He moved to California briefly in the mid-1960s to study Indian classical music with Ali Akbar Khan, and returned to Manhattan where he composed the large-scale piece Requiem Mass for Chorus and Jazz Quartet.
This work was performed in New York with Sheila Jordan, Jack Six, Norman Marnell, Joe Cocuzzo, and the contemporary chorale with Carol Lian conducting.
The New York Times reviewed the concert and singled out Reilly's Liturgical Jazz (The Psalms, sung by Sheila Jordan) as being original, exciting and a true synthesis of the blues and classical music.
It is titled "The Light of The Soul", an oratorio with the Jersey City State Concert Choir conducted by George Hansler and soloists Sherry Kozinsky, Karen Sozio, Theresa Fico, Esther Bell, and Marc Bellson, and Dan Lincoln, reader.
The jazz musicians included Jimmy Giuffre (flute and tenor sax), Jack Six (bass), and Joe Cocuzzo (drums).