Add in the fact that the gig would have been held in the intimate Timucua Arts Foundation House and you had the recipe for an unforgettable night.
Alas, that show and seemingly every other show this year would have to be canceled or postponed amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, news came Wednesday that Terry Riley is thankfully undeterred and has rescheduled this Orlando show for 2021.
And that’s news just as blissful as Riley’s piece “Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band” from A Rainbow in Curved Air.
Over the course of a life in music that’s lasted nearly 60 years, Riley has constantly pushed sound into new and uncharted territory, experimenting with minimalism, drone textures, tape loops, Indian music, electronic sound and repetition.
Highlights of his extensive discography include the aforementioned A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969), his 1971 Church of Anthrax collaboration with the Velvet Underground’s John Cale, and the Kronos Quartet collab Cadenza on the Night Plain (1985). His composition In C, with its deceptively simple “score,” has maddened and delighted the thousands of musicians who’ve performed it since 1964, including this Orlando ensemble in 2012 at the old Urban Rethink space.
Terry Riley and his son Gyan Riley will be playing Orlando on March 21, 2021. Follow the Civic Minded 5 and Timucua Arts Foundation to be in the loop about venue and ticket announcements.
_
Please follow CDC guidelines and Orange County advisories to stay safe, and please support this free publication. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you news on how coronavirus is affecting Central Florida. Please consider making a one-time or monthly donation. Every little bit helps.
Related Stories
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2020.