Drummer Ian Wallace conceived the idea for the CJ3 while on tour with the 21st Century Schizoid Band. “I had so much fun playing these songs again, especially live where there was much improvisation. I thought it might be a cool idea to rearrange some of Crimson material in a jazz format.”

In early 2004, while living in Nashville, Ian met Jody Nardone on a gig with jazz singer Annie Sellick. After the show, he discovered that Jody was huge King Crimson fan. They discussed Ian’s idea and later got together to work on arrangements.

Later that year, Ian moved back to Los Angeles to work on “The Ten Commandments” musical. Tim Landers, also a big King Crimson fan, was the bass player on the show. They discussed the idea and Tim signed on to record the project and play bass.

One thing led to another and in May 2005, Jody joined Ian and Tim at Tim’s Mudzone studio in Woodlands Hills, CA and together they made some magic.

Judge a man by the company he keeps, so the saying goes. By those standards, the company Ian Wallace keeps would rank him among the most accomplished and highly regarded drummers of his time. Sought out by acclaimed artists and successful record producers, and a favorite of fellow musicians, Ian Wallace has quietly amassed one of the most impressive musical resumes of the last three decades.

But don't take our word for it. Consider that Bob Dylan has repeatedly hired Wallace as his tour drummer, in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. Consider that Don Henley, himself a drummer as well as a renowned perfectionist, selected Wallace to take over the drum chair for three of his solo tours through the '80s and '90s.

Need more proof: Wallace, who has worked with hundreds of performers, is hired most often by those whose reputations rest on their musical integrity. The Englishman has toured and/or recorded with such notables as multi-instrumentalist David Lindley; guitarists Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, Larry Coryell, Robert Fripp (as a member of King Crimson), Lonnie Mack, Peter Frampton, Robben Ford, Joe Walsh and Alvin Lee; keyboardists Warren Zevon, Eno, and Keith Emerson; and vocalists Roy Orbison, Jackson Browne, Jon Anderson (Yes), Stevie Nicks, Steve Marriott, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Did we mention that he toured with Procol Harum and recorded with the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys as well?

If Wallace wanted to add more ammunition to his case, he could mention that over the years he's sat in with such famed bandleaders as Chuck Berry, Lindsey Buckingham, Tim Buckley, Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley, John Fogerty, Glen Frey, Billy Joel, Little Richard, Dave Mason, Al Kooper, Linda Ronstadt, Boz Scaggs, Bob Seger, Jo-el Sonnier, Otis Spann, Sting, and Steve Winwood.

But, if there's judging to be done, then let those with firsthand evidence do the testifying. David Lindley, who worked with Wallace for years in the band El Rayo-X, once told Musician magazine that Wallace played "like a beast." Lindley spoke especially well of Wallace's authority and his eclectic range, saying "Ian's got these long arms, and that's where he gets his power from. It's like the rock-on-the-end-of-the-string principle. Sounds like a freight train."

In a review of an El Rayo-X album, Win This Record!, respected music critic Dan Forte said of Wallace, "No one combines subtlety and brute force quite like Ian Wallace", adding that the Englishman got his vote as "The best drummer in L.A." at the time.

Don Henley spoke of similar qualities when describing Wallace during an interview with Modern Drummer magazine. "I like the way Ian plays", Henley said. "He plays simply although he can get very complex. He can play jazz very well. He's also one of the few drummers I know who doesn't rush. I just like his style...He's a hell of a nice guy and a hell of a drummer. That's why I wanted him in my touring band."

Henley also praised Wallace's ability to work within a live show that included pre-programmed segments, commenting on how well Wallace triggered certain effects while maintaining his own live parts on his kit. "He's very, very good at that sort of thing", Henley said.

Bonnie Raitt is another who was glad to go on record crowing about what she called Wallace's "killer drumming." Her remarks can be found on the liner notes of her Warner Bros. greatest hits album, The Bonnie Raitt Collection, in which she talked about the wondrous groove Wallace brought to a cover of Toots and the Maytals' "True Love Is Hard to Find". 

As a producer and player, he has worked with singer/songwriter Andy West and new MCA artist Jessi Alexander plus a new project “Fission Trip” featuring Mel Collins, Michael Clay, Ernie Myers and John Billings with special guest; Adrian Belew, due to be released in 2005. Among his recent studio recordings have included sessions with Skye Edwards of Morcheeba, Kim Richey, Tim Krekel, Rick Vito, Dean Dillon, Rosie Flores, Kim Ford, producer Gary Nicholson, Steve Ripley, Jan Pulsford, Tim Hinkley, Charlie Taylor, Rodney Crowell and the legendary songwriter Dan Penn. And as if that wasn’t enough, he recently he released his first solo CD, Happiness With Minimal Side Effects.

Most recently, Wallace was hired by producer Pat Leonard of Madonna fame to play in the orchestra of the musical “The 10 Commandments” starring Val Kilmer as Moses at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and has also been touring with the 21st Century Schizoid Band, a group comprised of fellow former King Crimson members Mel Collins, Peter Giles and Ian McDonald and Level 42’s Jakko Jaksyck to sold-out crowds across Europe, Japan, the US and Russia. In May of 2005, he produced and played on a CD of King Crimson songs set in a straight ahead jazz format due to be released in the fall of 2005.

Wallace makes his home in Los Angeles, California and is an endorsee of Yamaha Drums, Avedis Zildjian Cymbals and Sticks (Ian Wallace Artist Series model drumstick), Evans Drumheads, Shure Microphones.

