Jakko the Star!
"Lately, I've been listening to quite a lot of live KC from the last couple tours. I'm moved to write that Jakko is probably the best singer these songs have ever had. He is not just a very good singer, he puts the music/song first, not himself..."
Sadly, it's easy for fans of Belew-era Crimsons to overlook Jakko precisely because of this. I think many traditional rock audiences are now thoroughly Pavlov'd into focusing on "the singer" as being the focal point of attention, and "lead" singers seem to comprehend that this is their role. But Jakko uses his voice like all the other Crimsonian members use their instruments: one more tool to bring the music and, hopefully, bring the Music down as well.
I think it's also worth nodding kudos over to Fripp also, who clearly recognized this in Jakko and viewed this as essential to the subsequent iteration of King Crimson. It really goes against the grain of how rock bands are "supposed to" work.
