Michael "Jakko" Jakszyk ( , born Michael Lee Curran, 8 June 1958) is an English musician, record producer, and actor. He has released several solo albums as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as lead singer and second guitarist of

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

from 2013 to 2021 succeeding

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his ...

in the role. His work has been variously credited to "Jakko", "Jakko Jakszyk", and "Jakko M. Jakszyk". Before joining King Crimson, he led bands for over thirty years, including 64 Spoons, Dizrhythmia, 21st Century Schizoid Band, Jakszyk Fripp Collins, and Rapid Eye Movement. He was a member of Level 42, the Lodge, and the Tangent and has collaborated with Tom Robinson, Peter Blegvad,

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Ma ...

Gavin Harrison Gavin Richard Harrison (born May 28, 1963) is an English musician. He is best known for playing with the progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree (2002–2010; 2021–present), King Crimson (2008, and 2014–2021) and The Pineapple Thief (2016� ...

, Warren Harry, Pandit Dinesh, and Dave Stewart. Jakszyk has also worked as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and soundtrack producer.

Biography

Roots and childhood (1958–1974)

Jakszyk was born at Whittington Hospital in

Archway, London Archway is an List of areas of London, area of north London, England, in the London Borough of Islington north of Charing Cross. It straddles the A1 in London, A1 and is named after a former local landmark, the high, single-arched A1 in Londo ...

, the son of Irish singer Peggy Curran and an unknown American

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

. At 18 months of age, he was adopted by two European refugees who had settled in England after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

: Polish Norbert Jakszyk and his French wife, Camille. Jakszyk grew up in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, and would later describe his childhood as unhappy; his adoptive parents' nationalities led to an unsettled home life. He explained, "There was a lot of confusion – English was second language for both of them, so although I could understand them both, they often couldn't understand each other – it led to all sorts of daft misunderstandings and rows." Jakszyk was frequently in conflict with Norbert, although the two would reconcile later in life. In 1977, he tracked down his birth mother Peggy, who had settled in Arkansas; he and Peggy would eventually meet in 1984. Jakszyk would later reconstruct his complex family history in an extended radio piece, ''The Road to Ballina''.Information from dialogue in ''The Road to Ballina'' (BBC Radio/Resurgence Records) Originally aiming to become a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

but, after failing to win a place with the Watford Boys football squad at the age of 15, Jakszyk switched his full attention to his other two obsessions, music and acting. As a developing musician, he was inspired equally by pop, progressive rock, and jazz fusion (with artists such as

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz and rock music, rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K. (band), U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerl ...

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

, and Hatfield and the North being particular favourites) and developed a high level of skill as both a guitarist and singer by his mid-teens. Having joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

at 14, he maintained his acting work in parallel to his musical efforts and would eventually gain his Equity card. In 1974, at the age of 16, he was kicked out of the Jakszyk family home by Norbert, and embarked on a struggling career as part-time actor and musician while working at a number of dead-end jobs to survive financially.

Early bands: Soon After, 64 Spoons, and Rapid Eye Movement (1975–1980)

By 1975, Jakszyk was leading an eccentric jazz-rock band called Soon After. His self-confessed "dictatorial tendencies" reduced a bigger line-up to a trio of "two screaming lead guitars and a trumpet" (the latter played by ex-

National Youth Jazz Orchestra The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), established as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra in 1965, is a British jazz orchestra. History The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) was founded in 1965 by Bill Ashton. Based in the Royal Arsenal ...

member Ted Emmett). The band reached the finals of the 1975

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

National Rock/Folk competition, finishing third. When Soon After split up, Jakszyk toured with "a strange little band" which supported

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

Stackridge Stackridge were a British progressive rock/folk rock group which had their greatest success in the early 1970s. History Classic period Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of a previous band, Grytpype Thynne, by Andy Davis and James ...

