Stick Men is an American Progressive Rock Supergroup that was founded by Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto and Michael Bernier in 2007. The lineup has remained stable around Mastelotto and Markus Reuter since 2010. The band was created to promote progressive rock music using Chapman Sticks and drums. Stick Man was Levin’s solo album. It featured pieces that were recorded on the Chapman Stick and Pat Mastelotto, his King Crimson bandmate, on drums. The result was Stick Men, a band consisting of Levin, Mastelotto and Chapman Stick player Michael Bernier. In 2010, the band released their first album, Soup. After the release of Soup in 2010, Bernier was replaced by Markus Reuter in August 2010. In 2011, the new lineup released Absalom and Open. In February 2013, Deep, a studio album, was released. A special edition includes a DVD. The album contains heavy rock tracks that are mostly instrumental, with the exception of Horatio which features Pat Mastelotto singing vocals. The album also features a 11-minute tone poem Whale Watch, which is based on Tony Levin’s whale-watching trips to Boston. The band’s first live album, Power Play, was released in January 2014. Stick Men’s first retrospective album was released in October 2014. The first disc was recorded in studio, and the second contained recordings of live improvisations that the band had performed while on tour. Remixes and remakes for various Stick Men songs are also included on this album. In Tokyo, Japan, King Crimson recorded two live albums in collaboration. The first, Midori, featured David Cross on keyboards and violin. It was recorded in 2015. The second, Roppongi with Mel Collins on sax was recorded in 2017. The multi-disc boxed set Panamerica was eventually made by David Cross, who played the violin on a 2018 Latin American tour. Their album Nagoya was recorded in Nagoya on February 28th, in the same spirit as their collaborations with prog icons. Their fourth studio album, Prog Noir, with Markus Reuter was recorded in 2016 and released. The album included several vocal tracks. Tony Levin sang the title song, Markus Reuter sang plutonium, and they also shared vocals on The Tempest, the single that was promoted. Stick Men’s style is very unique. Stick Men’s music is described as “playing instruments like no other” and has been described as a mix of Progressive Rock, Art Rock, and sometimes Progressive Metal. Their live shows are heavily influenced by free music and improvisation. The musicians often show off their skills on their instruments during extended free music jams. The band pays tribute to King Crimson through performing songs written by them as well as Robert Fripp’s songs. Stick Men also performed a shortened version of Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite”, which is a common live performance. Their compositions are mostly instrumental. Very few songs feature vocals. Most often, Levin but sometimes Reuter and Mastelotto. Bernier sang on some songs during his time in the band after the release of “Soup”. From Wikipedia
