IN C

After composing and then practicing and performing this piece for three or four years--sometimes in the context of all- night concerts--Terry finally gets to render this unto vinyl. Columbia (CBS) Records orchestrated this recording in Buffalo, New York at the Center for Creative and Performing Arts at State University of New York, Buffalo with a significant number of overdubs occurring in the editing and mixing processes. While Columbia Records' release date of this album has been a real challenge to track down (it continues to elude me), we know it was recorded in March. We can only assume it had a 1968 release. (Columbia Records could be equally fast or notoriously slow in releasing their recorded pieces.) I can find absolutely no information on how well this album sold, but we know it fell upon the ears of members of The Soft Machine and The Who for their "Out-bloody- rageous" and "Baba O'Riley" songs, respectively. Like the famous influence of Velvet Underground's debut album, I have a feeling that this is one of those albums that few people heard but those who did were strongly affected and/or influenced.

1. "In C, Part 1" (23:50) 2. "In C, Part 2" (19:10)

Total time 43:00

While many find Miminalist music dull or boring, I LOVE it! It reminds me so much of Bali's Gamelan music, which I ADORE! I find the hypnotic mathematical forms and patters mesmerizing, relaxing, and often tremendously engaging and interesting--especially the way the tracks of polyrhythmic instruments blend and flow, alternate between conflict and then falling conciliatorily into the weave, how new instruments can be surreptitiously snuck into the weave while others mysteriously go missing, over and over. Fascinating! In C definitely registers as not only a landmark album in the history of music but a masterpiece in a new genre that would go on to inspire so many prog artists including the Berlin School, Brian Eno, all members of the 1981 incarnation of King Crimson, modern loopers and electronica, Post Rock, and Tech/Extreme Metal artists.