Jamie Muir (born in Edinburgh) is a Scottish painter and former musician, best known for his work as the percussionist in King Crimson from 1972–1973. Muir attended the Edinburgh College of Art during the 1960s, and began playing jazz on trombone.He soon lost interest and switched to percussion, stating that he preferred to be "in the wilds of uncertainty." At that time, he listened to American jazz drummers such as Tony Williams, Kenny Clarke
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Jamie Muir (born in Edinburgh) is a Scottish painter and former musician, best known for his work as the percussionist in King Crimson from 1972–1973. Muir attended the Edinburgh College of Art during the 1960s, and began playing jazz on trombone.He soon lost interest and switched to percussion, stating that he preferred to be "in the wilds of uncertainty." At that time, he listened to American jazz drummers such as Tony Williams, Kenny Clarke, and Milford Graves, and other musicians such as Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, and the New York Art Quartet. Regarding his musical direction at the time, he stated "I just had to improvise. The first time it felt really dangerous, like the sort of thing you had to lock the doors and close the curtains on because if anybody saw you, God would strike you down with a thunderbolt. But I took to it like a duck to water." After moving to London, Muir worked with choreographer Lindsay Kemp,and was active in free improvisation, recording, and performing with Derek Bailey and Evan Parker in The Music Improvisation Company from 1968–1971. During this time, Muir began using various found objects as part of his percussion repertoire. Bailey enjoyed playing with Muir, recalling that he "seemed to be able to provide a different playing experience every time... He fitted into this idea of having no particular preconceptions... He was a highly reactive person, one of the things I really liked, there was the impression that he was slightly uncontrollable, on an edge." After The Music Improvisation Company disbanded, Muir played in the band Boris with Don Weller and Jimmy Roche (both later of jazz-rock band Major Surgery) and put in a stint with Afro-rock band Assagai in which he met Canterbury scene keyboard player Alan Gowen. Muir and Gowen subsequently formed the experimental jazz-rock band Sunship with guitarist Allan Holdsworth and bass player Laurie Baker, although Muir has admitted that "we spent more time laughing than playing music" and suggests that the band played no gigs and got no further than rehearsals.
