Francis Monkman

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Francis Monkman
Birth name	Andrew Francis Kenneth Monkman
Born	(1949-06-09) 9 June 1949
Origin	Hampstead, North London
Genres	Progressive rock, classical music
Occupations	Songwriter, musician, film score composer
Instruments	Keyboards, guitar
Years active	1960s–present
Associated acts	Curved Air, Sky, 801, Al Stewart, Renaissance, The Shadows, Elton John.

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 the progressive rock band Curved Air.

Career

He was a pupil at Westminster School where he studied organ and harpsichord, later studying at the Royal College 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 played Minimoog and harpsichord on Elton John's second album Elton John in 1970; he also contributed to the Renaissance album Prologue (1972), worked with Al Stewart including contributing to the album Past, Present and Future (1973) 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 and composer John Williams he founded the classical/rock music fusion band called Sky with whom 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] 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 he also played guitar (referred to as' the old axe') on one of Sky's LP's.

Keyboards

1977-1978: (tour with The Shadows)

Piano

External links

References

↑ "Think Again clip". Retrieved 17 April 2012.
↑ "Private Parts - Meldrum Home Page (MHP)". Retrieved 5 June 2011.

v t e Curved Air

Sonja Kristina Linwood Florian Pilkington-Miksa Chris Harris Kit Morgan Robert Norton Paul Sax Darryl Way Francis Monkman Rob Martin Ian Eyre Mike Wedgwood Kirby Gregory Eddie Jobson Jim Russell Phil Kohn Stewart Copeland Mick Jacques Tony Reeves Alex Richman Andy Christie

Studio albums	Air Conditioning Second Album Phantasmagoria Air Cut Midnight Wire Airborne Lovechild

Live albums	Live Live At The BBC Alive, 1990

Hit single	"Back Street Luv"

v t e 801

Phil Manzanera Bill MacCormick Simon Ainley Paul Thompson Andy MacKay David Skinner Brian Eno Simon Phillips Francis Monkman Lloyd Watson

Studio albums	Listen Now

Live albums	801 Live 801 Manchester Live at Hull

Singles	"Flight 19"

Related Articles	Quiet Sun Roxy Music

Authority control	VIAF: 71603846 ISNI: 0000 0001 1474 6629 BNF: cb14207986s

Persondata
Name	Monkman, Francis
Alternative names
Short description	British musician
Date of birth	9 June 1949
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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