Curved Air: Air Rarities Series Volume 1 / Tapestry Of Propositions
Many of our readers will be familiar with the UK band Curved Air. For those of you who are not the band formed in 1970 and released their debut album Air Conditioning that same year. A string of '70s albums culminated with the release of Airborne in 1976 after which the original band called it quits. There were subsequent reunion tours in the '90s but more recently the band has seen a rise in popularity and it is easy to see why after listening to their latest offering Tapestry Of Propositions featuring a series of improv performances of the song "Propositions" originally released on their debut, taken from over a dozen concert venues during 2013 and 2014. Essentially they have taken what is a three minute song and made it into a sixty-four minute listening experience as it really runs as one long track. This is true improvisation folks as the song never sounds the same on any given night and goes to show just how talented these six musicians are. The album is bookended by the rousing "Propositions" and "Propositions (Reprise)" featuring the impassioned vocals of original front woman Sonja Kristina. Most notably here is the guitar work Kirby Gregory, who played on the 1973 release Air Cut and the extraordinary violin skills of Paul Sax, taking the place of original violinist Darryl Way. Both Gregory and Sax are all over this disc ably demonstrating the skill and passion we have come to expect from veteran musicians.
Although this is not the easiest album 'to get' as it were, I found myself completely immersed in the music as it had an almost hypnotic effect, easily letting the listener grasp on to the different elements presented. As the title suggests, this is the first in the series and I for one look forward to hearing what the band does next.
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Many of our readers will be familiar with the UK band Curved Air. For those of you who are not the band formed in 1970 and released their debut album Air Conditioning that same year. A string of '70s albums culminated with the release of Airborne in 1976 after which the original band called it quits. There were subsequent reunion tours in the '90s but more recently the band has seen a rise in popularity and it is easy to see why after listening to their latest offering Tapestry Of Propositions featuring a series of improv performances of the song "Propositions" originally released on their debut, taken from over a dozen concert venues during 2013 and 2014. Essentially they have taken what is a three minute song and made it into a sixty-four minute listening experience as it really runs as one long track. This is true improvisation folks as the song never sounds the same on any given night and goes to show just how talented these six musicians are. The album is bookended by the rousing "Propositions" and "Propositions (Reprise)" featuring the impassioned vocals of original front woman Sonja Kristina. Most notably here is the guitar work Kirby Gregory, who played on the 1973 release Air Cut and the extraordinary violin skills of Paul Sax, taking the place of original violinist Darryl Way. Both Gregory and Sax are all over this disc ably demonstrating the skill and passion we have come to expect from veteran musicians.
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