Library Album
Persian Surgery Dervishes
Terry Riley's 1972 double LP of two long electric-organ improvisations, drawing on his study of Hindustani classical music.
Released in 1972 on the French label Shanti, Persian Surgery Dervishes documents two extended solo electric organ improvisations by Terry Riley — “Performance One,” recorded in Los Angeles on April 18, 1971, and “Performance Two,” recorded in Paris on May 24, 1972, at a concert organized and recorded by Shandar at the Théâtre de la Musique. Each performance fills a full LP side pair, built from Riley’s tape-delay-inflected organ lines shaped by his ongoing study of Hindustani classical singing under Pandit Pran Nath. Patrick Gleeson engineered the recording.