The Crimson ProjeKCt (Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Markus Reuter, Tobias Ralph, Julie Slick) is a King Crimson offshoot featuring 3 current members of that historic band, primarily focusing on repertoire from early 1980s through to the mid-90s. The band has a “double trio” line-up, as made popular by Crimson between 1994 – 1997.

History and background

Adrian Belew and Tony Levin joined King Crimson in 1981, giving birth to the 4th incarnation of the band, (alongside Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford). Pat Mastelotto joined in 1994, which started the double-trio phase that also included Trey Gunn. They last played together as King Crimson on a “retrospective” US tour in 2008, but haven’t played in Europe since 2003. Robert Fripp has subsequently announced that he’s retired from being a touring musician, (“I couldn’t concentrate on music, … So I made the choice to give up my career as a musician in the frontline to deal with the business.”, Financial Times, August 3, 2012)

Belew, Levin and Mastelotto still have a large influence on popular culture due in part to their critically acclaimed work with some of the world’s most influential artists, such as Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Talking Heads, XTC, Paul Simon, John Lennon, and NIN, etc.

In 2009 Tony and Pat formed the trio “Stick Men” which also features Markus Reuter on touch guitar. Markus is an accomplished composer who learned the Crimson repertoire first-hand from Robert Fripp during his stint in Guitar Craft between 1991 and 1998. In The Crimson ProjeKCt Markus covers Robert’s parts, incl. the soundscaping elements that have been incorporated since 1994. Stick Men have released 4 studio albums to date and tour the world regularly.

In 2006, Adrian Belew formed what was to become a long-term live project known as “The Adrian Belew Power Trio”. The lineup now features former Paul Green School of Rock student Julie Slick on bass and drummer Tobias Ralph (Lauryn Hill, Tricky, Joe Bowie’s Defunkt, Screaming Headless Torsos, Nena). The trio routinely tours the world, and has released several albums together including the acclaimed “E”.