King Crimson Improvs - Tell us about your favorites

So we've talked about some of King Crimson's most impressive compositions, but a big part of what set these guys apart was their uncanny knack for improvisation. Nearly all of their line ups indulged some improv action on stage, though the Wetton/Bruford line up is the most well known and IMHO most successful in this regard. Sometimes, it takes a little patience to wrap your head around these pieces. I know that the first time I heard tracks like "Providence" and "Starless & Bible Black" as a teenager, it sounded like a lot of aimless noodling to me, but over the years, I've grown increasingly intrigued by this aspect of their work. They may meander a bit at first before suddenly coming into dramatic focus and knocking your socks off.

Tell us about some of your favorite King Crimson improv pieces. You can pick the more well known favorites from their studio albums or delve deeply into the live archives to uncover more esoteric delights.

I'll start with one of their most mysterious, intriguing pieces, "The Law of Maximum Distress"/"The Mincer". I always found "The Mincer" from Starless & Bible Black to be one of their most creepy, unsettling tracks, complete with it's abruptly chewed up ending. I had no idea that this was originally drawn from a live improv with some studio overdubs and Wetton's vocals added, making it a unique sort of hybrid composition. When they released The Great Deceiver live set, we got more pieces of the puzzle in the form of "The Law of Maximum Distress" (parts 1 and 2), a slow burning horror show with a missing centerpiece (where "The Mincer" should have been). The closing Part 2 is a funky freeform groove almost reminiscent of Miles Davis 70s fusion. More recent iterations on the deluxe reissue of S&BB have reinserted the missing piece with a bootleg recording (I have not yet heard the newer Starless box set version). It's great now to have the complete beast, stitched together like some sort of Frankenstein's monster.

 

Daniel Dust is probably my favorite...

 

It's nice to hear them exploring their more gentle, pastoral side here.

 

lately it's been thrakattak. probably the whole record, but especially the parts highlighting the juxtaposition of RF on frippertronics and the rhythm sections, like on 'slaughter of the innocents.' I wasn't initially into the idea of having the improv sections isolated from 'thrak,' but after listening in full to some of the shows they were taken from, I can hear why. the main body of the song is played pretty straight from one night to the next.

this is also the record that got me into Trey Gunn's stuff.

 

I'm a staunch defender of the 2000 line-up's live improvs. The 70s band had drums, guitar, bass, violin, electric piano, Mellotron and a rudimentary drum machine at its disposal. A solid assortment of sounds, to be sure, but the limitations become evident after a while. From the mid-90s on, MIDI-compatible gear and samplers allowed the band to tap into way more sonic textures. Beautiful Rainbow off disc 3 of Heavy ConstruKction is a personal favorite. A looped guitar phrase followed by some positively melodic lines make it a highlight of the set. The improv is also available on the Eyes Wide Open DVD under a different title.

 

1. Asbury Park
2. Tight Scrummy
3. Providence

 

Improv: München from Heavy Construkction.

 

Everything from ProjeKcts 1, 3, 4 & X. Not so much P2. All the improv stuff from Heavy Construkction.

 

Asbury Park is a powerful recording. Wetton's bass work on it is brilliant.

 

Trio

 

As I mentioned before, I really didn't get "Providence" the first time I heard it, believing that it marred an otherwise excellent album, but now I think it's a winner. Their skillful mastery of textural dynamics gradually ratchets up the tension so that when the drums and bass kick in two thirds of the way through, I'm just floored. Wetton was one of those rare players who could actually make the bass work as a lead instrument in rock.

 

I agree with this. I was so enamored with the rest of Red that I thought Providence as Moonchild part 2- what is this random noise in the middle of my cool songs? But I'm come around to it. It's still by far the least interesting thing on the album but I don't skip it when playing the album.

So, yeah, I'm not into improv much, but there are exceptions to everything. Trio is, of course, real pretty.

 

I really like the ProjeKct stuff also. That stuff deserves a wider, more formal release.

 

"Trio" is such a beautiful piece that the fact that it was created on the spot makes it even more remarkable.

 

I like all of them, but the improvs from 2000 are some of their best. Unfortunately they didn't seem to improvise as much during 2003.
Starless and Bible Black is just fantastic too. And I firmly believe that if the shows with Jamie Muir in the band were professionally recorded, those would be discussed as having their very best improvs.

 

The little improvs in the middle section of THRAK were always interesting too

 

I used to dig the hell out of all their improvs but somehow i burned out on them (the improvs) 4 or 5 years ago.

 

Trio.

 

I wonder if anyone would vote for the improv off of Earthbound with the Bozz scatt.

 

Here's a menacing slow burner from the Bescanon show. More great work from Bruford here. I love some of these improv pieces that lead seamlessly into "Starless" from this period.

 

"ccccSeizurecc" for sure. And the epic "Improv: Warsaw" (6/11/2000) from KCCC28.

 

"Asbury Park" is just the bomb. It sounds composed, like a written piece, because by that point they're all so locked in and brilliantly telepathic, they can anticipate and know what each other is going to do....There's also another improv from around that same time period (don't really remember, either later in the same show or one a day or two on either side) where Fripp goes veering into this funky chicken thing, and it's just awesomely hilarious. It's King Crimson music that you could do the robot dance to. Brilliant.

 

I love finally having the full Asbury Park in the Starless box, that's a winner. Although The Savage from Mainz, 3/30/74 isn't their best improv, the way Fripp starts Dr. Diamond rather early and Wetton drags The Savage over the top of Fripp's intro results in what I think is their most arresting segue from improv to composition. And Wetton's tone is, as I have said before, filthy.

 

1973-11-12 Turin, Italy

There is a musical phrase in the 1st Turin improv I have wanted to talk about.
For some reason it stuck in my head and last winter I had to scan through stacks of
King Crimson shows to find it at this show. I'm trying to find another example of it.
Furthermore....I recently discovered the same phrase on the Ralf and Florian (Kraftwerk) album!

So, about (4:50) into the improv after "Easy Money", Fripp starts repeating a guitar phrase.
Bruford plays along. That's the bit that stuck with me.

Fast forward to me discovering the amazing early Kraftwerk albums (1 and 2), plus Ralf and Florian.
About halfway through track #2 "Tongebirge"...guess what they play? Same unique phrase.

To get even more strange, "Heimatklange" from Ralf and Florian has an eerily similiar sound
to Eno's "Discreet Music." Not just the basic ambient sound, but the notes or movement of sound tones.

Ralf and Florian predates both. I can imagine Fripp and Eno accidently absorbing the music.
Fripp is known to occasionally slip a known lick or two into his lines.

Am I hearing things? Coincedences?