#5016, NSL: Gyan Riley and Bang On A Can All-Stars Play Terry Riley
From a 90th birthday spotlight-celebration of Terry Riley's music at Pioneer Works which was part of the annual Bang on a Can Long Play Festival 2025, hear Riley’s groundbreaking “A Rainbow in Curved Air” (1969), in a new version arranged by Gyan Riley. Influenced by Indian classical music and psychedelic rock, the piece featured overdubbed improvisations on various keyboards, yet, it is a work that can be played in many different ways. In this version of “A Rainbow in Curved Air”, guitarist Gyan Riley shreds with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the six-member amplified ensemble who freely cross the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world, and experimental musics and were formed in 1992.
The influential American composer Terry Riley’s work is widely regarded as an important step in the establishing of what we now know as minimalist music - especially with his classic work In C –where no two performances of this nearly 60-year old work are ever the same. Guitarist and composer Gyan Riley is a frequent collaborator with Paul Simon, Devendra Banhart, Arooj Aftab, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, John Zorn and Terry Riley. Listen also to some of a 2018 album by Terry Riley and Gyan Riley, Way Out Yonder - of spontaneous improvisations and compositions by both Terry and Gyan, captured during three performances in Canada, Japan and the US, and featuring the elder Riley on piano, voice, melodica and electronics, (Bandcamp).
#5016, New Sounds Live: Gyan Riley and Bang On A Can All-Stars play Terry Riley "A Rainbow In Curved Air" (First aired 6/10/25)
ARTIST: Terry Riley
WORK: A Rainbow in Curved Air [6:22]
RECORDING: A Rainbow in Curved Air
SOURCE: CBS Records / Columbia Masterworks
INFO: Available at Youtube, Amazon.com, Spotify, and via Discogs.com
ARTIST: Krishna Bhatt
WORK: In C, Interlude [4:42]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Pioneer Works, May 2025
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://pioneerworks.org
ARTIST: Katrina Krimsky
WORK: A Rainbow in Curved Air [1:16]
RECORDING: Time Over Time
SOURCE: Katrina Krimsky
INFO: https://katrinakrimsky.bandcamp.com/album/time-over-time-2
ARTIST: Bang on a Can All-Stars, Gyan Riley
WORK: Terry Riley: A Rainbow in Curved Air (arr. Gyan Riley) [17:39]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Pioneer Works, May 2025
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://pioneerworks.org
ARTIST: Terry Riley and Gyan Riley
WORK: Dark Queen [13:09]
RECORDING: Way Out Yonder
SOURCE: Sri Moonshine Music
INFO: https://gyanriley.bandcamp.com/album/way-out-yonder
