American composer and musician Terry Riley, now in his 83rd year, is frequently catalogued alongside Minimalist composers such as Philip Glass
and Steve Reich. While his most famous works, In C and A Rainbow in Curved
Air, employ the repetitiveness of a few chords associated with minimalism,
his work goes beyond classical minimalism and into realms of jazz, electronica,
and Indian raga music. His work in the 1960s had an impact on the rock music of
the 1970s – he recorded an album with former Velvet Underground member John
Cale (called Church of Anthrax) in
1970 (which went unreleased until 1971 as the record company were unsure of how
to categorise it) and, perhaps most famously of all, his work inspired The
Who’s Pete Townshend during his experiments with synthesisers for their album Who’s Next and even saw that album’s
opening track, ‘Baba O’Riley’ (nowadays better known as the opening and closing
theme to the US crime drama CSI: NY)
named after him.
His latest tour sees him collaborating with his son, Gyan,
and together they present a series of improvised pieces of music. The concert
at the Royal Northern College of Music featured Terry Riley on piano, melodica,
and electronics, Gyan, meanwhile, played guitar, often channelling the sound
through effects pedals. As the two performers arrived onstage, the generational
gap between the two men was evident – Gyan was dressed in trousers and shirt,
his hair cut short; Terry, however, emerged with his long white beard, taqiyah
(skullcap), and robes and looked like a wizard or mystic. The two men then
proceeded to perform eight improvised pieces of music, many of which leaned
heavily into the jazz traditions; indeed, Gyan’s guitar style was often
reminiscent of the work of electric jazz guitarist John McLaughlin on Miles
Davis’ album Bitches Brew and
McLaughlin’s own group, the Mahavishu Orchestra.
The opening piece was heavily dominated by Terry Riley’s
piano, with Gyan’s electric guitar entering the piece to provide a counterpoint.
As the piece developed, the two would exchange glances, something they would
continue to do throughout the evening’s performances. As is so often the case
with music performances between musicians, the non-verbal communication says it
all: the odd glance here, the wry smile there, all little cues which encourage
the other performer to keep going. Interestingly, Gyan was the one who seemed
to be upholding the cause for minimalism as he repeated the same chord
progression while his father threw caution to the wind and improvised riffs at
the piano.
The second piece began with Terry and Gyan providing some Moroccan
sounding a capella vocals before Terry launched into some more piano-based
improvisations, continuing to sing, as Gyan filled out the sound the guitar.
The third piece saw Terry pick up a melodica for a more bluesy performance,
driven heavily by Gyan’s guitar work. As the piece neared its end, Terry placed
down the melodica and played some blues-jazz lines on the piano. The fourth
performance of the night, saw Terry singing again, this time in English. “Tears
of joy flow from my eyes,” he crooned over a piano sound bed as Gyan played
some guitar licks which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Steely Dan’s
jazz-rock album Aja. Terry’s choice
of lyrics perhaps revealed more about how he felt during the performance; he
certainly seemed to be enjoying sharing the stage with his son and enjoying
himself as they went off on a voyage of musical discovery. This rather mellow,
reflective piece was swiftly contrasted by the following work: a frantic,
driving piece with piano and guitar being put through their paces before the
piece settled down to a calmer, more subdued middle section, before the
frenetic energy of the opening returned for the closing movement.
After an interval, Terry and Gyan Riley returned to the
stage, Gyan back on guitar and Terry stood over the piano, manipulated
electronic sounds through a synthesiser programme on what was presumably a
tablet. As Terry’s hands caressed the screen, the sound altered in pitch and
Gyan drove his guitar sound through a variety of effects pedals to create a
piece which began life as sounding like a spacey piece of music, akin to what
the BBC Radiophonic Workshop created for science-fiction shows in the 1960s,
before it mutated into a more ambient droning, recalling Brian Eno’s works in
the late 1970s. The effect was very trippy; indeed, one could be forgiven for
thinking that they had someone left the RNCM and entered into a rave! Terry
resumed his work on the melodica for the next piece as Gyan brought things back
down to Earth with a more lyrical guitar style before the final work of the
night: a vibrant, joyous, almost calypso-feeling piece.
The concert was loose, unpredictable, and all about the
music (there was no between song talking to the audience except a brief “thank
you” speech from Gyan before the final piece). The evening may not necessarily
have been to everybody’s taste but for those who were familiar with Terry’s
work, there was much to savour both in terms of the composition of the pieces
and in the musicianship of father and son.
Reviewer - Andrew Marsden
on - 12/10/18
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