Jakko Jakszyk
Encyclopedia
Jakko M. Jakszyk is an English guitarist, singer-songwriter , multi-instrumentalist and producer (as well as being an occasional comedian and raconteur). In addition to pursuing a solo career, he has been a member of Level 42
, 64 Spoons
, The Lodge
, Dizrhythmia, The Tangent
and 21st Century Schizoid Band
and has collaborated with a variety of other musicians including Tom Robinson
, Robert Fripp
and Dave Stewart as well as having an extensive and well-respected career as a session musician
. He is frequently referred to simply as "Jakko", and several of his releases are credited to this shorter name.
- Norbert Jakszyk (originally from Poland) and Camille Jakszyk (originally from France). Jakko would later reconstruct a complex family tale from all of this for his extended radio piece The Road to Ballina, which incorporated both Camille and Norbert's stories, an account of Jakko's own childhood and adolescence, and his subsequent search for his birth mother.
Jakko grew up in Hertfordshire
, England and has described his childhood as being unhappy. Despite the love of his adoptive mother Camille, there was frequent friction with his adoptive father Norbert (although Jakko and Norbert reconciled later in life). Leaving home at a young age, Jakko vigorously pursued a musical career from his teenage years, having already developed a high level of skill on guitar inspired as much by Allan Holdsworth
and progressive rock musicians as by pop.
member Ted Emmett). Performing “jazz/rock-inspired oddness”, Soon After managed to reach the finals of the 1975 Melody Maker
National Rock/Folk competition (ultimately coming third to a heavy metal
band featuring future Clash
co-leader Mick Jones
and to a big band featuring future top-ranking saxophone sessioneer Gary Barnacle
). Jakko had subsequently toured with what he described as a "strange little band" and supported Camel
, Stackridge
, Judas Priest
and others before joining a Tring
-based Canterbury-scene
-inspired/progressive rock band called Synthesis.
which he joined as guitarist and lead singer in 1976 and which also featured Lyndon Connah (drums, keyboards), Tam Neal (keyboards, drums) and Andy Crawford (bass guitar, flute) plus Jakko's former Soon After bandmate Ted Emmett (trumpet, vocals). Jakko initially found it difficult to commit to 64 Spoons, abruptly quitting the band after his first concert with them when he saw the opportunity to join Warren Harry’s punk/pop band (which had the advantage of already having a recording deal with Bronze Records
). He later admitted that he'd made this choice entirely for mercenary reasons and that he'd soon regretted it as the music was entirely unrewarding and the success he'd hoped for failed to materialise. By 1977 he was back in 64 Spoons. (During his absence, Ted Emmett had covered as lead singer.)
Now committed to the band, Jakko dedicated himself to working with them, co-writing much of the material with the songwriting core of Connah and Neal. The band continued for another three years, working hard on a cleverly-arranged and tightly-drilled blend of pop, progressive rock, jazz and comedy (typified by their single "Ladies Don't Have Willies"). Further boosted by an exuberant and funny live show, they proved popular with audiences but failed to gain the right kind of record deal or media breakthrough. Jakko subsequently described them as "the wrong band at the wrong time". By 1980, perpetually passed-over and broke, 64 Spoons' collective confidence began to disintegrate. The band went through some changes in name and hairstyle plus a line-up adjustment in which Emmett was ousted due to his instrument being "unfashionable" (ironically, he immediately joined the then-highly fashionable The Teardrop Explodes
). Following a particularly unsuccessful series of gigs in the North-West of England, the band split up. Their only album - Landing on a Rat Column - was eventually released in 1992, many years after it was recorded.
All five members of 64 Spoons went on to satisfying musical careers of one kind or another. Tam Neal diversified into theatre music, Andy Crawford returned to playing flute and performing baroque music, Ted Emmett played with Joan Armatrading
and in jazz bands, and both Lyndon Connah and Jakko established themselves as successful pop session players. Jakko and Connah would remain occasional collaborators on more challenging projects outside the session world, and both were subsequently members of Level 42
(although at different times).
and Stiff Records
. His debut solo album, Silesia, was recorded for Chiswick in 1981 but shelved at the last minute due to the label going bankrupt when it was at printing stage. A subsequent album recorded for Stiff in 1983-85 suffered the same fate, as did Jakko's third attempt (this time for the Virgin-associated MDM Records in 1986-87). Some of this "lost" material resurfaced on Jakko's 1996 compilation album Are My Ears On Wrong?, and Silesia was briefly issued on CD in the late 1990s.
, Sam Brown ("Stop") and Italian singer Alice. Jakko also continued collaborating with Dave Stewart, contributing to his duo work with Barbara Gaskin and playing a prominent role on the Stewart-produced Neil's Heavy Concept Album
(a 1984 spin-off from the Young Ones
comedy series). During this period, Jakko also met one of his other regular collaborators in the shape of up-and-coming drummer Gavin Harrison
(ex-Renaissance, and a future member of both Porcupine Tree
and King Crimson
).
