Michael Giles

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Michael Rex Giles (* 1. March 1942 in Bournemouth , Dorset , England ) is a British jazz-rock - drummer , best known as a founding member of King Crimson in 1969 . His daughter, model Amanda Giles , is married to Jakko Jakszyk (formerly Level 42 ).

Michael Giles founded in the second half of the 1960s with his brother Peter Giles as bassist and singer and Robert Fripp as guitarist the band Giles, Giles and Fripp , which released their only album The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp in 1968 .

His playing is free and flowing, firmly anchored in the jazz tradition , yet heavily influenced by rock drummers like Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker . His playing often had a very orchestral feel, as can be heard on many of the songs on King Crimson's first album, In the Court of the Crimson King . In concerts he was a "monster player", he knotted a dense rhythm carpet on which guitarist Robert Fripp , bassist Greg Lake and saxophonist Ian McDonald could play their symphonic jazz-rock.

Giles left King Crimson in late 1969, but he played (like his brother) as a studio musician on the second album, In the Wake of Poseidon . After that production he teamed up with Ian McDonald and recorded the album McDonald and Giles . A solo album, Progress , was recorded in 1978 but wasn't released until 2002. He earns his living as a studio musician.

Giles turned to a new project in 1989 that brought him together with former Yes and Asia keyboardist Geoffrey Downes and former Emerson, Lake and Palmer singer and bassist Greg Lake . The year-long collaboration between Downes, Lake and Giles under the project name Ride the Tiger resulted in eight new pieces, some of which have remained unpublished to this day.

In 2002 he participated (together with his brother) in the founding of the 21st Century Schizoid Band , a group that consists almost exclusively of former King Crimson members, but in which his son-in-law Jakszyk also plays. After the first tour, he retired from the live business in 2003, handing the batons over to Ian Wallace , another former King Crimson drummer.

Web links

King Crimson
Jakko Jakszyk • Robert Fripp • Tony Levin • Mel Collins • Pat Mastelotto • Gavin Harrison • Bill Rieflin • Jeremy Stacey


Studio albums

In the Court of the Crimson King • In the Wake of Poseidon • Lizard • Islands • Larks' Tongues in Aspic • Starless and Bible Black • Red • Discipline • Beat • Three of a Perfect Pair • Thrak • the construction of light • The Power to believe

Extended plays

Vrooom • Level Five • Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With

personal data
SURNAME Giles, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Giles, Michael Rex (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British drummer
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Bournemouth