Francis Monkman

hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Francis Monkman (born 9 June 1949, in Hampstead, North London, England) is an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. He is the son of Kenneth Monkman, an authority on the writer Laurence Sterne, and of Vita née Duncombe Mann.

Career[]

Monkman was a pupil at Westminster School where he studied organ and harpsichord, later studying at the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Raymond Russell prize for virtuosity on the harpsichord and becoming a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

In the late 1960s he founded the rock band Sisyphus, which evolved into the pioneering band Curved Air. He played on their first three albums, leaving after the release of Phantasmagoria (1972) and returning briefly for the tour which resulted in the release of the album Live (1975).

He contributed to the Renaissance album Prologue (1972), worked with Al Stewart including contributing to the album Past, Present and Future (1973) as well as Lynsey de Paul on her Surprise album and toured with The Shadows on their 20 Golden Greats Tour (1977). Also in 1977, he collaborated with Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno on the project 801. In 1978, he played all keyboards on Brian Bennett's solo album Voyage.

In the late 1970s, he recorded music for television.

In 1978, together with guitarist John Williams he founded the classical/rock music fusion band called Sky, with which he stayed until 1980.

In 1980, he resumed classical performances and recordings including the soundtrack to the British film, The Long Good Friday. The album Energism included the electronic "Achievements of Man", from which extracts were used as the theme to the BBC programme Think Again.^[1] In 1981 a new album was released, Dweller on the Threshold, with Andy Latimer (guitar).

He also composed the piece "Current Affairs", used by Channel 4 as the introduction to their "Engineering Announcements" segment, provided by the IBA.^[2]

Instruments (career)[]

Francis Monkman played guitar as well as keyboards in Curved Air, switching between them when playing live. According to the sleeve notes for the second Sky album, Sky 2 he also played additional guitar parts on his composition "FIFO", alongside John Williams and Kevin Peek.

Keyboards

• 1977-1978: (tour with The Shadows)

Piano

Discography[]

• Contemporary Impact (With Malcolm Ironton)(1978)(KPM Music, Denmark Street 21, London)
• Energism (1978) (Brutton Music Limited,London)
• Tempus Fugit (1978)(Brutton Music Limited,London)
• Pictures In The Mind (With Malcolm Ironton)(1978)(KPM Music, Denmark Street 21, London)
• Classical Concussion (1979)(KPM Music, Denmark Street 21, London)
• Predections (Part 1) (1979)(KPM Music, Denmark Street 21, London)
• Predections (Part 2) (1979)(KPM Music, Denmark Street 21, London)
• Classycal Odyssey(1980)(KPM Music, Denmark Street 21, London)
• Dynamism (1980)(Brutton Music Limited,London)
• The Long Good Friday Soundtrack (1981) (Nimbus Custom) Recorded at CTS Studios December 12, 18 and 20, 1979.
• Dweller on the Threshold (1981) (Maya Records)
• 21st Century Blues (2001)
• Jam (2003)
• A Harpsichord Sampler (2003)

References[]

External links[]

• Francis Monkman's website
• Francis Monkman at AllMusic
• 2006 Interview
• Francis Monkman on the Curved Air website
• Biographical information on the Sky website