Jakko subsequently worked with various musicians from the art-rock world - Van der Graaf Generator
's saxophonist David Jackson
(for whom he played on 1982's The Long Hello Vol. 3) and the maverick songwriter Peter Blegvad
(ex-Slapp Happy
/Henry Cow
). In 1987, he joined Blegvad and fellow ex-Henry Cow member John Greaves
in the short-lived band project The Lodge
(which also featured Blegvad's brother Kristoffer and drummers Anton Fier
(Golden Palominos) and Gavin Harrison
. Also during 1987, Jakko spent some time living and working in Los Angeles (with producer Larry Williams). This period was notable for a ludicrous encounter with Michael Jackson
.
During the 1980s, two Jakko songs ("Behave Yourself" and "Don't Blame Me") ended up being performed by The Nolans
. This was the result of a typically convoluted set of circumstances following Jakko's refusal to let the then-unknown Whitney Houston
record one of the songs.
pastiche album called Big Fish Popcorn (released on the Bam Caruso label) recorded under the name of The Kings of Oblivion. The liner notes claimed that the album was in fact the first and second sides of a "lost" 1967 double LP recorded in the back of an auto shop. Both musicians used ridiculous pseudonym (Jakko as "Mario 'Fat Man' Vanzetti" and Harrison as "Helmo 'Hairdo' Hudson"). The album has been described both as "inspiring" and "(like) the absolute worst of Frank Zappa
or Ween
."
Jakko and Harrison's work on The Kings Of Oblivion project led to a more serious band in the shape of Dizrhythmia, a project mixing jazz, folk, art-rock and Indian music. Jakko served as main songwriter, singer, guitarist (including the use of "sitar guitar"), flute player and occasional keyboardist, with Harrison on drumkit, former Pentangle
member Danny Thompson
on double bass and Pandit Dinesh on tabla and Indian percussion.
Dizrhythmia's self-titled album was released in 1988 for the Antilles label, and featured a wealth of guest musical talent. In addition to contributions from Lyndon Connah, Dave Stewart and pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole, Pandit Dinesh had brought in several highly-regarded Indian classical musicians such as Sultan Khan. The album gained good press attention but the band - for unexplained reasons - did not follow up on this. The possibility of a second Dizrhythmia album has frequently been raised during the intervening years, but not pursued (apparently due to the busy schedules of all four core members).
. This was released (credited to both musicians) as We Never Had It So Good and gained very positive press attention.
This in turn brought him to the attention of the highly successful Britfunk band Level 42
, who had lost guitarist Alan Murphy
a few years previously and had subsequently worked with Allan Holdsworth
for studio recordings and a brief series of London shows. In addition to his own Holdsworthian guitar skills, Jakko's knowledge of pop music (and his extra abilities as keyboard/flute player and singer) made him a natural choice to be recruited for the band. Jakko played with Level 42 between 1991 and the band's split in 1994. Although politics ensured that he never performed on a Level 42 studio album (and was never a core member of the band), he remained as the guitarist in the live band during that time. He also wrote material with Level 42 which was unfortunately shelved immediately after its initial recording (when the band decided to reunite with their former drummer/songwriter Phil Gould). Following Level 42's second split with Gould, Jakko brought in Gavin Harrison as drummer to fulfill tour obligations.
- Richard Barbieri
, Mick Karn
and Steve Jansen
- who were considering forming another band following the disintegration of their post-Japan project Rain Tree Crow
. Although the musical combination of the four players worked well and led to a lasting musical friendship, it did not result in a full-time band project. The results of the collaboration were released - under Jakko's name - as the 1994 EP Kingdom of Dust, on the new art-rock/progressive rock label Resurgence.
In 1995, Jakko's first (formally released) solo album, Mustard Gas and Roses - was released on Resurgence. A mixture of sharp, intelligent pop songs and progressive/art-rock instrumentals, it featured more contributions from Karn and Jansen, as well as guest appearances from Danny Thompson
, Gavin Harrison
, Sam Brown and BJ Cole. In 1996, this was followed up by another Resurgence release - Are My Ears On Wrong? - which compiled material from Jakko's 1980s singles and previous "lost" albums.
In March 1999 BBC Radio 3 broadcast a second Jakko piece called The Church of Lanza, which used many of the same techniques as The Road To Ballina. The piece dealt with the nature of fame and celebrity - focussing on "the deification of stars who die young" - and used the life of Mario Lanza as its focal point (consequently incurring the wrath of a number of outraged Mario Lanza fans. The Church of Lanza remains unreleased on commercial CD.
, which specialised in performing the 1960s and 1970s repertoire of King Crimson
and featured several ex-members/associates of the band - Ian McDonald, Mel Collins, Peter Giles and Michael Giles (the latter later replaced by Ian Wallace). Jakko fronted the band, playing guitar and singing. Over a five year period, the 21st Century Schizoid Band released a couple of live albums and played occasional tours in the UK, North American and Japan. Though well received by audiences, the band came to a halt in 2005 due to lack of funding and difficulties in finding worthwhile arrangements for tours. Wallace's death in 2007 has rendered it further unlikely that the band will reform.
(double bass, from Dizrhythmia and Pentangle); Pandit Dinesh (tabla and vocals, from Dizrhythmia); Mark
and Nathan King
(bass guitar, both Level 42
); King Crimson members Robert Fripp
(guitar), Peter Sinfield
, Mel Collins
(woodwind) and Ian Wallace
(drums); bass player Hugh Hopper
(Soft Machine) and drummer Clive Brooks
(Egg
) appeared on a Soft Machine cover version initially recorded for a compilation in 2000.