, and

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

, then briefly joined a Tring-based band called Synthesis which played

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

in the Canterbury-scene vein. Jakszyk's first significant band was 64 Spoons, which he joined as guitarist and lead singer in 1976, co-writing much of the band's material. Between 1976 and 1980, 64 Spoons wrote and performed a blend of pop, progressive rock, jazz, and comedy (typified by their single "Ladies Don't Have Willies"). Boosted by an exuberant and funny live show, 64 Spoons proved popular with audiences but failed to gain an effective record deal or media breakthrough and split up in 1980. Their only album, ''Landing on a Rat Column'', was eventually released in 1992, many years after it was recorded. Jakszyk would describe them as "the wrong band at the wrong time". 64 Spoons's work did, however, lead to friendships with several of the musicians who had inspired the band, notably keyboard player Dave Stewart. Following the split of 64 Spoons, Jakszyk joined Stewart, Rick Biddulph, and

Pip Pyle Phillip "Pip" Pyle (4 April 1950 – 28 August 2006) was an English-born drummer from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who later resided in France. He is best known for his work in the Canterbury scene bands Gong, Hatfield and the North ...

in the band Rapid Eye Movement. Jakszyk contributed several songs to the band's repertoire ("One More Time", "I'll Stand on My Own", "Ingmar Bergman on the Window Sill", "Straining Our Eyes", and "Dear Clare", the last of these a 64 Spoons song) and co-wrote material with Stewart ("This Is Not What I Want" and "'Allo Darlin' I Work on the Fair"). Between August 1980 and June 1981, Rapid Eye Movement toured Spain, France, and the UK and recorded material but split up due to Stewart's desire to concentrate on studio work (Jakszyk sang on the original version of Stewart's cover of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?", later a hit with a new vocal track by the Zombies' lead singer

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band the Zombies, which rel ...

). During this period, Jakszyk also contributed to sessions for the former

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith. They were the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much ...

saxophonist David Jackson's album ''The Long Hello Vol. 3'' (eventually released in 1982).

Early solo career, Stewart/Gaskin, and the Lodge (1981–1987)

Signing a solo deal with

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era". It rel ...

in 1981, Jakszyk began to record his debut solo album, ''

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

'', aided by Dave Stewart, David Jackson, and Amanda Parsons. During 1982, Chiswick released three singles ("The Night Has a Thousand Eyes", "Straining Our Eyes", and "Grab What You Can"), although none were hits. A full release of ''Silesia'' was shelved at the last minute while the album was at the manufacturing stage (although the album had a limited release in Germany). Strengthening his existing links to British art rock, Jakszyk began working with Peter Blegvad and would go on to play on the latter's first three solo albums (beginning with 1983's ''The Naked Shakespeare''). In 1983, Jakszyk signed a second solo recording contract with

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

. Three further singles followed between 1983 and 1984 ("Dangerous Dreams", "I Can't Stand This Pressure", and "Who's Fooling Who") and recordings were made for a second solo album. Due for release in 1985, this album met the same fate as ''Silesia''. It was shelved in 1985 when Stiff Records filed for bankruptcy. Discouraged but not defeated, Jakko supplemented his income with acting work while continuing to pursue music. He continued his collaboration with Dave Stewart, contributing to his duo work with Barbara Gaskin and playing a prominent role on the Stewart-produced '' Neil's Heavy Concept Album'' (a 1984 spin-off from the '' Young Ones'' comedy series). During this time he also met an up-and-coming drummer named

, who would become one of his most frequent collaborators. It was also during this time that he finally visited the United States to meet his birth mother. Jakszyk's third attempt at recording a solo album, this time for MDM Records in 1986–87, was shelved when MDM's distributor,

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, dropped its support. Some of the "lost" material from this and the previously shelved albums resurfaced on Jakszyk's 1996 compilation album '' Are My Ears on Wrong?'', while Jakko's ill-fated first album ''Silesia'' was briefly issued on CD in the late 1990s. In 1987, Jakszyk joined Peter and Kristoffer Blegvad, John Greaves, and

Anton Fier John Anton Fier III (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. He led The Golden Palominos, an experimental rock group active from 1981 to 2010. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cl ...

in the short-lived New York-based band the Lodge, with whom he recorded one album, ''The Smell of a Friend''.

