 Wednesday, 06 May 2009 at 9:50:00 AM PDT Examiner.com review by Vince Font Ian Wallace (1946-2007) was a drummer that spent most of his 60 years in the thankless anonymity reserved especially for world-class session musicians. Well respected and in high demand within the music industry, outside of it you'd be hard pressed to find many music listeners who would recognize his name. But the fact is that most people who have ever listened to FM radio (and that's an awful lot of people, with the exception of some purists who would never be caught dead sinking to such depths) have probably heard Wallace's work at one time or another. His work as a studio drummer for artists such as Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Traveling Wilburys (to name a few) padded his professional resume and doubtless went a long way at putting food on the table. But it was for his brief tenure with progressive rock giants King Crimson and his appearance on the album "Islands" in 1971 that he is remembered most. And it's this lasting association that, in the last few years of Wallace's life, led to the birth of the Crimson Jazz Trio--a trio that has just released its second and, sadly, final album. Conceived by Wallace in 2004 and including the considerable talents of Tim Landers (bass) and Jody Nardone (piano), the Crimson Jazz Trio takes selections from the discography of King Crimson and reinterprets them as instrumental jazz numbers. The result is not only gorgeous listening, but it also proves three important points: 1) That the music of King Crimson, long considered too mechanical and mathematical by its detractors, is anything but, as displayed by its ability to be adapted to an entirely different musical style. 2) That the best ideas in the world sometimes sound like the worst (a jazz trio covering progressive rock tunes--who'd have thought it would work?). And finally, 3) Ian Wallace was one hell of a drummer. In 2005, the CJ3 released "King Crimson Songbook, Volume 1" to the acclaim of progressive rock fans and jazz enthusiasts alike, all of whom were impressed by Wallace's range as a performer and his choice of cohorts in Landers and Nardone. The album tackled King Crimson classics of different eras and delivered them in a unified voice that made it sound natural to hear songs like "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "Matte Kudasai" on the same album. Realizing the wealth of material still left unexplored, the trio recorded "King Crimson Songbook, Volume 2" a year later, none of them knowing at the time that it would be Wallace's last album. Where "Volume 2" differs from its predecessor is more expressed in attitude than anything else. There's an instantly recognizable confidence in the manner with which the material is handled. It's as if the guys in the band understand they proved their point with the first album and are even more comfortable taking liberties with the songs, snatching them up and turning them inside out with what looks like irreverence but is really respect. That the band sometimes veers sharply away from expectation and takes on the least obvious of King Crimson songs is truly refreshing. "Inner Garden" was a song that appeared (twice, in two pieces) on King Crimson's 1995 album "THRAK" and on first impression doesn't strike the seasoned listener as the greatest of choices. Until the unexpected voice of pianist Jody Nardone sails in above the easy, smoke-smooth performance of the instruments below it and all of a sudden you find yourself wondering how you could ever have missed the gorgeous melody only hinted at by the original, or what genius ears it must have taken to discover its potential. Nardone has the kind of voice that makes singing sound as effortless as speech and makes you ask why someone of his talent isn't a star. Alas, too much thought about such things is enough to drive a person to serious depression, therefore it's almost a good thing the rest of the songs on the album contain no vocals. Almost. The surprise visit by Wallace's old friend and longtime King Crimson contributor Mel Collins (soprano and alto saxophone) on two tracks almost serves as an adequate apology for this grievous offense and adds yet another dimension of credibility to this collection of songs already teeming with it. All this, and we haven't even yet talked about Tim Landers' contribution on bass. Once you hear the man go to town on a fretless you almost feel guilty for never having heard of him before. "King Crimson Songbook, Volume 2" is the stuff of which desert island discs are made. It acts as a doorway into the world of King Crimson music for the uninitiated, and a channel of musical discovery for the progressive rock fan too intimidated by the multitude of choices that encounter the first-time jazz explorer. Wallace lost his battle with esophageal cancer in 2007--a valiant fight that he chronicled on his website blog--but fortunately not before completing what was the crowning achievement of his career. The Crimson Jazz Trio was a demonstration of Ian Wallace's passion for jazz, and is ultimately the bridge that brought his career full circle by paying tribute to the band that helped launch his career. To this listener, there's a no more fitting or poetic end than that. 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