Despite some highly complimentary reviews, the original 2006 release of The Bruised Romantic Glee Club was blighted by bad luck and the collapse of the record company releasing it. Eventually, the album was re-released on the King Crimson-associated record label Panegyric in 2009 (alongside a companion album of material recorded at the same time called Waves Sweep the Sand).
for their album Not as Good as the Book
(released 2008). Following one guest appearance and one full live show at the Summers End festival in September 2008, he resigned from the band.
members - Robert Fripp
and Mel Collins
(former member). This eventually developed into recording sessions for a full project called Jakszyk Fripp & Collins. The album called A Scarcity of Miracles
was released in May 2011 on the Panegyric label, featuring further contributions by two-thirds of the current King Crimson rhythm section (Tony Levin and Gavin Harrison)
On 15 December 2010, Fripp described the trio in his online diary as an endeavour which "has the Crimson gene, but is not quite KC. It is a Crimson ProjeKct
, although this was not the intention. Given the gene pool, I suppose this counts as evolution. If JFC were named as a ProjeKct, which would be legitimate IMO, then all manner of expectations, categorisations, limitations & dopey commentaries would be launched to deter the ears of innocent audients." Fripp went on to comment that the origin of the trio was indeed a proposed but abandoned ProjeKct Seven (featuring himself, Jakko, Collins, Levin, Harrison and possibly some other players) and described the forthcoming A Scarcity of Miracles as "one of my favouritist (sic) albums, of those where I am a determining element."
.
He has also composed orchestral scores for the CD-ROM games World War II and The War in the Pacific.
). As Eduardo, Jakko appeared on the French & Saunders
TV show in 1987, as well as being part of Raw Sex's subsequent theatre show at the Kings Head in Islington and three-week stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Jakko also impersonated Lindsey Buckingham
in the French & Saunders TV parody of Fleetwood Mac
.
In the BBC TV movie In Dreams (starring Lenny Henry
and Bill Patterson), Jakko makes a cameo appearance as Michael Jackson
's recording engineer. He has also appeared in the BBC sitcom Birds Of A Feather.
Under the pseudonym of "Grand Master Jellytot", Jakko produced the novelty hip-hop single "The Stutter Rap" (performed by "Morris Minor and the Majors", who included future comic star Tony Hawks
). This record was a sizeable chart hit in 1987.
/21st Century Schizoid Band
drummer Michael Giles
). They have several children and live in Hertfordshire, England.
Level 42
Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...
, 64 Spoons
64 Spoons
64 Spoons were a British rock/pop band active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who utilised strong elements of progressive rock, jazz-fusion, punk energy and performance comedy...
, The Lodge
The Lodge (band)
The Lodge were a 1980s British/Welsh/American art-rock band based in New York, but performing mainly in Europe, which briefly united members of Henry Cow, Slapp Happy, Art Bears and Golden Palominos . It was centred primarily around Peter Blegvad and John Greaves, and drew strongly on their...
, Dizrhythmia, The Tangent
The Tangent
-Formation:Originally formed by keyboardists Andy Tillison and Sam Baine of Parallel or 90 Degrees and The Flower Kings guitarist Roine Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, and drummer Zoltan Csörsz. The septet was completed by renowned saxophonist David Jackson of Van der Graaf Generator and...
and 21st Century Schizoid Band
21st Century Schizoid Band
21st Century Schizoid Band are a King Crimson alumnus group formed in 2002.The name derives from the famous song "21st Century Schizoid Man" from the first King Crimson album, In the Court of the Crimson King...
and has collaborated with a variety of other musicians including Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson is an English singer-songwriter, bassist and radio presenter, better known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson Band...
, Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
and Dave Stewart as well as having an extensive and well-respected career as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
. He is frequently referred to simply as "Jakko", and several of his releases are credited to this shorter name.
Roots and childhood
Jakko's background is culturally and genealogically mixed. He was born at the Whittington Hospital in Archway, London, England to Irish singer Peggy Curran and an unknown US airman. At 18 months of age, he was adopted by two continental European refugees from the Second World War who had settled in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- Norbert Jakszyk (originally from Poland) and Camille Jakszyk (originally from France). Jakko would later reconstruct a complex family tale from all of this for his extended radio piece The Road to Ballina, which incorporated both Camille and Norbert's stories, an account of Jakko's own childhood and adolescence, and his subsequent search for his birth mother.
Jakko grew up in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England and has described his childhood as being unhappy. Despite the love of his adoptive mother Camille, there was frequent friction with his adoptive father Norbert (although Jakko and Norbert reconciled later in life). Leaving home at a young age, Jakko vigorously pursued a musical career from his teenage years, having already developed a high level of skill on guitar inspired as much by Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
and progressive rock musicians as by pop.
Early bands
By 1976, Jakko had already fronted the band Soon After which his self-confessed “dictatorial tendencies” ultimately reduced to a lineup of “two screaming lead guitars and a trumpet” (the latter played by ex-National Youth Jazz OrchestraNational Youth Jazz Orchestra
The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is a British jazz orchestra founded in 1963 by Bill Ashton.Based in Westminster, London, NYJO started life as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra and evolved into becoming the national orchestra...
member Ted Emmett). Performing “jazz/rock-inspired oddness”, Soon After managed to reach the finals of the 1975 Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
National Rock/Folk competition (ultimately coming third to a heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band featuring future Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
co-leader Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
and to a big band featuring future top-ranking saxophone sessioneer Gary Barnacle
Gary Barnacle
Gary Barnacle is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work Gary Barnacle (born 1959, Dover, England) is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work...
