In 2014, after seven years of inactivity, King Crimson returned with yet another new configuration for the unsuspecting public to absorb. This wasn’t your regular group of replacements assembled to entertain the masses — we’re looking at a carefully curated team of six musicians chosen by Crimson commander-in-chief Robert Fripp for what became known as “The Seven-Headed Beast.” With three drummers out front, Fripp expected to turn “rhythm into a moving, interlocked engine,” while weaving in long-discarded Crimson gems from the early to mid 70s, 90s and early 00s with various bits of incremental instrumentals and material from a side Projekt thrown in for balance.
With a mix of three Americans (drummer Bill Rieflin, plus returning members bassist Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto) and four Englishmen (Fripp, vocalist and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, saxophonist and previous member Mel Collins, and drummer Gavin Harrison) the 2014 model of King Crimson was about halfway through their brief tour when they landed in New York City for four shows. 2014 NYC, available in double LP and double CD configurations, captures the best of those four nights in the city that never sleeps…and quite possibly knocked into a super, eye-opening conscious state by the sudden burst of “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic (Part I).”
The source of the group’s thunderous delivery for 2014 is heavily reinforced by the frontline of three drummers. Mastelotto, Harrison, and Rieflin lock in and coordinate to create a wall of percussion that sounds singular through a series of rhythm patterns that complement one another. A head-noshing dose of “Level Five” highlights the teamwork involved. By the time you get to the equally gravitating “The ConstruKction Of Light,” your head will be spinning.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about these shows is a particular emphasis on the early 70s period where the heavy turnover in the band’s membership produced an eccentric, often confounding catalog of music. Numbers like “Pictures of A City,” “The Letters” and transcendental “Sailor’s Tale” figure well into the sonic landscape. The timeless sting of “Red” and harsh elegance of “Starless” simply reminds everyone of how potent the band was in 1974. Collins’ screaming sax work alone on “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part II)” will end any argument about that.
From the 1995’s Thrak, a combo plate of “VROOOM VROOOM” and “Coda: Marine 475” ring out nicely without Adrien Belew’s squeal. Pulling in “A Scarcity Of Miracles” and “The Light Of Day” from the Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins 2011 album, A Scarcity Of Miracle, help to solidify the band’s new approach, which would more or less stay in place until 2021 when Fripp decided (again) King Crimson was through. Even so, ending it all with a spirited crack at “21st Century Schizoid Man” is a small acknowledge of the band’s twisty, turny history that continues to reveal surprises in a world of prediction markets. Indeed, no matter how quirky or off script they go, any iteration of King Crimson is a sure bet.
~ Shawn Perry
