For this month’s release, Alex ’Stormy’ Mundy has unearthed a rarity from the rehearsal room.
Download The Sheltering Sky
Taken from King Crimson’s rehearsals in Millennium Studios in Bedfordshire, in May 2019, ahead of the 50th Anniversary Tour. The Sheltering Sky was included in the setlist for seven of the shows. Not played by a King Crimson lineup since the Double-Trio performed it in 1996, this is a privileged look behind the scenes as the band sifts through an abundance of material from the back catalogue, to put together a celebratory program for its 50th year playing 51 concerts.
Describing The Sheltering Sky in live performance, Sid Smith comments: “At its best, the piece often created a special atmosphere in concert that stepped beyond Crimson's usual frenetic pace and, in doing so, created a distinctive aural space that was as passionate as it was contemplative.”
It follows the pattern of other reimagined material from the back catalogue, updated to the new lineup, Mel Collins adding a flute part for example, Robert's guiding principle being: “the music is new, whenever it was written”.
In the tour programme he sets out his approach to presenting the band's half-century of history to a new audience, “A primary aim for the King Crimson Celebration Tour of 2019, celebrating fifty years of KC in the world, is to find innocent ears: ears that have never heard KC music; and ears-of-experience able to enter the musical moment as if for the first time”.
photos by Tony Levin.