). Jakko had subsequently toured with what he described as a "strange little band" and supported Camel
Camel (band)
Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important group in the Canterbury scene, they have been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation.-1970s:...
, Stackridge
Stackridge
Stackridge are a British folk, pop and progressive rock group who were at the height of their success during the early 1970s. The band's output is characterized by quirky humour and rhythmic catchy sing-along tunes....
, Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
and others before joining a Tring
Tring
Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...
-based Canterbury-scene
Canterbury Scene
The Canterbury scene is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
-inspired/progressive rock band called Synthesis.
64 Spoons (1976-1980) and Warren Harry
Jakko's first significant band was 64 Spoons64 Spoons
64 Spoons were a British rock/pop band active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who utilised strong elements of progressive rock, jazz-fusion, punk energy and performance comedy...
which he joined as guitarist and lead singer in 1976 and which also featured Lyndon Connah (drums, keyboards), Tam Neal (keyboards, drums) and Andy Crawford (bass guitar, flute) plus Jakko's former Soon After bandmate Ted Emmett (trumpet, vocals). Jakko initially found it difficult to commit to 64 Spoons, abruptly quitting the band after his first concert with them when he saw the opportunity to join Warren Harry’s punk/pop band (which had the advantage of already having a recording deal with Bronze Records
Bronze Records
Bronze Records is an independent English record label set up in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron, and based in Chalk Farm, London.Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up this new label for future Uriah Heep releases, along with Juicy Lucy, Richard Barnes and Colosseum...
). He later admitted that he'd made this choice entirely for mercenary reasons and that he'd soon regretted it as the music was entirely unrewarding and the success he'd hoped for failed to materialise. By 1977 he was back in 64 Spoons. (During his absence, Ted Emmett had covered as lead singer.)
Now committed to the band, Jakko dedicated himself to working with them, co-writing much of the material with the songwriting core of Connah and Neal. The band continued for another three years, working hard on a cleverly-arranged and tightly-drilled blend of pop, progressive rock, jazz and comedy (typified by their single "Ladies Don't Have Willies"). Further boosted by an exuberant and funny live show, they proved popular with audiences but failed to gain the right kind of record deal or media breakthrough. Jakko subsequently described them as "the wrong band at the wrong time". By 1980, perpetually passed-over and broke, 64 Spoons' collective confidence began to disintegrate. The band went through some changes in name and hairstyle plus a line-up adjustment in which Emmett was ousted due to his instrument being "unfashionable" (ironically, he immediately joined the then-highly fashionable The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, the group also launched the career of group frontman...
). Following a particularly unsuccessful series of gigs in the North-West of England, the band split up. Their only album - Landing on a Rat Column - was eventually released in 1992, many years after it was recorded.
All five members of 64 Spoons went on to satisfying musical careers of one kind or another. Tam Neal diversified into theatre music, Andy Crawford returned to playing flute and performing baroque music, Ted Emmett played with Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
and in jazz bands, and both Lyndon Connah and Jakko established themselves as successful pop session players. Jakko and Connah would remain occasional collaborators on more challenging projects outside the session world, and both were subsequently members of Level 42
Level 42
Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...
(although at different times).
Rapid Eye Movement
Between August 1980 and June 1981, Jakko was a member of the Canterbury scene group Rapid Eye Movement, formed by one of his early heroes, keyboardist Dave Stewart after the end of the Bruford group, and also including Rick Biddulph on bass and Pip Pyle on drums. Jakko handled guitar and lead vocals, contributing some of his own songs to the band's repertoire, including 64 Spoons' "Dear Clare" as well as the newer "One More Time", "I'll Stand On My Own", "Ingmar Bergman On The Window Sill", "Straining Our Eyes", and also co-wrote songs with Stewart ("This Is Not What I Want" and "'Allo Darlin' I Work On The Fair"). The band toured Spain, France and the UK but split up before releasing anything, due to both the success of Stewart's parallel venture with Colin Blunstone ("What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted?") and Jakko signing a solo deal with Chiswick Records.Solo career, part 1 (two shelved albums)
In 1981, Jakko began a fitful (and initially ill-fated) solo career, releasing a variety of singles over the next few years on labels such as Chiswick RecordsChiswick Records
Chiswick Records was a British record company. Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label" to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era"...
and Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
. His debut solo album, Silesia, was recorded for Chiswick in 1981 but shelved at the last minute due to the label going bankrupt when it was at printing stage. A subsequent album recorded for Stiff in 1983-85 suffered the same fate, as did Jakko's third attempt (this time for the Virgin-associated MDM Records in 1986-87). Some of this "lost" material resurfaced on Jakko's 1996 compilation album Are My Ears On Wrong?, and Silesia was briefly issued on CD in the late 1990s.
Sessions and sideman projects
In parallel to his efforts at a solo career, Jakko established himself as a well-respected sessions musician, playing on many contemporary pop albums and tours during the 1980s including work with Swing Out SisterSwing Out Sister
Swing Out Sister are a British "sophisti-pop" group best known worldwide for their 1986 song "Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", "Twilight World", "Waiting Game" and a remake of "Am I the Same Girl?" Though album sales in the U.S. and Europe have levelled off since the early 1990s, the...
