Artist: Francis Monkman
Genre(s):
Electronic: Progressive
Electronic
Discography:
Energism
Year: 1980
Tracks: 11
Energism
Year: 1980
Tracks: 11
Best known as the founder of Curved Air, Francis Monkman is unusual regular among the ranks of progressive rock's musicians for his level of musical training. As a student at the Westminster School in the '60s, he studied organ and cembalo and he nursed the ambition to lead a Mozart opera. And later in the tenner, as a pupil at the Royal Academy of Music, he south Korean won the Raymond Russel Prize for his virtuosity on the cembalo, simply he likewise took up acting the electric guitar. During this period, he likewise became a session musician. In 1970, Monkman was the catalyst in the formation of Curved Air out of an before radical called Sisyphus. Their ternion albums carven out a permanent place for the radical in the annals of progressive rock, simply Monkman too worked as a session instrumentalist on records by the Shadows, David Essex, Kate Bush, Steve Harley, and Paul Nicholas, among many others. Monkman never took himself likewise far from good classic music, chronic to give performances at Royal Albert Hall and the Purcell Room. In the mid-'70s, Monkman was introduced to authoritative guitar player John Williams and played on his album, Travelling. The two later on formed the group Sky with Herbie Flowers, Kevin Peek, and Tristan Fry. He too performed live with Brian Eno (which appeared on the album Dali's Car) and played on albums by acts including Renaissance, Al Stewart, the Alan Parsons Project, and Kate Bush, and moved into soundtrack composition during the '80s, most notably writing the music for The Long Good Friday. He too worked with the other John Williams (the soundtrack composer) on The Empire Strikes Back's score. Monkman has too occasionally miscellaneous his classical and rock backgrounds more closely on albums such as Symphonic Rock: British Invasion, Vol. 1.