Session musician/producer, the Kings of Oblivion, and Dizrhythmia (1987–1989)

From 1987 onwards, Jakszyk consolidated his work as a pop session player and budding producer, and also signed a new and remunerative publishing deal. He worked with producer

Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...

in Los Angeles, during which he wrote with, produced or played for Bill Myers, Shari Belafonte, and Tommy Funderburk's rock band What If. This period was also notable for a ludicrous footwear-related encounter with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

and for Jakszyk's refusal to let

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

record one of his songs (either "Behave Yourself" and "Don't Blame Me", both of which were later recorded by

the Nolans The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group formed in Blackpool in 1974, originally known as the Nolan Sisters. They changed their name to The Nolans in 1980. Between 1979 and 1982, they enjoyed a string of hit singles, including ''I'm in the M ...

). Returning to the UK, he played with Swing Out Sister and Sam Brown, contributing to and co-arranging the latter's 1988 hit single " Stop", and toured with Italian singer Alice. He formed the Kings of Oblivion with

in order to record the album ''Big Fish Popcorn'', which was released on the Bam Caruso label in 1987. The album was a pastiche project similar to XTC's

the Dukes of Stratosphear The Dukes of Stratosphear were an English rock band formed in 1984 by Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, and Ian Gregory. Modelled after psychedelic pop groups from the 1960s, the Dukes were initially publicised by Virgin Records ...

that was later described as "inspiring" and "the absolute worst of

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

or Ween". Both musicians took on ridiculous pseudonyms for the project (Jakszyk as "Mario 'Fat Man' Vanzetti" and Harrison as "Helmo 'Hairdo' Hudson") and fictitious liner notes claimed that the recordings were the first and second sides of a "lost" 1967 double LP recorded in the back of an auto shop. The Kings of Oblivion led into a more serious project when Jakszyk and Harrison teamed up with classical Indian singer/percussionist Pandit Dinesh and

on double bass. The quartet formed the world-fusion project Dizrhythmia, which mixed jazz, folk, art rock, and

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

. Pandit Dinesh encouraged Sultan Khan to contribute to the album, while his three British colleagues brought in their own friends and colleagues from the art rock world: Dave Stewart, pedal steel guitarist B. J. Cole, and Lyndon Connah from 64 Spoons. Dizrhythmia's self-titled album was released in 1988 by Antilles Records.

Tom Robinson, Level 42, and the Kinks (1990–1994)

In 1988, Jakszyk began recording a duo album with Tom Robinson called ''We Never Had It So Good'': it was released in 1990 and gained positive press attention. This brought Jakszyk to the attention of

Jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat, electrified sounds, and analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre that ranges from ...

band Level 42, who needed to replace their recently deceased guitarist Alan Murphy and Murphy's temporary substitute,

. Jakszyk's Holdsworthian guitar style, additional instrumental skills, and broad knowledge of pop music made him a natural choice. Jakszyk went on to play on all of Level 42's tours and promotional appearances between 1991 and 1994. However, record company politics restricted his contributions: despite being pictured on the cover of 1991's ''Guaranteed'', he never performed on a Level 42 studio album and was never a full member of the band. For similar reasons, material which he wrote and recorded with the band with the intention of release ended up shelved when Level 42 reunited with drummer and songwriter Phil Gould. Gould's second period with the band was short, and Jakszyk brought in Gavin Harrison as drummer to fulfil tour obligations. Jakszyk left Level 42 in 1994 when group leaders Mark King and Mike Lindup opted to split the band up. He would later play in one of the line-ups of King's solo bands. During 1994, Jakszyk was very briefly a member of

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

. He performed with them on 1 January 1994

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

broadcast of ''The

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

Show'', substituting for estranged guitarist Dave Davies. The songs performed on the broadcast were "Phobia", "Over the Edge", "Wall of Fire" and " Till the End of the Day #2".