, Sam Brown ("Stop") and Italian singer Alice. Jakko also continued collaborating with Dave Stewart, contributing to his duo work with Barbara Gaskin and playing a prominent role on the Stewart-produced Neil's Heavy Concept Album
Neil's Heavy Concept Album
The cassette version of the album is very similar but features the track "Cassette Jam" following "Cosmic Jam" where Neil does an impression of the album being broken on tape like in "Cosmic Jam" and then "Brown Sugar" where Neil discovers some buskers performing the track by The Rolling Stones and...
(a 1984 spin-off from the Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
comedy series). During this period, Jakko also met one of his other regular collaborators in the shape of up-and-coming drummer Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison is a British drummer and percussionist. He is best known for playing with the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree which he joined in 2002. As of 2008, he also plays with the band King Crimson....
(ex-Renaissance, and a future member of both Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
and King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
).
Jakko subsequently worked with various musicians from the art-rock world - Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester. They were the first act signed to Charisma Records. The band achieved considerable success in Italy during the 1970s...
's saxophonist David Jackson
David Jackson (rock musician)
David Nicholas George Jackson , nicknamed Jaxon, is a British progressive rock saxophonist, flautist, and composer. He is best known for his work with the band Van der Graaf Generator and his work in Music and Disability...
(for whom he played on 1982's The Long Hello Vol. 3) and the maverick songwriter Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of the avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many solo and collaborative albums...
(ex-Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy was a German/English avant-pop group consisting of Anthony Moore , Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause . The band formed in Germany in 1972. The band members moved to England in 1974 where they merged with Henry Cow, but the merger ended soon afterwards and Slapp Happy split up. Slapp...
/Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
). In 1987, he joined Blegvad and fellow ex-Henry Cow member John Greaves
John Greaves (musician)
John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
in the short-lived band project The Lodge
The Lodge (band)
The Lodge were a 1980s British/Welsh/American art-rock band based in New York, but performing mainly in Europe, which briefly united members of Henry Cow, Slapp Happy, Art Bears and Golden Palominos . It was centred primarily around Peter Blegvad and John Greaves, and drew strongly on their...
(which also featured Blegvad's brother Kristoffer and drummers Anton Fier
Anton Fier
Anton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
(Golden Palominos) and Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison is a British drummer and percussionist. He is best known for playing with the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree which he joined in 2002. As of 2008, he also plays with the band King Crimson....
. Also during 1987, Jakko spent some time living and working in Los Angeles (with producer Larry Williams). This period was notable for a ludicrous encounter with Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
.
During the 1980s, two Jakko songs ("Behave Yourself" and "Don't Blame Me") ended up being performed by The Nolans
The Nolans
The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...
. This was the result of a typically convoluted set of circumstances following Jakko's refusal to let the then-unknown Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
record one of the songs.
The Kings of Oblivion & Dizrhythmia
In 1987 Jakko and Gavin Harrison recorded their first significant collaboration - a Frank ZappaFrank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
pastiche album called Big Fish Popcorn (released on the Bam Caruso label) recorded under the name of The Kings of Oblivion. The liner notes claimed that the album was in fact the first and second sides of a "lost" 1967 double LP recorded in the back of an auto shop. Both musicians used ridiculous pseudonym (Jakko as "Mario 'Fat Man' Vanzetti" and Harrison as "Helmo 'Hairdo' Hudson"). The album has been described both as "inspiring" and "(like) the absolute worst of Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
or Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
."
Jakko and Harrison's work on The Kings Of Oblivion project led to a more serious band in the shape of Dizrhythmia, a project mixing jazz, folk, art-rock and Indian music. Jakko served as main songwriter, singer, guitarist (including the use of "sitar guitar"), flute player and occasional keyboardist, with Harrison on drumkit, former Pentangle
Pentangle (band)
Pentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...
member Danny Thompson
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
on double bass and Pandit Dinesh on tabla and Indian percussion.
Dizrhythmia's self-titled album was released in 1988 for the Antilles label, and featured a wealth of guest musical talent. In addition to contributions from Lyndon Connah, Dave Stewart and pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole, Pandit Dinesh had brought in several highly-regarded Indian classical musicians such as Sultan Khan. The album gained good press attention but the band - for unexplained reasons - did not follow up on this. The possibility of a second Dizrhythmia album has frequently been raised during the intervening years, but not pursued (apparently due to the busy schedules of all four core members).
Tom Robinson and Level 42
In 1990, Jakko recorded an album with Tom RobinsonTom Robinson
Tom Robinson is an English singer-songwriter, bassist and radio presenter, better known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson Band...
. This was released (credited to both musicians) as We Never Had It So Good and gained very positive press attention.
This in turn brought him to the attention of the highly successful Britfunk band Level 42
Level 42
Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...
