Terry Riley - Rainbow In Cologne (rec. 1971, rel. 2016)

Mentioned this archive release way back when posting Descending Moonshine Dervishes, so it's long overdue a post of its own.  Rainbow In Cologne presents just under two hours of Terry Riley performing on "church organ" (more likely modified electric organ on Disc 1), venue(s) unspecified, recorded some time in 1971, presumably for WDR or suchlike - yep, it's one of those archive releases that raises more questions than it answers!  Whatever the recording details were, Riley's delay system is very much in evidence to create long drones and loops over which he could improvise further in these long, hypnotic raga-like compositions.

This recording surfaced three years ago on a slightly dubious label, and I suspect it's out of print now - prices have jumped right up of late.  Despite some mastering issues (i.e. glitching on Disc 1 that the label tried to explain away as part of the original recording), it's nice to have something like this available, and hear Terry Riley in a raw live recording from this early in his career.

First up is the slow to catch fire, minor-key Journey From The Death Of A Friend, which would be released the following year on a French soundtrack LP.  After 37 minutes, the continuous performance segues into Riley's breakthrough composition A Rainbow In Curved Air.  Even with the lower fidelity, this and Disc 2's run through Persian Surgery Dervishes still make for stunning listening when those flurries of organ notes take flight.

Disc 1 link
Disc 2 link
pw: sgtg