Name: Jakko Jakszyk (born Michael Lee Curran)
   Date of birth: 8th June 1958
 Place of birth: London, UK
 Marital status: Married to Amanda
          Children: One

Level 42 member: 1991 to 1994
Instruments played: Guitar
Other instruments played: Keyboards, saxophone, whistle, synths, bass, flute
Solo albums: Silesia (1982?), Kingdom of Dust (1994), Mustard Gas and Roses (1995), Are My Ears On Wrong? (1996), The Road To Ballina (1997)
Other collaborations: Soon After, Synthesis, 64 Spoons, Warren Harry, Dave Stewart, Rapid Eye Movement, Peter Blegvad, The Lodge, David Jackson, The Kings of Oblivion, Dizrhythmia, Sam Brown - Stop, Alice, Chiswick Story, Mica Paris - Whisper A Prayer, Swing Out Sister, Tom Robinson, Franco Battiato, Holi, Mick Karn, David Tom, Saro Cosentino, Richard Barbieri, Grupo Mark King, Korg, HaLo, Soft Machine, Sheila Nicholls, Tony Hawks, Schizoid Band

Taken from www.jakko.com:

Jakko was born Michael Lee Curran at The Whittington Hospital, Highgate Hill, London on June 8th 1958. His mother was a well known Irish singer called Peggy Curran and his father an unknown U.S Airman. At the age of 18 months he was officially adopted by a Polish émigré called Norbert Jakszyk and his French wife Camille. Obsessed with Football, Music & Acting he concentrated on the latter two when he failed his trail for Watford Boys at the tender age of 15. Within a year he had formed his first band 'Soon After.'

16 going on 17 Jakko started touring with his strange little band supporting the likes of Camel, Stackridge, Judas Priest & others. Within a year Jakko left to join Synthesis a group based in that thriving musical metropolis Tring. Very much in the style of some of Jakko's favourite music from the whole English Progressive and Canterbury scene's. During that groups appearance in the following years competition he saw, on a list of group names posted outside the hall, the words 64 Spoons. Amused by their ridiculous name Jakko made a point of watching their appearance. Within a matter of months he had become their guitar player and lead vocalist.

A big fan of Dave Stewart in particular, he sent him tapes of his band 64 Spoons, which resulted in Stewart coming down to a few gigs, sometimes in the company of Bill Bruford, whom he he was working with at the time. Jakszyk's friendship with Stewart resulted in him singing on the original demo for "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted?". He eventually sang backup on the final version with Colin Blunstone on lead vocals. Meanwhile, he was a founding member, as guitarist and lead vocalist, of Rapid Eye Movement, a band formed by Stewart after the Bruford group had split up.

Meanwhile, a series of particularly unlucky attempts at putting out a solo album started. A deal with Chiswick Records led to the recording of Silesia, but the label went bankrupt when it was at printing stage. Subsequently, he signed with Stiff Records and put out a few singles, but another album, recorded in 1983-85, was also shelved at the last minute. A third attempt was similarly unsuccessful - this time for MDM Records, a label distributed by Virgin, in 1986-87. Material from both these albums was compiled for a CD release on Resurgence, "Are My Ears On Wrong?" (1996).

In 1987, Jakszyk joined Peter Blegvad and John Greaves for the recording of the Lodge album in New York. This also featured Kristoffer Blegvad on lead vocals and Anton Fier on drums. Jakszyk was an important contributor, playing most of the guitar parts as well as singing lead on the title track. The project was extended to live activity with a slightly altered line-up, but it folded after a couple of gigs.

At that point, Jakszyk had started a collaboration with ex-Renaissance drummer Gavin Harrison, first for a Zappa pastiche album - Big Fish Popcorn by The Kings Of Oblivion - then a band, Dizrhythmia, with former Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson and percussionist Pandit Dinesh (Harrison also became The Lodge's live drummer). The quartet released a self-titled album in 1988 for the Antilles label, which featured Dave Stewart guesting on the 7-minute "Katy Goes To School". Other work during this period included a Sam Brown album, "Stop ", and recordings and tours with Italian singer Alice.

A major career opportunity came in 1991 in the shape of an offer to become Level 42 's lead guitarist. This job had been handled by none other than Allan Holdsworth for the previous album and tour, but this was a temporary arrangement following previous member Alan Murphy's sudden death. Jakszyk's involvement in Level 42 lasted until the band's split in 1994, by which time he'd brought in his Dizrhythmia colleague Gavin Harrison on drums for the Forever Now tour.

Also in 1994, Jakszyk's first solo release finally came out on Resurgence - a 4-song, 20-minute EP; entitled "Kingdom Of Dust ". This was followed in 1995 by a full-length effort, " Mustard Gas And Roses". Jakszyk then started work on a project based on his own family life's story , "The Road To Ballina", an almost classical work first aired on BBC Radio 3 in December 1996 and released a few months later. It featured his ex-Level 42 colleagues Mark King, Gary Barnacle and Gavin Harrison.