, who had lost guitarist Alan Murphy
Alan Murphy
Alan Murphy was an English rock session guitarist, best remembered for his collaborations with Kate Bush and Go West. In 1988 he joined the group Level 42 as a full time band member, and played with them until his death in 1989...
a few years previously and had subsequently worked with Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
for studio recordings and a brief series of London shows. In addition to his own Holdsworthian guitar skills, Jakko's knowledge of pop music (and his extra abilities as keyboard/flute player and singer) made him a natural choice to be recruited for the band. Jakko played with Level 42 between 1991 and the band's split in 1994. Although politics ensured that he never performed on a Level 42 studio album (and was never a core member of the band), he remained as the guitarist in the live band during that time. He also wrote material with Level 42 which was unfortunately shelved immediately after its initial recording (when the band decided to reunite with their former drummer/songwriter Phil Gould). Following Level 42's second split with Gould, Jakko brought in Gavin Harrison as drummer to fulfill tour obligations.
Solo career, part 2 (Kingdom of Dust/Mustard Gas and Roses)
Around the time of Level 42's disbandment, Jakko was introduced to three ex-members of JapanJapan (band)
Japan were a British New Wave group, formed in 1974 in Catford, South London. The band achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they were often associated with the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement .- History :The band began as a group of friends...
- Richard Barbieri
Richard Barbieri
Richard Barbieri, is an English synthesiser player, keyboardist and composer. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London...
, Mick Karn
Mick Karn
Andonis Michaelides , better known as Mick Karn, was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, who came to fame as the bassist for the art rock band Japan, from 1974 to 1982....
and Steve Jansen
Steve Jansen
Steve Jansen is an English drummer, percussionist, singer and composer. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London, where he failed academically, leaving at 16....
- who were considering forming another band following the disintegration of their post-Japan project Rain Tree Crow
Rain Tree Crow
Rain Tree Crow was the name used by the English New Wave band Japan when they briefly reformed for this one-off project, which would be their final album...
. Although the musical combination of the four players worked well and led to a lasting musical friendship, it did not result in a full-time band project. The results of the collaboration were released - under Jakko's name - as the 1994 EP Kingdom of Dust, on the new art-rock/progressive rock label Resurgence.
In 1995, Jakko's first (formally released) solo album, Mustard Gas and Roses - was released on Resurgence. A mixture of sharp, intelligent pop songs and progressive/art-rock instrumentals, it featured more contributions from Karn and Jansen, as well as guest appearances from Danny Thompson
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
, Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison is a British drummer and percussionist. He is best known for playing with the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree which he joined in 2002. As of 2008, he also plays with the band King Crimson....
, Sam Brown and BJ Cole. In 1996, this was followed up by another Resurgence release - Are My Ears On Wrong? - which compiled material from Jakko's 1980s singles and previous "lost" albums.
Radio productions (The Road To Ballina & The Church of Lanza)
In 1996, Jakko wrote and recorded the autobiographical The Road To Ballina, a mixed music-and-spoken word project exploring his own family history and his bittersweet search for his birth mother. In addition to Jakko's own account of growing up as an adoptee, the work included extensive contributions from both of his adoptive parents relating to their often harrowing wartime experience in Europe as refugees and conscripts and as people under occupation. Several of the recordings were conceptually arranged (including specially made recordings of Norbert Jakszyk recorded in Auschwitz-Birkenau). The Road To Ballina was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in December 1996 - a slightly shorter and compressed version was released on CD via Resurgence in early 1997. The music tracks featured Gavin Harrison and two of Jakko's former Level 42 colleagues, Mark King and Gary Barnacle.In March 1999 BBC Radio 3 broadcast a second Jakko piece called The Church of Lanza, which used many of the same techniques as The Road To Ballina. The piece dealt with the nature of fame and celebrity - focussing on "the deification of stars who die young" - and used the life of Mario Lanza as its focal point (consequently incurring the wrath of a number of outraged Mario Lanza fans. The Church of Lanza remains unreleased on commercial CD.
Guest musician
During this period, Jakko maintained his connection with Jansen, Barbieri and Karn (adding significant contributions to Karn's 1996 album The Tooth Mother and Barbieri's 1996 Indigo Falls project). In 1998, he sang lead vocals on three tracks on Pip Pyle's 7 Year Itch album (as well as contributing guitar, flute and production skills).21st Century Schizoid Band (2002-2007)
In 2002, Jakko was instrumental in setting up the 21st Century Schizoid Band21st Century Schizoid Band
21st Century Schizoid Band are a King Crimson alumnus group formed in 2002.The name derives from the famous song "21st Century Schizoid Man" from the first King Crimson album, In the Court of the Crimson King...
, which specialised in performing the 1960s and 1970s repertoire of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and featured several ex-members/associates of the band - Ian McDonald, Mel Collins, Peter Giles and Michael Giles (the latter later replaced by Ian Wallace). Jakko fronted the band, playing guitar and singing. Over a five year period, the 21st Century Schizoid Band released a couple of live albums and played occasional tours in the UK, North American and Japan. Though well received by audiences, the band came to a halt in 2005 due to lack of funding and difficulties in finding worthwhile arrangements for tours. Wallace's death in 2007 has rendered it further unlikely that the band will reform.
