David Cross, Robert Fripp — Starless Starlight

      ^{David Cross, Robert Fripp — Starless Starlight} ¬•  Crimson mainman Robert and ex–member David to launch album based on 1974 track. David Cross is an internationally respected rock musician and improviser with a discography of more than 40 albums. David was a member of the legendary ‘Larks’ Tongues’ version of King Crimson and has performed in Europe, USA and Japan. In recent years he has performed at Athens Conservatory of Music, at festivals in Poland and Italy and most recently (April 2015) with Stick Men in Japan.Born: 1948 in Plymouth, England
Location: UK
Album release: May 4, 2015
Record Label: Noisy Records
Duration:     55:48
STARLESS STARLIGHT TRACKLIST:
1 Starless Starlight Loops     11:35
2 In The Shadow     5:37
3 Shine And Fall     6:44
4 Starless Theme     5:17
5 One By One, The Stars Were Going     6:50
6 Fear Of Starlight     3:51
7 Starlight Trio     12:00
8 Sure Of The Dark     3:54
℗ 2015 Noisy Records
Line–up:
¬•  David Cross / violin
¬•  Robert Fripp / soundscapesPersonnel for show:
¬•  David Cross (ex–King Crimson) will be joined by, David Jackson (ex–Van der Graaf Generator) Yumi Hara (The Artaud Beats) and Tony Lowe (Producer\ Guitarist\Composer)
REVIEW
Sid Smith
¬•  You know what it’s like when you can’t get a tune out of your head. No matter what you’re doing, up it pops unbidden out of your subconscious to rattle around your head for days on end. While that can sometimes be irksome, when it’s a melody as graceful as Starless its appearance is nothing less than a gift.
¬•  Since writing the beautiful, mournful theme in 1974, where its elegiac strains became King Crimson’s defining swansong, Cross and Fripp respectively have had brief encounters with the tune: Cross with his own band, while Fripp flirted with it during the late ‘70s Frippertronics tour and at a solo soundscape gig in 2005.
¬•  Building upon that latter performance, Cross adds layers of languorous, silky–toned electric violin and synths to Fripp's slow–turning strings to construct a beguiling series of dreamy fantasia wherein the theme migrates from indistinct shimmering mirages into a yearning, but focused  meditative states.
¬•  Though there’s little movement within the album overall, the rhapsodic flurries Cross injects add bite and passion, suggesting perhaps, a hint of unfinished business in reinvestigating this old melody. Given that King Crimson have reintroduced the full–length version of Starless into their setlist for the first time in 40 years, maybe that applies to the guitarist as well.  ¬•  http://sidsmith.blogspot.com/Biography
¬•  The violinist for King Crimson from 1972 to 1974, David Cross later launched a solo career with the David Cross Band, which featured an interesting sound comprised of violin, bass, keyboards, drums, and saxophones.
¬•  David Cross was born in Turnchapel, England, near Plymouth. After leaving King Crimson, Cross formed the improvisational rock group Ascend, and spent the better part of the 1970s and 1980s composing for and working with theater groups in a variety of capacities. His first solo release was Memos from Purgatory (1989), which was later staged by Cross. With the David Cross Band, Cross moved between improvisational pieces and more composed ones. While the music bears some similarity to 1970s King Crimson, it is slower–paced with musical phrases and ideas that appear out of nowhere and disappear as quickly, leading some to call his music underdeveloped. 1998's Exiles was more song–oriented and featured guest appearances by Crimson alumni Robert Fripp, Peter Hammill, John Wetton, and Peter Sinfield. In 1999, Cross formed Noisy Records.Description:
Scott Munro
¬•  King Crimson mainman Robert Fripp and ex–member David Cross have recorded an album exploring classic track Starless.
¬•  Entitled Starless Starlight, the eight–piece work is based on a melody Cross wrote for the original, which appeared on Red in 1974. Fripp recorded two improvised takes in 2006 and Cross has reworked them and added violin parts.
¬•  Cross says: “It’s a piece in which we all managed to express ourselves and get our personalities across. This little theme that Starless Starlight is based on has a kind of journey, and it emerges different but still surviving. I’ve always been very impressed with that.”
¬•  He continues: “Somehow the piece manages to embody some very simple ideas — quite romantic and sentimental, but at the same time angry and dark.”
¬•  Starless Starlight is released via Noisy Records on May 4. Cross recently completed work on a David Cross Band album and he's working with former Van Der Graaf Generator multi–instrumentalist David Jackson. King Crimson will tour the UK later this year:
¬•  Aug 31: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
¬•  Sep 01: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
¬•  Sep 03: Cardiff St. David’s Hall
¬•  Sep 05: Brighton Dome Concert Hall
¬•  Sep 07: London Hackney Empire
¬•  Sep 08: London Hackney Empire
¬•  Sep 11: Manchester The Lowry
¬•  Sep 14: Birmingham Symphony Hall
¬•  Sep 17: Edinburgh Usher Hall
¬•  https://www.teamrock.com/
INTERVIEW
¬•  http://www.teamrock.com/features/2015-06-23/q-a-david-cross
Website: http://www.david-cross.com/
Website: http://www.jaxontonewall.com/
Website: http://tonylowe.com/reflector/
Website: http://www.yumiharacawkwell.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yumi.cawkwell?fref=nf
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David Cross, Robert Fripp — Starless Starlight

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