Solo artist, art rock journeyman, and radio documentarian (1994–1999)

Following Level 42's disbandment, Jakszyk joined three former members of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

–

Richard Barbieri Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan (and their brief 1989–1991 reincarnation as Rain Tree Crow), he became the keyboard player in the prog ...

Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was a British musician who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. His distinctive fretles ...

and Steve Jansen – who were considering forming another band following the disintegration of their post-Japan project Rain Tree Crow and the end of their work in the

No-Man No-Man are an English art pop duo, formed in 1987 as No Man Is an Island (Except the Isle of Man) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. The band has so far produced seven studio albums and a number of singles/outtake ...

live band. The musical combination of the four players worked well and led to a lasting musical friendship, but did not result in a full-time band project. Instead, Jakko resumed his solo career. Signing a new record deal with the progressive/art rock label Resurgence, he released the ''Kingdom of Dust'' EP in 1994. All four of the EP tracks came from his work with Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn. In 1995, Jakszyk released a solo album, '' Mustard Gas and Roses'', on Resurgence, featuring a mixture of sharp, intelligent pop songs and progressive/art rock instrumentals. The album featured further contributions from Karn and Jansen, as well as from Sam Brown,

BJ Cole Brian John Cole (born 17 June 1946) is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from main ...

and Jakko's Dizrhythmia colleagues

and

. In 1996, Resurgence released a Jakko compilation album called '' Are My Ears on Wrong?'' – which compiled material from Jakko's second and third solo albums (the ones which had been shelved by Stiff and MDM during the mid -1980s). Since 1991, Jakszyk had been sketching out plans for an autobiographical radio piece called '' The Road to Ballina'', a mixed music-and-spoken word project exploring his own family history and his bittersweet search for his birth mother. In 1995 this went into production. In addition to Jakszyk's own account of growing up as an adoptee, the work included extensive contributions from both of his adoptive parents relating to their often harrowing wartime experience in Europe as refugees and conscripts and as people under occupation. Several of the recordings were conceptually arranged (including specially made recordings of Norbert Jakszyk recorded in

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

) while the music tracks featured Gavin Harrison and two of Jakszyk's former Level 42 colleagues, Mark King and Gary Barnacle. ''The Road to Ballina'' was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in December 1996, and Resurgence released a shorter and compressed version on CD in early 1997. This was the first of Jakszyk's albums to be credited to "Jakko M. Jakszyk", and he would release all of his future solo work under that name. In March 1999, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a second Jakko radio piece called ''The Church of Lanza'', which used many of the same techniques as ''The Road to Ballina''. The piece dealt with the nature of fame and celebrity, focussing on "the deification of stars who die young", and used the life of

Mario Lanza Mario Lanza ( , ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer a ...

as its focal point. The piece incurred the wrath of a number of outraged Mario Lanza fans and, unlike ''The Road to Ballina'', was not released on album. During this period, Jakszyk continued to work as a guest and collaborator. Between 1994 and 1999 he contributed to albums by Akiko Kobayashi (''Under the Monkey Puzzle Tree''), Peter Blegvad (''Just Woke Up''), Gavin Harrison (''Sanity & Gravity''),

(''7 Year Itch''), Saro Cosentino (''Ones and Zeros''), and

(Indigo Falls). A particularly notable Jakko guest effort was his contribution to Mick Karn's 1996 album ''The Tooth Mother''. While providing guitar, keyboards and flute, he also played saxophone,

shawm The shawm () is a Bore (wind instruments)#Conical bore, conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 13th or possibly 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissanc ...

and the Indian bowed dilruba.

