Curved Air

Curved Air were briefly a sensation in the world of British progressive-rock because of Sonja Kristina's sensual vocals (a veteran of the "Hair" musical play) and Darryl Way's romantic violin. This was the same combination tested in California by It's A Beautiful Day. Francis Monkman (the real genius behind their compositions) added a synthesizer. Air Conditioning (Warner, 1970) boasts Vivaldi, their most celebrated piece. Second Album (1971) delivered their only hit, Back Street Luv, and the 12-minute Piece Of Mind. Their artistic peak was reached with the baroque suite of Phantasmagoria (1972), but the band dissolved after the mediocre Air Cut (1973), with Eddie Jobson taking over violin and keyboard duties. Jobson was then hired by Roxy Music. Kristina was joined by her husband Stewart Copeland (future Police) for a new version of Curved Air that released Midnight Wire (BTM, 1975) and Airborne (BTM, 1976).

Curved Air violinist Darryl Way had already released three albums with his band Wolf, Canis Lupus (Deram, 1973), Saturation Point (Deram, 1973) and Night Music (Deram, 1974), compiled on Wolf (London, 1974). Upon leaving Curved Air, Way recorded an ambitious Concerto For Electric Violin (Island, 1979), with electronic arrangements by Francis Monkman, a work that embraced the relaxed stance of new age music. Equally melodic and classical-sounding, Edge of the World (Mausoleum, 1984) and The Human Condition (Venture, 1987), that employs a string orchestra, further removed him from rock music. Under The Soft (IRS, 1991) contains lyrical vignettes (Vapour Highway, Electric Bolero) but is perhaps too thin. Way also formed the Electric Symphony Orchestra and the Elektra Ensemble and scored a number of popular soundtracks ("Licensed To Kill", "Die Hard").

Francis Monkman joined classical guitarist John Williams in Sky, one of the most gifted bands ever, that recorded Sky (1979), whose tour de force 19-minute Where Opposites Meet was written by Monkman, and Sky 2 (1980), whose 17-minute FIFO was again a Monkman composition. Monkman then recorded the concept album Dweller On The Threshold (Maya, 1981). He will not release anything under his own name until 21st Century Blues (1998).

Kristina disappeared after her first solo album, Sonja Kristina (Chopper, 1980), but returned a decade later as a singer-songwriter with Songs From The Acid Folk (Fruithouse, 1991) and Harmonics of Love (HTD, 1995).


Albums:


*Rainbow in Curved Air, 1967
Airconditioning (1970) including the renowned piece "Vivaldi"
Second Album (1971) including the biggest hit "Back Street Luv"
Phantasmagoria (1972)
Air Cut (1973)
Live (1975)
Midnight Wire (1975)
Airborne (1976)
Lovechild (recorded 1973, released 1990)
Live At The BBC (1995)
Alive, 1990 (2000)
Reborn (2008)

*Available on , featuring Terry Riley. Some consider him to be the "Baba" O'Riley Pete Townsend referred to.