Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Jamie Muir studied at Edinburgh College of Art where he also made his first forays into music, initially playing trombone before finding his true calling as a percussionist.
He was drawn to free jazz and the world of improvisation and played with various groups in Edinburgh before a move to London saw him joining the Music Improvisation Company alongside Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Gavin Bryars and others, and playing in bands including Pete Brown’s Battered Ornaments.
Jamie’s mix of improvisational skill and theatricality brought him to the attention of Melody Maker’s Richard Williams who recommended him to Robert Fripp and ultimately a place in King Crimson’s third lineup, playing drums alongside Bill Bruford. After an experimental jam session with Robert “to see if there was a basis for us working together”, Muir recalls “ I remember I was playing some really fast and furious blow-outs, from a drummer’s perspective it was the Tony Williams / Billy Cobham type of thing. It was fairly energetic stuff and I think we enjoyed ourselves. He didn’t say right then and there ‘OK you’re in’ but I think he said he’d give me a ring.”
Robert remembers “ I suddenly thought ‘Well Bill’s a lovely drummer but perhaps he’s a little too straight for some things… Then I thought of this nut Jamie Muir whom I’d just met and I thought well Jamie’s a great drummer but he’s not really straight enough for some of the things I’d like him to do'…I suddenly had this idea to use the two of them, it seemed so right”.
As Jamie put it: “King Crimson was the ideal for me because it was a rock band and it had more than three brain cells. I was very much more an instrumental style of musician rather than being song based and there weren’t many other bands that I would have been any good in. I was extremely pleased and I felt completely at home with the Crimson.”
After rehearsals in Richmond Athletic Club the new lineup, that also included John Wetton and David Cross, set out on a UK tour of theatres in November-December of 1972. Jamie brought an extraordinary element of performance-art to the stage, dressed in animal skins, roving the stage and climbing the PA cabinets, with flailing chains and biting on blood capsules, his drum kit enhanced with various kitchen utensils and found objects.
After the tour, which had been ecstatically received by critics and audiences alike, the band entered Command Studios in London in January of 1973 to record the album Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, the title coined by Jamie to describe the music.
It would be the only studio album he would feature on as after the first of two shows in February at London’s Marquee Club, Jamie abruptly quit the band to pursue a life outside of the music industry. Returning to an interest in Buddhism he went to live at Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland. “There were experiences over a period of about six months which caused me to decide to give up music, so one morning I felt I had to go to E.G. management and tell them. It was difficult of course, a whole year of tours had just been lined up. I cleared my house and went up to a Tibetan monastery in Scotland, became a monk and took the robes. I didn't feel too happy about letting people down, but this was something I had to do or else it would have been a source of deep regret for the rest of my life. I did a lot of meditating - which is more active than some people seem to think - and spent a lot of time in retreat. ”
Writing in 1992 Robert reflected “ Jamie was far too intelligent and well-balanced a human being to stay with the group for long. Confronted with the nonsense of life on the road he opted for life.”
In later years Jamie Muir returned to his love of painting and worked at his studio in Cornwall, but had occasional involvement in musical projects in the1980s, including a return to work with Derek Bailey and Evan Parker in the free improv group Company, and a collaboration with fellow Crimson drummer Michael Giles with David Cunningham for the film soundtrack Ghost Dance.
Jamie was interviewed for the In The Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson At 50 documentary film and attended the UK premiere on October 22, 2022.
Jamie Muir 30 November 1942 - 17 February 2025
