Mel Collins

Mel Collins (2008)

Mel Collins (Melvyn Desmond Collins) (born September 5, 1947 on the Isle of Man ) is an English musician who has played in many bands since the 1960s . His instruments are saxophone , clarinet , flute and keyboards .

Musical work

In 1969 he made a record with Circus . He then replaced Ian McDonald at King Crimson and was a permanent member of the group until 1972. He then began his career as a highly sought-after session musician and background musician, making him immortalized on a large number of albums by well-known rock musicians .

Collins has played for Mike Batt , Eric Burdon , Roger Chapman , Clannad , Eric Clapton , Dire Straits , Peter Gabriel , Kokomo , Alexis Korner ( The Party Album , 1978), Meat Loaf , Sally Oldfield , Robert Palmer , Gerry Rafferty , Rolling Stones , Eberhard Schoener , Chris Squire , Tina Turner , Uriah Heep , Bad Company , Tom Waits , Roger Waters , Alvin Lee and Westernhagen .

From 1977 to 1979 he was a permanent member of his friend Andrew Latimer's group Camel . 1980 to 1984 he was a member of The Alan Parsons Project .

Until the end of 2003 he was a member of the Harald Schmidt band with Helmut Zerlett as the band leader and recorded with him and Stefan Krachten records under the name Trance Groove . In 2001 there was a second incarnation of King Crimson with some musicians from the 1970s as the 21st Century Schizoid Band , in which Mel Collins played together with Ian McDonald and Jakko Jakszyk .

Since the end of 2004 - after a one year break - he has been working again with his old band colleagues (but without Helmut Zerlett) for Harald Schmidt in his new show, since the follow-up format Schmidt & Pocher again under the musical direction of Helmut Zerlett. Subsequently he was also involved in Stefan Krachten's solo project Goldmann .

In 2011, Collins played saxophone and flute on the album A Scarcity of Miracles , making it the first time since 1974 to be heard on a King Crimson album. From this project, the eighth “incarnation” of King Crimson grew up in 2013 , the first time since 1981 without Adrian Belew . Pat Mastelotto and, for the first time, Bill Rieflin ( REM ) joined the existing cast of the project ( Robert Fripp , Collins, Jakko Jakszyk, Gavin Harrison , Tony Levin ) .

swell

1. ^ Sid Smith, New King Crimson Line-Up Confirmed . Discipline Global Mobile website as of September 24, 2013

Web links

• Discography