Originally from the Boston area and now residing in Los Angeles, Tim Landers can be found most every day in one of LA's many recording studios either playing bass or writing for television shows and commercials, feature films and recording projects.

Tim played guitar, drums and piano earlier in his life but picked up the bass for the first time at 13 years old, after a suggestion from a friend to try out for his high school's big band (the guitar chair had already been taken). Tim immediately found his true musical love with the bass, and soon found himself playing in a number of diverse local bands. Devoted to both music and the bass, Tim spent countless hours playing and practicing, outgrowing the smalltown scene and eventually venturing into Boston to play with the more serious jazz and rock musicians in town.

Even though Tim was already playing with world famous musicians at a young age, like Gary Burton, Stanton Davis and Mick Goodrick, he always wanted to further his education. In 1976, right after high school, he entered the Berklee College of Music. While there he met and played with future greats: Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, Dean Brown, Kevin Eubanks, Tiger Okoshi, Phillipe Saisse, Vinnie Colaiuta et al, and also studied with Neal Stubenhaus and Whit Brown.

After only one year, Colaiuta and Landers left Berklee's famous practice rooms to tour the US with rock legend Al Kooper. With that tour completed and firmly tucked under their belts, both decided to move on from Beantown, Vinnie to LA (and Zappa), and Tim to New York to work with guitar heavy Al DiMeola.

Landers' career continued on in the Big Apple, working and recording with Gil Evans, Mike and Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, David Byrne, Don Grolnick, Billy Squire, etc. While Tim was having a great time playing and touring with all of these amazing artists, all of the traveling was getting tiresome. After taking 12 trips to Europe, Japan and South America in only 11 months, Tim decided to stay put and see if there was any room for him in the New York studio scene, starting to work radio and tv commercials, and even penning a radio ad for LaBella! But there really wasn't enough to keep him in New York, so Landers decided to check out Los Angeles for a few months after an invitation from his old buddy Vinnie. That was almost 15 years ago!

Wow, what happened? A lot of things happened for Tim. He started his own group, "Vital Information", with ex- Journey drummer Steve Smith, Santana's keyboardist Tom Coster and saxophonist Dave Wiczewski, that lasted for three years and four releases. At the same time, Landers settled into a daily routine of record, movie and television sessions.

Even though Tim's schedule is usually tight, he always finds the time to record and perform with various luminaries of the music world, some names like Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Tori Amos, Tracey Chapman, John Tesh, Frank Gambale, David Foster, Al Stewart, Go West, James Ingram, Stevie Nicks, Stan Ridgeway, Terence Trent D'Arby come to mind.

Along with all of the playing and recording, Tim has also been writing for television and film, and overseeing a fledging production company, "MudZone MuZiK" involved with finding and signing new and interesting young artists.

Tim, his wife and two beautiful daughters live in Los Angeles, California.  He uses LaBella strings and plays M.V. Pedulla and TBC basses with Lightwave electronics.

Jody Nardone's music career began at such an early age that he cannot remember a time when he wasn't singing or playing the piano. Studying and performing since the age of three, music has been his primary passion for much of his 35 years. While still in elementary school, Jody sang at weddings with his dad's band, lent his voice to radio jingles, did studio work as a background vocalist, and began writing songs, all before he entered his teens.

Born in raised in NJ, Nardone teamed up with three friends during high school to forge a musical bond that would last 17 years. The band, Pandora's Box, later known as Timberwolf, toured the east coast college circuit and performed regularly to capacity crowds in New York City before relocating to Nashville in 1994 in pursuit of a major label recording contract.

After graduating high school, Nardone attended William Paterson University of NJ, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Performance. As a student in the school’s famed jazz department, Jody studied with Rufus Reid, Joe Lovano, Jim McNeely and Harold Mabern. Nardone also spent a summer studying with pianist/educator and jazz guru Kenny Werner which he refers to as "a life changing experience." Nardone performed on the American Radio Network with trumpeter Jon Faddis, appeared in a quartet setting with Rufus Reid, Dave Valentin and Akira Tana, and was asked to sit in with trumpet legend Clark Terry by Terry himself. During his senior year at Paterson, Nardone was awarded the jazz department’s Outstanding Senior award at graduation and was a member of the school's New Jazz Ensemble, which was awarded first place in the 1991 DownBeat magazine student music awards.

Since moving to Nashville, Nardone has become a fixture of the city’s diverse music scene, where he is equally at home playing jazz, rock or pop. He has worked as a sideman, studio musician, vocalist and producer/arranger with countless artists such as Annie Sellick, Bret Michaels, Jeff Black, Bob Delevante, The Floating Men, The Jim Hoke Nonet, Cyndi Wheeler and Scott Carter. Jody has shared the stage with vocalists Michael McDonald and Kevin Whalum, as well as bassist Garry Tallent of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

Jody spent the fall of 2003 through spring of ‘04 as a member of former Max Roach sideman/jazz trumpeter Rod McGaha's quartet, performing at many Nashville clubs as well as the famous Green Mill in Chicago.

Jody is a member of the music faculty at Currey Ingram Academy, Brentwood, TN where he has been Artist in Residence since 1996. Jody is currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on his first solo rock/pop release of original material, Broken Yellow Lines, which he plans to complete and release in 2005 and continues to play with his own jazz project, The Jody Nardone Trio, at various venues in the Nashville area.