The dissolution of the League of Gentlemen in late 1980 after touring problems left Fripp still searching for a top-notch band. In early 1981 he again jammed with Bill Bruford and experimental guitarist Adrian Belew, who had been discovered by Frank Zappa and later played/toured with David Bowie and Talking Heads. The search for a bass player yielded session veteran Tony Levin, who had toured with Peter Gabriel and played on Lennon/Ono's Double Fantasy (1980). Fripp labelled this period "The Incline to 1984."

Fripp had no intention whatsoever of reforming Crimson, but as rehearsals progressed under the moniker "Discipline", it became obvious that they had collectively tapped into a form of energy. According to Fripp, Crimson had always been "a magical act." Although he was viewed by many critics as its autocratic leader, Fripp realised that Crimson was a band that had a life of its own, and that its collectively created music was more than the sum of its individual musicians.

The new line-up took the form of a "rock gamelan" - performing complex pieces with interlocking and counter-pointing textures, odd time signatures and varying instrumentation. Fripp and Belew were amongst the first musicians to experiment with newly designed guitar synthesizers, whilst Levin and Bruford experimented with the Chapman Stick and electronic percussion respectively.

Another difference from previous incarnations that was evident in this line-up's trilogy of albums: Discipline (1981), Beat (1982) and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984) was the presence of industrial, minimalist and world music.

These albums met with a diverse response from critics, but the members found again that they were unable to capture their live "feel" on tape. Fripp allowed great freedom within defined roles (designed to psychologically balance different individual approaches into a larger whole), but simmering tension from the four virtuoso's caused Fripp to become more frustrated as the touring and recording progressed. Bruford for example was subjected to intense criticism in Fripp's public columns for Musician, forcing him to significantly alter his style. Mixing indecisions during the Beat recording sessions created further conflict, and the last album was fulfilled for contractual reasons.

Once again a pattern had emerged: with a new conceptual design relevant to the times, dynamic and different music would appear at first, then develop to a conceptual peak, but focus would be gradually lost. Fripp again abdicated in late 1984, taking solace in recording sessions with Police guitarist Andy Summers (the duo had known each-other since the late 1960s). They had previously collaborated on I Advance Masked (1982) and later released Bewitched (1984). As an example of the "conceptual continuity" between Fripp's work, ideas from the Fripp/Summers collaboration and the League of Gentlemen album matured into King Crimson's later material.

Guiding the Evolution of Guitar Craft

Robert Fripp's major work between 1985 and 1993 was with what evolved into the Guitar Craft school, a structured program of guitar tutoring that radically redefined acoustic music well before the MTV Unplugged era. The program covered individual tuition, ensemble performances, relaxation/attention work (the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais) and occasional recording work.

Fripp wrote in the first monograph that "G.C. was a way to develop a relationship with the guitar, music and yourself," and that it sought to show the student that "music is a benevolent presence constantly and readily available to all." Guitar Craft was aptly described as "Zen and the Art of Guitar Maintenance": covering psychological aspects of the student's playing (such as sudden exposure to live performances). The philosophy of the school drew liberally from the Socratic and Gurdjieff traditions, as well as Fripp's own experience, and were collected in various monographs and aphorisms.

Trey Gunn, a Stick player who joined Fripp for Sunday All Over The World (1990), and was later to play with him on Toni Child's The Woman's Boat (1994) and as a member of King Crimson revealed that "of the many things that I have discovered from my involvement with Guitar Craft the two main ones are: how to practice and how to work with other people. These enter all aspects of my playing in every context. With Crimson I have to put a fairly large chunk of time into practicing the parts and warming-up before the shows in order to get my hands to actually deliver. With a project like Toni Childs, you have mostly an improvised context -- role the tape and see what happens. For this, Guitar Craft has helped prepare me to get ready and go."

Gradually a major ensemble group called the League of Crafty Guitarists evolved out of the teachings, which Fripp conducted in New Zealand, Europe, the UK, South America and the US. This ever-changing group conducted several tours, and other smaller ensembles such as the California Guitar Trio, the Europa String Choir, Los Guachos Allemanes and the RF String Quintet were formed over the period.

A Rebellion We'd Like to Hear

The New Zealand based group Gitbox Rebellion is one local Pacific group that has been involved with Guitar Craft. Founding member Nigel Gavin formed the group in 1988, before going to the United States in 1990 and touring with The League of Crafty Guitarists. "It has a common ground, a common repertoire," Gavin explained. "I was involved in the eventful 1991 European tour that later yielded two albums - Show of Hands (1991) and Intergalactic Boogie Express (1995)."

Fripp heard of Gavin's group and travelled to New Zealand to conduct Guitar Craft classes. Gitbox Rebellion released its debut album Pesky Digits (1992) as a nine-piece ensemble based along League lines. The core group of four guitarists released a second album called Touch Wood (1994).

"We drifted away from Guitar Craft work to a more individual voice. The first album had little of a South Pacific influence, but we included flute, tabla, cello and violin on the second album," Gavin said.

The band was able to avoid a criticism levelled at many Guitar Craft ensembles that they were just carbon copies of Fripp. Gitbox Rebellion became a leading ensemble in the Pacific region, and Gavin later worked with the Sydney based acid jazz group DIG (Directions In Groove). Their exposure to Guitar Craft philosophy meant that the members were able to avoid many of the traps of the music industry.

During the late 1980s, Fripp also wrote columns about his experiences for various music magazines. "His pieces for Musician about the music industry were refreshingly honest, and he was probably the most controversial editor for Guitar Player," Gavin revealed.