21st Century Schizoid Band, ''The Bruised Romantic Glee Club'', and the Tangent (2000–2009)

In 2002, Jakszyk was instrumental in the establishment of the 21st Century Schizoid Band, which specialised in performing the 1960s and 1970s repertoire of

and featured several ex-members/associates of the band – Ian McDonald,

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

, Peter Giles and Michael Giles (the last later replaced by Ian Wallace). Jakszyk led the band, playing guitar and singing. Over a five-year period, the 21st Century Schizoid Band played occasional tours in the UK, North America and Japan. The band was well received by audiences, and released several live albums plus a concert DVD. Its work came to a halt in 2005 due to lack of funding and difficulties in finding worthwhile arrangements for tours: Wallace's death in 2007 finally put an end to the project. By this point, Jakszyk had spent several years assembling another solo album, which was eventually released as '' The Bruised Romantic Glee Club'' in 2006. Hailed as his most accomplished work to date, the double album featured one disc of new Jakszyk songs and one disc of his reinterpretations of works by musicians who'd influenced him (including King Crimson, Soft Machine and Henry Cow). The album included a remarkable sweep of guest performers assembled from the full length of Jakszyk's career and associations. As well as contributions from long-standing allies Lyndon Connah, Gavin Harrison and Dave Stewart, the guests included

and Pandit Dinesh (from Dizrhythmia);

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and Nathan King (from Level 42); and King Crimson members

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...

and Ian Wallace.

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting i ...

(Soft Machine) and Clive Brooks (

Egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

) also made an appearance, playing on a Soft Machine cover version initially recorded for a compilation in 2000. Despite some highly complimentary reviews, the original 2006 release of ''The Bruised Romantic Glee Club'' was blighted by bad luck and the collapse of the record company releasing it. Eventually, the album was re-released on the King Crimson-associated record label Panegyric in 2009 (alongside a companion album of material recorded at the same time called ''Waves Sweep the Sand''). In 2007, Jakszyk joined British progressive rock band the Tangent for their album '' Not as Good as the Book'' (released 2008). Following one guest appearance and one full live show at the Summers End festival in September 2008, he resigned from the band.

King Crimson (2010–present)

Since 2002, Jakszyk's connections to the musicians in and around King Crimson had grown closer (via the 21st Century Schizoid Band, Gavin Harrison's recruitment into King Crimson in 2007, and Jakszyk's own developing friendship with Robert Fripp, which led to Jakszyk being invited to remix King Crimson's 1995 album '' Thrak'' for reissue) . In January 2010, Jakszyk and Fripp began recording ambient instrumental pieces on a casual basis: this eventually developed into a full song-based project involving

. Gavin Harrison and King Crimson bass player

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

were brought in to complete the recordings, which were released in May 2011 on the Panegyric label as an album called '' A Scarcity of Miracles'' credited to Jakszyk Fripp & Collins. At the time, King Crimson was in a "dormant" phase, but the involvement of three current band members, one former band member and a previously separate singer-songwriter in this new project led to speculation that King Crimson was about to reactivate and would recruit Jakszyk as a new frontman. Initially Fripp downplayed these suggestions. In an online diary entry, he described the trio as an endeavour which "has the Crimson gene, but is not quite KC. It is a Crimson ProjeKct, although this was not the intention. Given the gene pool, I suppose this counts as evolution. If JFC were named as a ProjeKct, which would be legitimate IMO, then all manner of expectations, categorisations, limitations & dopey commentaries would be launched to deter the ears of innocent audients". Fripp went on to comment that the origin of the trio was in fact a proposed but abandoned ProjeKct Seven (featuring himself, Jakszyk, Collins, Levin, Harrison and possibly some other players) and described the forthcoming ''A Scarcity of Miracles'' as "one of my favouritist albums, of those where I am a determining element". '' A Scarcity of Miracles'' was met with a good critical response and a mixed welcome from the King Crimson fanbase. Due to Fripp's retirement from live performance, the release was not supported by a concert tour. Fripp's formal retirement from the music industry in 2012 stifled most of the remaining rumours. On 24 September 2013, Fripp made the announcement that he was launching a new line-up of King Crimson, with its first tour planned for September 2014. Shortly afterwards the personnel list was announced, with Jakszyk confirmed as lead singer and second guitarist. The new King Crimson line-up continued and expanded the ''Scarcity of Miracles'' project personnel: other members besides Fripp and Jakszyk were Mel Collins, three members from the 2009 Crimson band (Gavin Harrison, Tony Levin and

