense, and there\u2019s no \u201cRed 2011\u201d to be found here. The vibe is closer to lite-jazz, but wholly lacking in the vapidity of that justly-maligned genre. In fact the songs work on two levels: they can serve as an aural backdrop for whatever else you might be doing (similar to Eno<\/strong>\u2019s ambient work, but with higher melodic content), or they can be examined closely. Choosing the latter path rewards the listener with inventive splashes of exotic eastern influences, thanks mostly to Jakszyk\u2019s Gu zheng (a Chinese zither sort of thing visually reminiscent of a pedal steel guitar).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Other Man\u201d is the heaviest track on A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em>, and it\u2019s also the most foreboding, mysterious musical offering. A few son-of-\u201cFrame by Frame\u201d licks crop up now and then, one of the few instances in which the album references earlier Crimson (though Collins\u2019 distinctive saxes certainly call to mind some of the better moments on Islands<\/em>). The atmospheric \u201cThe Light of Day\u201d is the least conventional track structure-wise, but its dark, foreboding feel will draw the willing listener into its maelstrom.<\/p>\n

A fascinating listen, A Scarcity of Miracles<\/em> may well qualify as that rarest of breeds: the Crimson-related record you can play for your friends who don\u2019t think they like progressive music.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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