At Home With The Crimson - Remembering Jamie Muir
A legendary painter, percussionist, and mighty wind in the explosive world of sound, aromatic alchemy, and unparalleled unity in music’s universalism, Scotland-based trailblazer Jamie Muir conquered more than just music in his career spanning over half a century. His poetic presence stirred the lone streets of the mind by inviting his audience to step out into the light from a distinctive darkness known to overwhelm the senses with closed-minded temptation and preconceived notions of what sound should or shouldn’t be. After losing interest in his initial introduction to instrumentation with the jazz trombone, Muir gravitated towards man’s institutional connection to ritualistic rhythms and cosmic community found within the fibers of percussion-based music. Later, he stated that he preferred to be "in the wilds of uncertainty." The young musician eventually relocated to London, where he connected with legendary guitarist and experimental genius Derek Bailey, who later said Muir “seemed to be able to provide a different playing experience every time... He fitted into this idea of having no particular preconceptions... He was a highly reactive person, one of the things I really liked, there was the impression that he was slightly uncontrollable, on an edge." The two giants, alongside British-based tenor and soprano saxophonist Evan Shaw Parker, formed The Music Improvisation Company, where Muir officially dialed in his trailblazing talents, world-renowned efforts, and unconventional approach to his craft that would set him apart from his prolific peers.
“I just had to improvise. The first time it felt really dangerous, like the sort of thing you had to lock the doors and close the curtains on because if anybody saw you, God would strike you down with a thunderbolt. But I took to it like a duck to water.”
During the Summer of 1972, Muir received a call from the great Robert Fripp after Melody Maker journalist Richard Williams suggested it after seeing Muir perform live with his then band Boris. A tranquil transaction that would alter not only the direction of Muir’s life personally and professionally but also the world of progressive music as we know it. Joining the mighty King Crimson on what would become the band’s 5th studio album, “Larks' Tongues in Aspic,” when asked by Fripp what the music sounded like, Muir replied, "Why, larks' tongues in aspic... what else?" A surprising yet sophisticated addition to the band during its third incarnation that featured new members John Wetton, Bill Bruford, and David Cross, King Crimson’s bountiful legacy soon began taking an entirely different path into the cosmic contrast of Euro Free Improv and the intoxicating influences of classical music during this iconic era of the band. Eventually, departing from the band and its radiating reverberation on society and culture, Muir relocated to southern Scotland to pursue a monastic Buddhist lifestyle at Samye Ling Monastery near Eskdalemuir, stepping away from music altogether. Muir picked up where he left off with bandmates Bailey and Parker, and a new edition with co-founder of King Crimson, Michael Giles, in London towards the beginning of the 1980s. Having once been the ‘X-factor’ of Crimson, Muir’s percussive presence transcended the reaches of the band during his short but legendary impact in just those five short months in its crystalized core. His melodic mind, a steel trap, effortlessly conquered the cold caves of the human psyche by delivering a radioactive reaction with a force not yet measured by his contemporaries, and will most likely never be seen again. Muir was 82.
