The Crimson Marathon. The unique project was created with the consent of King Crimson founder Robert Fripp exclusively for Prague Music Performance. The individual members of King Crimson will start performing, both in the music of this legendary group and in their own projects. The 2023 marathon will feature the tu:NER. (Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, Markus Reuter), Stick Men (Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Markus Reuter) and the David Cross Band. The year 2023 marks the anniversary of two major albums. While Larks' Tongues in the Aspic was released fifty years ago, the band's last studio album, Power To Believe, was released twenty years ago. The marathon will feature the David Cross Band's complete performance of Larks' Tongues in Aspic.
tu:NER., in its most recent incarnation, is a musical trio comprised of Trey Gunn, Markus Reuter, and Pat Mastelotto, that celebrates the music of the Double Duo era (1998 to 2003) of King Crimson, and the bands TU (Mastelotto and Gunn), KTU (Mastelotto, Gunn, and accordionist Kimmo Pohjonnen), TUNER (Mastelotto and Reuter), TUNISIA (Mastelotto and thereminist Pamelia Stickney), The ProjeKcts (featuring Gunn and Mastelotto as well as other KC members) and Stick Men (Mastelotto, Reuter and King Crimson's bassist Tony Levin).
Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto, the powerhouse bass and drums of the group King Crimson for a few decades, bring that tradition to all their playing. Levin plays the Chapman Stick, from which the band takes it’s name, Stick Men. Having bass and guitar strings, the Chapman Stick functions at times like two instruments. Markus Reuter plays his selfdesigned touch style guitar – again covering much more ground than a guitar or a bass. And Mastelotto’s drumming encompasses not just the acoustic kit, but a unique electronic setup too, allowing him to add loops, samples, percussion and more.
A pioneer of rock violin and former member of the groundbreaking Larks’ Tongues in Aspic incarnation of King Crimson, David Cross accepts no limits on the range and power of his instrument or his music. David is a prolific creator with a great number and range of albums to his name. He has toured in Europe, the USA, Japan and South America and with the David Cross Band he has developed a truly progressive stage act delivering up to date, hard-edged rock songs with heart and humour. The band continues to amaze and delight contemporary audiences, playing material from their forthcoming studio album, classics from previous years and some songs from David’s time with King Crimson (always with a DCB twist to them). Sign of the Crow (Noisy Records in 2016) has been described as ‘an unmitigated masterwork’ and has attracted high acclaim from metal and jazz reviewers as well as progressive rock journalists.
Robert Fripp founded King Crimson in 1968, and only a year later, the band performed alongside the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park. Jimi Hendrix soon called King Crimson "the best band in the world." Although they are most often referred to as pioneers of progressive rock, during their fifty-year career, this "box" was too tight for them. The group mostly used frequent personnel changes to change the instrumental composition and to make a sound shift. Their innovative approach to music has inspired countless world music icons (Nick Cave, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Porcupine Tree, Tool, Dream Theater, etc.), and their debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King is still considered one of the most important albums. In the development of rock music, 21 excellent musicians took turns in King Crimson's changeable "organism" during their existence, collaborating with Pink Floyd, John Lennon, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Frank Zappa, and others, and in total recorded over 1500 albums.
Line up:
6 - 7 pm Tobi Amias: In the Court of Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 (Film)
8 - 9 pm tu:NER (Trey Gunn - Pat Mastelotto - Markus Reuter)
9 - 10 pm David Cross Band featuring Jeremy Stacey
10 - 11 pm Stick Men (Tony Levin - Pat Mastelotto - Markus Reuter)