Pat Mastelotto Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955) is an American rock drummer and record producer. He has been a member of King Crimson, Stick Men, Mr. Mister and O.R.k., as well as working as a session drummer with XTC, The Pointer Sisters an ...

) and another new recruit, American drummer/keyboard player

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scen ...

(with a second drummer/keyboard player, Jeremy Stacey, also being added to the band in 2016). Jakko has remained with King Crimson until the present day as a key part of the band's longest continual line-up. in September Jakko was awarded the 'Chris Squire Virtuoso award' at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards at Shakespeare's Globe in London. It was presented to him by comedian and actor Ade Edmondson. In 2023 and 2024 Jakko performed live in Italy with the new John Greaves Band along with Mel Collins, Annie Barbazza, Annie Whitehead and french drummer Régïs Boulard.

Secrets & Lies Album (2020)

On 14 August 2020 Jakko released an animated video for his single "The Trouble with Angels" directed by Iranian filmmaker, Sam Chegini. The song is taken from his latest album "Secrets & Lies", released on CD/DVD via

InsideOut Music Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Centu ...

on 23 October 202

Work in comedy and acting

Jakszyk has had a sideline in comedy work parallel to his solo career (ranging from radio programmes to character work on television) and has spent some time as a member of the actor's union Equity. His work as a character comedian has included playing the demented but fleet-fingered Italian guitarist Eduardo, a sidekick to comedy music duo Raw Sex (Simon Brint and

Rowland Rivron Rowland John Rivron (born 28 September 1958) is a British writer, comedic actor and television personality. Early career Rivron played the comic character 'Dr Martin Scrote' on the Jonathan Ross chat show ''The Last Resort'', and also played S ...

). As Eduardo, Jakszyk appeared on the '' French & Saunders'' TV show in 1987, as well as being part of Raw Sex's subsequent theatre show at the Kings Head in Islington and three-week stint at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. Jakszyk also impersonated

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with ...

in the ''French & Saunders'' TV parody of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

. In the BBC TV movie ''In Dreams'' (starring

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

and Bill Paterson), Jakszyk makes a cameo appearance as

's recording engineer. He has also appeared in the BBC sitcom ''Birds of a Feather''. Under the pseudonym of "Grand Master Jellytot", Jakszyk produced the novelty hip-hop single " The Stutter Rap" (performed by "

Morris Minor and the Majors Morris Minor and the Majors was a British band from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, formed by the comedians and writers Tony Hawks and Paul Boross. The group became famous with their 1987 song " Stutter Rap", an original song in the style of ...

", who included future comic star

Tony Hawks Antony Gordon Hawksworth Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 27 February 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Gr ...

). This record reached Number 4 on the UK singles chart in January 1988.

Musical style

Jakszyk has followed a variety of musical approaches. He has become known – in his solo work in particular – for blending elements of pop with aspects of

. While known as a guitarist and singer, he also performs on a variety of keyboard, string and

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

s from various cultures (and can write for even more), and his work has drawn on assorted elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

, classical, Irish,

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...

, Indian and

Chinese music The music of China consists of many distinct traditions, often specifically originating with one of the country's various ethnic groups. It is produced within and without the country, involving either people of Chinese origin, the use of tradit ...

. His soundtrack work draws on a variety of sources as well, although he has commented that "very few (of the soundtracks) have a distinct Jakko stamp (whatever that may be)."

