A Scarcity of Miracles

A Scarcity of Miracles is an album by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins. It united former King Crimson musicians Robert Fripp and Mel Collins with singer-songwriter and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk (who previously fronted, sang for and played guitar in 21st Century Schizoid Band, a project set up to reunite King Crimson members from the 1960s and 1970s line-ups of the band and to play the band's music from that period; he later became a full member of the band). The basis for the album came from guitar improvisations recorded by Jakszyk and Fripp in Wiltshire, England with no particular intention of recording an album. With Fripp's agreement, Jakszyk took the resulting recordings and reworked them as songs. Collins (a frequent Jakszyk collaborator) subsequently "heard unplayed sax waiting to be given voice" and joined the developing project. With the majority of music now recast as songs, an album took shape. Two other ongoing King Crimson members - bass guitar/Chapman Stick player Tony Levin and drummer Gavin Harrison - subsequently recorded the rhythm tracks. A Scarcity of Miracles was released with the subtitle of "A King Crimson Project". This in turn led to speculation that it might be the basis of the next line-up of King Crimson (the main band itself having been on hiatus since 2008, and having used the Projects as research and development work since 1999). Fripp himself gently denied and clarified this at the time by describing the record as "one of my favourite albums of those where I am a determining element. It has the Crimson gene, but it is not quite KC."However, a new line-up of King Crimson was announced in September 2013 including everyone involved in the album.