Jazz Articles about Robert Fripp

Travis & Fripp: Thread

by John Kelman
August 8, 2008

The question of who first took snippets of music and created repetitive loops could be argued until the cows come home; looking to classical composers like Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen or, in the jazz sphere, producer Teo Macero and his landmark collage work with Miles Davis would be good starting points. In the realm of real-time looping as an improvisational device, however, it's much clearer. When King Crimson co-founder/guitarist Robert Fripp and Ambient music progenitor Brian Eno ...

Robert Fripp: At the End of Time: Churchscapes - Live in England & Estonia, 2006

by John Kelman
December 21, 2007

There are those who suggest that Robert Fripp has more than mined his innovative Soundscapes recordings for all they're worth; that one album fades into the next with little differentiation. Comparing the King Crimson co-founder and guitarist's At the End of Time: Churchscapes--Live in England and Estonia 2006 to Love Cannot Bear: Soundcapes--Live in the USA (DGM, 2005) lays easy waste to such claims.

Fripp has been evolving his guitar-as-orchestra concept for decades--initially by linking two reel-to-reel tape recorders in ...

Fripp & Eno: Beyond Even (1992-2006)

by John Kelman
December 15, 2007

It's hard to believe that it's been thirty-five years since King Crimson's Robert Fripp teamed with keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Brian Eno for the groundbreaking No Pussyfooting (EG, 1973). That album introduced the concept of Frippertronics to the world; a method of using two tape recorders and one guitar to create an ever- expanding orchestral approach that Fripp would, with the help of increasingly advanced technology, evolve into Soundscapes, featured on albums including the deeply resonant Love Cannot Bear (DGM, 2005). Eno has ...

The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-1974)

by John Kelman
October 12, 2006

Despite bassist/stick player Tony Levin stepping in to replace departing touch guitarist Trey Gunn, the incarnation of King Crimson that released The ConstruKction Of Light (Virgin, 2000) and considerably stronger The Power To Believe (Sanctuary, 2003) seems to be, at the very least, on hiatus. While Crimson's only remaining original member, guitarist Robert Fripp, has reconvened with 26-year Crimson veteran guitarist/drummer Adrian Belew for ProjKct Six, the future of Crimson proper is uncertain. This is, consequently, as ...

Robert Fripp: Exposure

by John Kelman
June 18, 2006

When King Crimson co-founder/guitarist Robert Fripp disbanded the group in 1974, it seemed as though he'd grown tired of being its de facto leader. But he remained active, performing with artists as diverse as Brian Eno, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates and Blondie. While listeners who'd lost touch with him after King Crimson were undoubtedly shocked, those who continued following him were not at all surprised when his first solo album, Exposure, was released in 1979.

Robert Fripp: Love Cannot Bear: Soundscapes - Live in the USA

by John Kelman
December 14, 2005

If one indication of a musician's mettle is creating a distinctive voice, than King Crimson co-founder/erstwhile leader Robert Fripp has done enough to distinguish a multitude of artists. With each successive incarnation of Crimson (documented on The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson Volume One: 1969-1974 and Volume Two: 1981- 2003), he's not only created a wealth of recognizable tones, but a diversity of harmonic approaches that remain extraordinarily cohesive, despite rather significant stylistic shifts. It would ...

The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson Volume Two: 1981-2003

by John Kelman
November 30, 2005

While Robert Fripp—erstwhile leader and only remaining member of the group that literally shook the foundations of the rock world in 1969 with In the Court of the Crimson King (Discipline Global Mobile)— rankles at those who call the continually evolving band King Crimson a progressive rock band, what band better fits the term progressive? Merriam-Webster defines the word progressive as: “making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities," and “moving forward or onward." ...