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Curved Air
Background information
Origin	London
Genre(s)	Progressive rock
Years active	1969-1976, 1990,
Website	http://www.curvedair.com
Former members
Francis Monkman Darryl Way Sonja Kristina Linwood Florian Pilkington-Miksa Rob Martin
Notable instrument(s)
Electric violin, synthesizer,

Curved Air were a pioneering British rock group formed in 1969 by:

• Francis Monkman (keyboards, guitar)
• Darryl Way (electric violin, vocals)
• Sonja Kristina Linwood (vocals)
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa (drums)
• Rob Martin (bass).

The group evolved from the band Sisyphus [1] and was named by Monkman after the piece A Rainbow in Curved Air by contemporary composer Terry Riley.

The line-up experienced frequent changes:

• Ian Eyre (born 11 September, in Knaresborough, Yorkshire) took over on bass for the second album
• Mike Wedgwood (born Michael Wedgewood, 19 May 1950, in Derby, Derbyshire) took over on bass for the third;
• later members included
  • Eddie Jobson (later Roxy Music, Frank Zappa and Jethro Tull)
  • Stewart Copeland (The Police)
  • Tony Reeves (born Anthony Reeves, 18 April 1943, in London) ( ex-Greenslade, Colosseum, John Mayall).

Only Sonja Kristina continuously remained as member. Monkman, member of Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, was later to play with John Williams in a group called Sky.

The musicians developed from quite different artistic backgrounds, classic, folk, and electronic sound, which resulted in a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements.

The band's groundbreaking 1970 debut , Airconditioning, reached no. 8 in the UK Albums Chart, and was the second picture disc released - the first being by the band Saturnalia in the previous year. In 1976 the band recorded their last studio album and then eventually split . Intermittently since then, the group, particularly in its original line-up, has re-joined for periodic concerts, one of which in 1990 gave rise to another live album.

Contents 1 Discography 1.1 Albums 1.2 Singles 2 Artists 3 External link

• "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)

• "It Happened Today" / "Vivaldi" / "What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up" (1971)
• "Back Street Luv" / "Everdance" (1971)
• "Sarah's Concern" / "Phantasmagoria" (1972)
• "Desiree" / "Kids to Blame" (1976)
• "Baby Please Don't Go" / "Broken Lady" (1976)
• "Renegade" / "We're Only Human" (1984)

• Sonja Kristina
• Darryl Way
• Francis Monkman
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa
• Rob Martin
• Ian Eyre
• Mike Wedgwood
• Eddie Jobson
• Kirby Gregory
• Jim Russell
• Phil Kohn
• Stewart Copeland
• Mick Jacques
• Tony Reeves
• Alex Richman

• www.curvedair.com