A full half century after the earth shattering debut of In The Court of King Crimson, the influence of Robert Fripp’s mixture of jazz, rock and classical still influences today’s artists. Here are three disciples…
Markus Reuter plays “touch guitar aub” as well as live looping as he leads a trio with Fabio Frentini on 
“WAL fretless bass” and a bass synthesizer along with drummer Asaf Sirkis for this “live” recording in studio. Mixing of tapes, electric bass and hard hitting acid rock sounds give flashes of “Tomorrow Never Knows” on pieces such as the title track or “Bogeyman while moody space effects akin to Tomita or Weather Report form ethereal atmospheres on “Power Series” and “Be Still My Brazen Heart”. Reuter’s guitar gets soulful on “Gossamer Wings” and delivers some tangerine dreams during “Swoonage”. Grandchildren of the moon child?
There’s no schizoid man, but guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Bobby Previte and keyboardist Jamie Saft give a dash of 21st Century sounds that sound like a catalogue of King Crimson material. Dark chords and beats trudge like Frippertonics on “Paywall” and “Photobomb” while some moog rock on “Flash Mob” and thick guitar tones during “Woke” reflect latter day Crimson. A dash of Deep Purple is added when Saft hits the Hammond and rocks like a highways star on “The New World” and the hovering “Occession”. Machine Head are goes Red.
Giorgi Mikadze plays the microtonal keyboards as he teams with the fretless guitar of David Fiuczynski, fretless guitar of Panagiotis Andreou and fretless drums of Sean Wright and a handful of guests. Cantoral Byzantine voices start things off in a monastic mood during “Metivuri” before deep grooves and rocking guitar in dark shades dominate “Dumba Damba,” “Elesa” and the plodding “Moaning”. Asian voices and tones create a rich “Kartlos Blues” and lovely strings grace “Mirangula” but for the most part the 70s are rocking.
OK, technically guitarist Jeff Swanson’s band doesn’t sound like it was influenced by King Crimson; rather a link to the first cousin Gentle Giant is a better reach. The remaining team of Greg Artry/dr, Paul Bedal/key, Matt Ulery/b, Dustin Laurenzi/ts and Greg Ward/as deliver upbeat, clever and intricate tunes like the dramatic “Let My Children” and the nimble “Round One” with directions changing at the flick of a wrist. Swanson’s guitar is featured on the pulsating “The Accutron” and teams well with Ulery” on “Tre” while rumbling with Artry” for “Fyra”. Lots of power and glory.