The Aug. 21 edition of Greasy Tracks spotlighted the music of King Crimson and Frank Zappa ahead of Crimson’s appearance at the Westville Music Bowl in New Haven on Sept. 5 with The Zappa Band supporting.
Click here to check out an archive of the program, while a playlist is here.
The extended feature included interviews with King Crimson vocalist/guitarist Jakko Jakszyk and bassist Tony Levin as well as guitarist Mike Kenneally and guitarist/vocalist Ray White from The Zappa Band whose members include a number of Zappa alumni.
King Crimson, led by guitarist Robert Fripp, continues to feature an unconventional, yet very innovative line-up of three drummers (Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey) at the front of the stage with Fripp, Mel Collins (saxophone, flute), Levin and Jakszyk on a raised platform behind them.
On its current North American jaunt dubbed the “Music Is Our Friend Tour” — it was rescheduled from 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic put a kibosh on concerts — the band is going deep into a catalogue that encompasses 50-plus years of recordings. King Crimson is the first British band to play the United States following the COVID-19 shutdown.
In addition to Keneally, who was part of Frank Zappa’s final touring band — arguably one of his best line-ups — and White who first played with Zappa in 1976 and would continue to work with him through the 1984 tour, The Zappa Band line-up includes long-time sidemen Scott Thunes (bass) and Robert Martin (keyboards/sax/vocals) as well as Zappa Plays Zappa alums Jamie Kime (guitar) and Joe Travers (drums/vocals).
According to Keneally, a good portion of The Zappa Band set will include tracks featured on the just-released Zappa ’88 The Last U.S. Show.