Jamie Muir (born 30 November 1942 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish painter and former musician, best known for his work as the percussionist in King Crimson from 1972–1973, appearing prominently on their fifth album Larks' Tongues In Aspic.
"[2] 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.
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.
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 they "spent more time laughing than playing music" and suggests that the band played no gigs and got no further than rehearsals.
"[2] During his tenure with the band, Muir occasionally played a standard drum kit, but more often he contributed an assortment of unusual sounds from a wide variety of percussion instruments, including chimes, bells, gongs, mbiras, a musical saw, shakers, rattles, found objects, and miscellaneous drums.
[7] According to John Kelman, Muir "brought not just a visual 'X factor' to the group but a musical one as well, his not-to-be understated contributions during his brief tenure with Crimson still felt well after his departure, with the percussionist exerting a lasting influence on (drummer Bill) Bruford".
[8] Bruford called Muir "my biggest influence and the guy who turned my head totally around ... God, did he open my eyes.
[11] A little over a week after the release of Larks' Tongues, Muir abruptly left King Crimson and moved to Samye Ling Monastery near Eskdalemuir in southern Scotland in order to pursue a monastic lifestyle in accordance with the strict principles of Buddhism.
[8][2] The British Press at the time cited his departure as the result of "personal injury sustained onstage during performance", a phrase attributed to the band's management company, E.G. Records.
He also appeared on the soundtrack of the film Ghost Dance, a collaboration with another Crimson alumnus, drummer Michael Giles and David Cunningham recorded in 1983, and eventually released in 1996.
The way to discover the undiscovered in performing terms is to immediately reject all situations as you identify them (the cloud of unknowing) – which is to give music a future.