Personal life

Jakszyk is divorced from model Amanda Giles, the daughter of King Crimson drummer and co-founder Michael Giles. They have two children who he currently lives with in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

As guest or sideman

* David Jackson: ''The Long Hello Vol. 3'' (Butt Records, 1982) – guitars, bass guitar, synthesizer, vocals * Peter Blegvad: ''The Naked Shakespeare'' (

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

, 1983 – guitar * Neil: '' Neil's Heavy Concept Album'' ( WEA, 1984) * Peter Blegvad: ''Knights Like These'' (Virgin, 1985) – guitar * What If: ''What If'' (

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, 1987) – guitar * Swing Out Sister: ''It's Better to Travel'' ( Mercury, 1987) – guitar * Peter Blegvad: ''Downtime'' (Virgin, 1988) – guitar, backing vocals * Sam Brown: ''Stop!'' (Mercury, 1988) – guitar * John Greaves, David Cunningham: ''Greaves, Cunningham'' (Eva Records, 1991) (reissued on Piano 1997) – vocals * Mica Paris: ''Whisper a Prayer'' (4th & Broadway, 1993) – guitar * Holi ( Akiko Kobayashi): ''Under the Monkey Puzzle Tree'' (Resurgence, 1994) – guitar, flute, backing vocals * Peter Blegvad with John Greaves and Chris Cutler: ''Just Woke Up'' (ReR Megacorp, 1995) – guitars * Mick Karn: ''The Tooth Mother'' (CMP, 1996) – guitars, shawm, dilruba, flute, tenor saxophone, keyboards, programming, sampler * Indigo Falls: ''Indigo Falls'' (Medium Productions, 1997) – guitars and low whistle * Saro Cosentino: ''Ones and Zeros'' (Consorzio Produttori Indipendenti/Mercury/Resurgence, 1997) – vocals * Gavin Harrison: ''Sanity and Gravity'' (Resurgence, 1997) – keyboards, guitar, vocals, whistle * Pip Pyle: ''7 Year Itch'' (Voiceprint, 1998) – guitar, flute, production, lead vocals on three tracks * Mark King: '' Mark King Group Live ... At The Jazz Café'' (Mark King Self-released, 1999) – guitar, backing vocals * Steven Wilson: ''

The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) ''The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)'' is the third solo album by British musician Steven Wilson, released by Kscope Music Records on 25 February 2013. Each track on the album is based on a story of the supernatural. Alan Parso ...

'' (Kscope, 2013) – vocals on "Luminol" and "The Watchmaker" * Fjieri: "Words Are All We Have" (Emerald, 2015) – lead and backing vocals on 9 tracks, guitar * Steve Hackett: "Genesis Revisited" (Inside Out Music, 2012) – lead vocals on "Entangled", guitar * Level 42 : Live at London's Town and Country Club – Recorded in 1992 – (DVD, Wienerworld, 2013) – Guitar and backing vocals * Louise Patricia Crane: " Deep Blue" (Peculiar Doll Records, 2020) – Guitar and backing vocals

Album remixes

TV and video

* ''Jo Brand's "Through the Cakehole"'' * ''Chef'' (BBC – music for all series) * ''Hard Cases'' (Central TV) * '' Clive James's Postcard from...

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

'' * ''In Dreams'' (BBC TV movie) * ''Birds of a Feather'' (BBC – music for one season and a Christmas special) * CD-ROM games ''World War II'' and ''The War in the Pacific''.

References

External links

* OUT OF ORDER :-( (December 2024).
Jakko M. Jakszyk Myspace

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakszyk, Jakko 1958 births Living people Actors from the London Borough of Islington English adoptees English people of American descent English people of Irish descent Musicians from the London Borough of Islington People from Croxley Green English funk musicians English jazz musicians English male singer-songwriters English pop musicians English record producers English rock musicians English session musicians Discipline Global Mobile artists King Crimson members Level 42 members National Youth Theatre members People from Archway, London The Tangent members 21st Century Schizoid Band members Chiswick Records artists Actors from Three Rivers District Male actors from Hertfordshire