Solo career, part 3 (The Bruised Romantic Glee Club)
By this point, Jakko had spent several years assembling another solo album, which was eventually released as The Bruised Romantic Glee Club in 2006. Hailed as his most accomplished work to date, the album included a remarkable sweep of guest performers assembled from the full length of Jakko's career and associations. As well as contributions from long-standing allies Lyndon Connah, Gavin Harrison and Dave Stewart, the guests included Danny ThompsonDanny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
(double bass, from Dizrhythmia and Pentangle); Pandit Dinesh (tabla and vocals, from Dizrhythmia); Mark
Mark King (musician)
Mark King is an English musician. He is most famous for being the lead singer and bassist of the band, Level 42. In the early 1980s King popularized the 1970s-era slap and pop style for playing the bass guitar by incorporating it into pop music.-Early life:King was brought up on the Isle of Wight,...
and Nathan King
Nathan King
Nathan King is a pop/rock singer-songwriter from Christchurch, New Zealand.-History:King's musical career began with his band Zed who released two multi-platinum albums Silencer and This Little Empire...
(bass guitar, both Level 42
Level 42
Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...
); King Crimson members Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
(guitar), Peter Sinfield
Peter Sinfield
Peter John Sinfield is an English poet, lyricist and artist, most famously known as the lyricist and co-founding member of early incarnations of King Crimson, whose debut album In the Court of the Crimson King has been regarded as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever...
, Mel Collins
Mel Collins
Mel Collins is a British saxophonist and flautist and session musician.He has worked in a wide variety of contexts ranging from R&B and blues rock to jazz, but is perhaps known for his work in progressive rock, as with King Crimson, Camel and the Alan Parsons Project.-Career:Collins has worked...
(woodwind) and Ian Wallace
Ian Wallace (drummer)
Ian Russell Wallace was a rock and jazz drummer, most visible as a member of progressive rock band, King Crimson from 1971 to 1972; but known best in the musical community with his contributions as a session musician on his drum kit.-Early years:Wallace formed his first band, The Jaguars, at...
(drums); bass player Hugh Hopper
Hugh Hopper
Hugh Colin Hopper was a progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and various other related bands.-Early career:...
(Soft Machine) and drummer Clive Brooks
Clive Brooks
Clive Colin Brooks is a drummer, best known for his work in the English progressive rock band Egg.-Uriel/Egg:...
(Egg
Egg (band)
Egg were an English progressive rock band formed in January 1969.-Career:The founding members of the group were Dave Stewart who played organ , Mont Campbell on bass and vocals and drummer Clive Brooks...
) appeared on a Soft Machine cover version initially recorded for a compilation in 2000.
Despite some highly complimentary reviews, the original 2006 release of The Bruised Romantic Glee Club was blighted by bad luck and the collapse of the record company releasing it. Eventually, the album was re-released on the King Crimson-associated record label Panegyric in 2009 (alongside a companion album of material recorded at the same time called Waves Sweep the Sand).
The Tangent (2007-2008)
In 2007, Jakko joined British progressive rock band The TangentThe Tangent
-Formation:Originally formed by keyboardists Andy Tillison and Sam Baine of Parallel or 90 Degrees and The Flower Kings guitarist Roine Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, and drummer Zoltan Csörsz. The septet was completed by renowned saxophonist David Jackson of Van der Graaf Generator and...
for their album Not as Good as the Book
Not as Good as the Book
Not as Good as the Book is the fourth studio album released by progressive rock group The Tangent. The Special Edition of the album includes a 100-page novella by Andy Tillison with illustrations by Antoine Ettori.-Disc one - A Crisis in Mid-Life:...
(released 2008). Following one guest appearance and one full live show at the Summers End festival in September 2008, he resigned from the band.
Jakszyk Fripp & Collins (2010 onwards)
In January 2010, Jakko began recording on a casual basis with two King CrimsonKing Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
members - Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
and Mel Collins
Mel Collins
Mel Collins is a British saxophonist and flautist and session musician.He has worked in a wide variety of contexts ranging from R&B and blues rock to jazz, but is perhaps known for his work in progressive rock, as with King Crimson, Camel and the Alan Parsons Project.-Career:Collins has worked...
(former member). This eventually developed into recording sessions for a full project called Jakszyk Fripp & Collins. The album called A Scarcity of Miracles
A Scarcity of Miracles
A Scarcity of Miracles is an album by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins. It unites current/former King Crimson musicians Robert Fripp and Mel Collins with singer-songwriter and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk A Scarcity of Miracles is an album by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins. It unites current/former King Crimson...
was released in May 2011 on the Panegyric label, featuring further contributions by two-thirds of the current King Crimson rhythm section (Tony Levin and Gavin Harrison)
On 15 December 2010, Fripp described the trio in his online diary as an endeavour which "has the Crimson gene, but is not quite KC. It is a Crimson ProjeKct
ProjeKcts
The ProjeKcts are a succession of spin-off projects associated with the band King Crimson.Devoted to instrumental and heavily improvised music, the ProjeKcts were most active from 1997 to 1999, but have performed intermittently since...
, although this was not the intention. Given the gene pool, I suppose this counts as evolution. If JFC were named as a ProjeKct, which would be legitimate IMO, then all manner of expectations, categorisations, limitations & dopey commentaries would be launched to deter the ears of innocent audients." Fripp went on to comment that the origin of the trio was indeed a proposed but abandoned ProjeKct Seven (featuring himself, Jakko, Collins, Levin, Harrison and possibly some other players) and described the forthcoming A Scarcity of Miracles as "one of my favouritist (sic) albums, of those where I am a determining element."
