Adrian Utley is an established guitarist thanks to his longstanding and impressive (yet still rather slim) catalogue of work with Bristol based band Portishead.
This month he brings together an orchestra of electric guitar players to interpret Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ on a new CD released by Invada.
Written in 1964,‘In C’ is one of the most influential pieces of music from the 20th Century, it established minimalism as a music genre. In C’s simple musical rules – 53 musical phrases in C and no duration – allow for infinite variations.
Utley’s impressive Guitar Orchestra is augmented by organs and a clarinet making for a mesmeric sound experience. The Guitar Orchestra consists of 24 musicians from Bristol: 19 guitarists including John Parish (PJ Harvey), Thought Forms, and Jim Barr (Portishead live band); 4 organs and a bass clarinet.