One of the most dramatically accomplished of all the bands lumped into Britain's late-'60s prog explosion, Curved Air was formed in early 1970 by violinist Darryl Way, a graduate of the Royal College of Music, and two former members of Sisyphus, keyboard player Francis Monkman and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa. Adding bassist Robert Martin, the band named itself from
avant-garde composer Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air, a touchstone that would inform much of their early work.
The quartet originally came together to provide accompaniment for producer Galt McDermott'...