Sessions
Session work done by Jakko during the period of 2000-2010 included work with Akiko KobayashiAkiko Kobayashi (singer)
, also known by her alias Holi, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, composer and arranger.Kobayashi collaborated with Brian Eno and U2 on their 1995 project, the Passengers...
.
Soundtrack work
Jakko has written and performed title and incidental music for the following television programmes:- Jo Brand's "Through The Cakehole"
- Chef (BBC - music for all series)
- Hard Cases (Central TV)
- Clive James' Postcard From Bombay
- In Dreams (BBC TV movie)
- Birds Of A Feather (BBC - music for one season and a Christmas special)
- Rugby World Cup coverage (ITV)
- various documentaries and series for the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet
He has also composed orchestral scores for the CD-ROM games World War II and The War in the Pacific.
Work in comedy and acting
Jakko has had a sideline in comedy work parallel to his solo career (ranging from radio programmes to character work on television) and has spent some time as a member of the actor's union Equity. His work as a character comedian has included playing the demented but fleet-fingered Italian guitarist Eduardo, a sidekick to comedy music duo Raw Sex (Simon Brint and Rowland RivronRowland Rivron
Rowland J. Rivron is a British comedian, musician, writer and television presenter.-Early life: Rivron was brought up in Hillingdon, West London and attended Abbotsfield Secondary School...
). As Eduardo, Jakko appeared on the French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
TV show in 1987, as well as being part of Raw Sex's subsequent theatre show at the Kings Head in Islington and three-week stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Jakko also impersonated Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
in the French & Saunders TV parody of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
.
In the BBC TV movie In Dreams (starring Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry
Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
and Bill Patterson), Jakko makes a cameo appearance as Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's recording engineer. He has also appeared in the BBC sitcom Birds Of A Feather.
Under the pseudonym of "Grand Master Jellytot", Jakko produced the novelty hip-hop single "The Stutter Rap" (performed by "Morris Minor and the Majors", who included future comic star Tony Hawks
Tony Hawks
Antony Gordon Hawksworth, better known as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author.-Early life:Born in Brighton in 1960, Hawks was educated at Brighton Hove and Sussex Grammar School and Brighton College...
). This record was a sizeable chart hit in 1987.
Private life
Jakko is married to model Amanda Giles (daughter of King CrimsonKing Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
/21st Century Schizoid Band
21st Century Schizoid Band
21st Century Schizoid Band are a King Crimson alumnus group formed in 2002.The name derives from the famous song "21st Century Schizoid Man" from the first King Crimson album, In the Court of the Crimson King...
drummer Michael Giles
Michael Giles
Michael Giles is an English drummer, best known as a co-founder of King Crimson in 1969...
). They have several children and live in Hertfordshire, England.
Singles & EPs
- "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" / "Something Tells Me" (with David JacksonDavid Jackson (rock musician)David Nicholas George Jackson , nicknamed Jaxon, is a British progressive rock saxophonist, flautist, and composer. He is best known for his work with the band Van der Graaf Generator and his work in Music and Disability...
, 1982) - "Straining Our Eyes" / "Fall To Pieces" (with David Jackson, 1982)
- "Grab What You Can" / "Tell Me" / "Would I Be The Same" / "I'd Never Have Known" (with David Jackson, 1982)
- "Grab What You Can" / "I'd Never Have Known ; Chiswick RecordsChiswick RecordsChiswick Records was a British record company. Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label" to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era"...
DICE 14) - "Dangerous Dreams" / "Opening Doors" (with David Jackson, 1983; Stiff RecordsStiff RecordsStiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
BUY 183) - "I Can't Stand This Pressure" / "Living On The Edge" (with David Jackson, 1984)
- "I Can't Stand This Pressure" / "Living On The Edge" / "Cover Up" (with David Jackson, 1984)
- "Who's Fooling Who" / "A Grown Man Immersed In Tin-Tin" (with David Jackson, 1984; Stiff RecordsStiff RecordsStiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
SBUY 193) - Kingdom of Dust, ResurgenceVoiceprint RecordsVoiceprint Records is a company and record label based in England, founded in 1990 by Rob Ayling. They specialise in re-releasing old material, especially progressive rock, but also have new releases, all under the Voiceprint and other imprints....
RES101CD, 1994
Albums
- Silesia, Chiswick RecordsChiswick RecordsChiswick Records was a British record company. Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label" to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era"...
, 1980 (deleted prior to release - briefly available in 1990s as reissue) - Mustard Gas and Roses, Resurgence RES103CD, 1994
- Are My Ears on Wrong?, Resurgence RES110CD, 1995
- The Road to Ballina, Resurgence RES127CD, 1997
- The Bruised Romantic Glee Club, Iceni ICNCD 2007
- A Scarcity of MiraclesA Scarcity of MiraclesA Scarcity of Miracles is an album by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins. It unites current/former King Crimson musicians Robert Fripp and Mel Collins with singer-songwriter and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk A Scarcity of Miracles is an album by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins. It unites current/former King Crimson...
- A King Crimson ProjeKct Panegyric B004UHPU5E 30 May 2011 - We Never Had It So Good, 1990, later reissued as Blood Brother (Castaway Northwest CNWVP 001CD, 1997)
External links
- Jakko M. Jakszyk @ MySpace (replaces previous homepage)
- Previous official homepage - old front page with quicker access to general information