In his autobiography, Bill Bruford spent a chapter answering the question: What’s it like working with Robert Fripp? Well, ex-King Crimson violinist David Cross gives an impressive album-length answer to the question: What’s it like working with ex-Yes (and Flash) guitarist Peter Banks?
Crossover is a collection of improvised instrumentals that rekindles the melodic, magical expanse and ethos of 1973’s Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and 1974’s Starless and Bible Black.
Now, Peter Banks died in 2013, and this music was recorded on Aug. 10, 2010. In 2018-19, friends like Pat Mastelotto, Tony Kaye, Billy Sherwood and Oliver Wakeman helped flesh out the original performances. Banks’ playing on Crossover reminds me of his 1973 solo project Two Sides of Peter Banks, which captured a gift of mood and tone that echoes the playing of Robert Fripp – as well as Jan Akkerman and Steve Hackett, both of whom play on that album.
The first tune, “Rock to a Hard Place,” begins with wondrous sharp-edged David Cross violin solo that soars above a strident Peter Banks guitar. Some backward tapes play havoc with the brain’s synapses, while guests on percussion and piano secure the sound. There’s another King Crimson-like violin bit, a mellotron, and then the whole thing becomes tough ether, and Banks plays some sinister lead lines, until the original theme restates itself as Cross’ violin dances like a missing ghost from Crimson’s final Red recordings. This is nine minutes of ’70s prog bliss.
“Upshift” is more tough ether. Peter Banks’ guitar digs into the guts of the tune, while the other instruments (especially the organ and piano) aid the violin as it ascends to the stars.
It’s just an idea, but Cross has kept the Larks’ Tongues aegis (thankfully) flying after the demise of that lineup. His album Testing to Destruction takes the wacky and neurotic (but weirdly hummable) template of King Crimson’s “Great Deceiver,” and dances with odd melodies over chaotic keyboards. Exiles was a who’s who of prog rock with Peter Hammill, John Wetton, and even Robert Fripp lending a hand. And the David Cross Band’s Sign of the Crow keeps the Crimson faith too, albeit with some rather (sadly) obvious heavy-metal guitar here and there.
To be fair: King Crimson’s improv stuff was never without form, and it always moved from A to Z. Of course, it was wont to reorganize the various letters of the alphabet. And this music follows that logical illogical construct.
“The Smile Frequency” gets atmospheric, with big sweeps of sound upon which the violin floats with an odd flugelhorn-like beauty. The percussion is gentle, and the music touches upon the quiet moments of (my beloved) Jade Warrior during their Island period. This music floats on its own deep tranquility, a tranquility that is without any ambient nonsense.
“The Work Within Us,” again erupts with violin and guitar passion, like time-lapse footage of an exotic plant opening into full blossom. Once more, the music again echoes Jade Warrior, especially on the second side of their Kites album (which featured Henry Cow’s Fred Frith on violin!). And by the way, this tune’s recitation of the alphabet not only jumbles the letters, but also writes an epic with its warm cathedral dissonance.
It’s just an idea, but the ephemeral beauty of Crossover recalls the Terje Rypdal ECM grandeur of his brilliant Descendre album that softens any black hole’s dark pulse. Again, David Cross’ violin sings the same grace as Kenny Wheeler’s flugelhorn. That’s high praise. “Missing Time” and “Plasma Drive” continue with that autumnal sound, with a selected few of those harsh consonant sounds thrown back into the mix.
But, oh my(!), “Laughing Stranger” begins with a nod to King Crimson’s “Starless,” and then bursts into some version of “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part Whatever,” before the tune morphs into a funky Talking Heads’ Remain in Light moment, and then euphoria breaks loose with a brilliant Peter Banks guitar moment and a violin that sings with prog-rock harmony. This is nice music.
The final (and title) tune, “Crossover,” begins with a sharp and angular Cross solo ala the quiet bits of “Larks’ Tongues Part I.” There’s some more weird tape manipulation. And there’s ample space exploration that dissolves into the beauty of an age-old cosmic progressive rock circle.
This music (like any decent “night”) still “wounds time” but it also shifts lava, and lava is both beautiful and deadly. Good tunes do that. Any good violin rides that molten lava. David Cross did that in King Crimson. And this album finds him at another progressive volcano crater, cutting magmatic grooves into a pretty great record.
- Coincidence – ‘Coincidence,’ ‘Clef de Ciel’ + ‘Archives 1973-1974’ (2024) - November 17, 2024
- Mile Marker Zero – ‘Coming of Age’ (2024) - October 14, 2024
- Burton Cummings – ‘A Few Good Moments’ (2024) - October 7, 2024
