Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound.
The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements.
Curved Air released eight studio albums, the first three of which broke into the UK Top 20, and had a hit single with “Back Street Luv” (1971) which reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.
Air Cut is the fourth studio album by Curved Air and was recorded in 1973, following the departure of three of the band’s founding members. Only Sonja Kristina and Mike Wedgwood remained in the band from their previous album and Air Cut took them in a more rock-oriented direction. (wikipedia)
I’ve only recently got into this band, which is mainly known because of its charismatic female vocalist, Sonja Kristina Linwood – together with Renaissance’s Annie Haslam, one of the few women singers on the original prog scene. Though they are considered by many as mere second-league contenders, this is an unfair prejudice, because from what I’ve heard so far their best output is an excellent example of early Art Rock, rich with diverse influences – folk, psychedelia, classical and even harder-edged rock.
“Air Cut” (recently released on CD after a wait lasted several years) is widely recognised as their best effort, and with very good reason – the most important of which being the presence of an androgynously beautiful, 17-year-old keyboardist and violinist by the name of Edwin “Eddie” Jobson. Without any offence to his predecessors, violinist Darryl Way and keyboardist Francis Monkman – both outstanding musicians and composers – Jobson is the real ace in the hole of this record. His contribution on a compositional level is essential, his performance nothing short of spectacular, especially as regards the keyboard parts. His sophisticated playing complements Sonja’s hauntingly wistful vocals to perfection, and one cannot help but wonder how he could be such an accomplished musician at such young age.
With the exception of the rather average, though mercifully short “World”, all the tracks on this album are very strong, ranging from the out-and-out hard rock of opener “The Purple Speed Queen” (a fantastic, typically ’70s title) and the equally hard-edged, though more complex “U.H.F.”, to the acid-folk-influenced “Elfin Boy”, featuring lovely accapella vocals at the beginning. The band show remarkable versatility, with Kirby’s biting electric guitar injecting a supplementary dose of power in their sound, and bassist Mike Wedgwood (who would later join Caravan, stepping into the daunting shoes of one Mr Richard Sinclair) offering a strong vocal performance which provides a perfect foil to Kristina’s sensual tones in the album’s two closing tracks, powerful rockers “Two-Three-Two” and “Easy”.
However, the real highlight of the album is the 10-minute-plus epic “Metamorphosis”, which highly deserves to be included in the pantheon of the best-ever ’70s prog tracks. It is a showcase for Eddie Jobson’s astonishing talents, and undeniably one of his finest hours. His performance on the grand piano gives the likes of Emerson and Wakeman a run for their money; later, he switches effortlessly from piano to organ in order to match Kristina’s commanding voice and the march-like rythm provided by the drums. Utterly mesmerising. Jobson’s violin skills are instead best demonstrated by the stunning instrumental “Armin”, which sees all the instruments interweave seamlessly to create a dynamic bravura piece.
After Jobson left the band, Curved Air would never again be able to match “Air Cut” ‘s extremely high standards – which was a pity, as this album shows they had the potential to become a major league band. Even though the latter was never to be, any self-respecting prog fan should get hold of this album to get an earful of really original, skillfully played and intriguing music. Four solid stars for this one. (by Raff)
Personnel:
Kirby Gregory (guitar, bass on 04., background vocals)
Eddie Jobson (violin, keyboards, synthesizer, harpsichord, background vocals)
Sonja Kristina (vocals, guitar on 02.)
Jim Russell (drums)
Mike Wedgwood (bass, guitar on 04., vocals on 07. + 08., background vocals)
Tracklist:
01. The Purple Speed Queen (Kirby/Kristina) 3.21
02. Elfin Boy (Kristina/Jobson) 4.13
03. Metamorphosis (Kristina/Jobson) 10.41
04. World (Wedgwood) 1.35
05. Armin (Jobson/Wedgwood/Kirby/Russell) 3.42
06. U.H.F. (Kirby) 5.07
07. Two-Three-Two (Wedgwood) 4.12
08. Easy (Kristina) 6.40
The official website:
More from Curved Air:
Alive, 1990 is a recording from the Curved Air reunion concert 23 September 1990. The lineup reunited Sonja Kristina, Francis Monkman, Florian Pilkington-Miksa and Darryl Way, sixteen years after the last time all four of them played together.
Here’s the classic line up featuring Sonja Kristina, Francis Monkman, Florian Pilkington- Miksa, Darryl Way and special guest Rob Martin (bass on “Vivaldi”), sixteen years after they had played together for the last time. The music from Curved Air is eccentric progrock, not really in the vein of ELP, Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant or Pink Floyd. Apart from the first track “Twenty years on” (biting wah-wah guitar) the sound quality is good. During the other 12 songs Curved Air showcases their unique sound and great skills: powerful vocals and great electric violin play in “It happened today”, a swinging rhythm and rock & roll with again wah-wah drenched guitar and powerful vocals in “Stretch”, rock & roll meets classic in “Hide and seek”, a beautiful folky climate in “Melinda” (Jobson-like violin and acoustic guitar), more Jobson-like violin and exciting keyboards in “Young mother”, great interplay between electric violin and electric guitar and a long violin improvisation (including a Four Seasons interpretation) in a 10 minutes version of “Vivaldi” and a catchy rhythm featuring haunting vocals and sparklin keyboards in “Everdance”. This reunion gig prooves what a great (often overlooked) progrock band Curved Air was. (Eric Neuteboom)
Phantasmagoria is a 1972 album by Curved Air. It reached No. 20 in the UK Charts and is notable for its early use of the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer to process lead singer Sonja Kristina’s voice on the second side. Unavailable for many years, the album was reissued on CD in April 2007.Phantasmagoria is a 1972 album by Curved Air. It reached No. 20 in the UK Charts[3] and is notable for its early use of the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer to process lead singer Sonja Kristina’s voice on the second side. (by wikipedia)
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