Curved Air announce six-disc Rarities box set to be released in September

Curved Air
(Image credit: Will Ireland/Getty Images)

UK prog rockers Curved Air have announced that they will release a six-CD collection, The Rarities Box Set, through Spirit Of Unicorn Music on September 20.

The collection includes all of the band's Rarities collection of CD releases, originally released between 2016 and 2019, and now out of print. These include the band's 1972 performance at Germany's second-ever British Rock Meeting Festival, Francis Monkman's 2003 release Jam and the band's acclaimed 45th anniversary concert at Chelsea Football Club's state-of-the-art venue Under The Bridge from 2015 which featured the band performing their 1970 debut album Air Conditioning, with guest appearances from violinist Darryl Way and bassist Ian Eyre.

The set features:

Tapestry Of Propositions: An hour-long version of the track Propositions, recorded live at 14 different locations during the band's 2013/14 tour.

Curved Space: previously released as Francis Monkman’s Jam and featuring original Curbed Air drummer and bassist Florian Pilington-Miksa and Rob Martin, now featuring two unreleased bonus tracks.  

Infinity: featuring all new 2016 jam-based studio recordings driven by Monkman’s replacement in the band, Robert Norton.

The Second British Rock Meeting 1972: features the only known recording of this line-up improvising.  The last track is an extended jam on their hit, Vivaldi, which lasts over 30 minutes.  

Live Under The Bridge: the band's 45th Anniversary concert featuring a performance of the legendary Air Conditioning in its entirety.

The box set also includes a booklet featuring brand new sleeve notes, written by Prog Magazine Editor, Jerry Ewing, who interviewed lead singer Sonja Kristina.

Curved Air will join up with the new-look new Asia line-up featuring keyboard player Geoff Downes  John Mitchell (It BitesLonely RobotKinoFrost* and more), Planet X drummer Virgil Donati and newcomer Harry Whitley on their Heat Of The Moment North American tour in July,  which also features Focus and former Wishbone Ash man Martin Turner.

Pre-order The Rarities Box Set.

Curved Air

(Image credit: Spirit Of Unicorn Music)
Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.