Abraxis - 1977 - Abraxis

Abraxis

1977

Abraxis

01. Clear Hours

02. Valse de la Mort: À Boire / Et à / Manger

03. Sweetank

04. Billy The Keith

05. Jéronimo

06. Bolle Winkel

07. Arhumba

Dirk Bogaert — flute

Paul Elias — guitar

Jean-Paul Musette — bass

Charles Loos — keyboards

Jack Mauer — drums

Tony Malisan — drums (2, 4, 5, 7)

Jazz Rock supergroup from Belgium, including members from the veteran league of Prog and Jazz Rock music.The founding members appear to be keyboardist Charles Loos, who had parted ways with Cos a few years back, flutist Dirk Bogaert and drummer Jack Mauer, who previously played with Waterloo and Pazop, bassist Jean-Paul Musette (ex-Waterloo) and guitarist Paul Elias.Sometime during the recording sessions Esperanto's drummer Tony Malisan had joined the band, but it is unknown if he was a sixth member or simply replaced Mauer, as both appear in the ''Abraxis'' LP, released in early 77' on IBC.Centerpiece of this work is the 20-min. grand Prog/Jazz opus ''Valse de la mort'', which features plenty of Classical, Jazz and Folk influences, passing from sharp guitar solos to piano isolations and from mellow flute themes to extreme jazzy interplays in the vein of Gilgamesh and Hatfield and the North.Lots of synth moves, electric piano and smooth interplays between acoustic guitar, electric guitar and some Camel-esque flute lines.A great jazzy suite with multiple musical colors and impressive instrumental ideas.The rest of the album follows more or less the same vein, it's very Canterbury-styled with a dash of Supersister during the beautiful guitar, keyboard and flute interactions, featuring tempo changes and intense guitar solos by Elias, the Classical influences are reduced to almost zero and the bass lines even flirt with funky vibes, but the music is still very entertaining and top-notch with some neurotic synths next to the piano lines and some confident drumming by the Mauer/Malisan duo.Some parts with acoustic piano in evidence retain the Classical and orchestral attitude of the long suite, but overall the music is along the lines of proggy Jazz Rock, avoiding the traps of improvisation for some well-executed and tight instrumental material.Abraxis were short-lived and Loos later became involved in Nuit câline à la villa mon rêve and Julverne.Mauer found the production studio Shiva and switched to Dance Music, while Bogaert found a place in the Cos line-up over the next years.Very good Belgian Jazz Rock with an omnipresent Canterbury feeling.

Abraxis has a direct lineage to Cos (in addition to other Belgian legends such as Placebo, Pazop, and Waterloo). Formed by members from the band Cos, this album is a cross between flute jazz, Canterbury inspired fusion, and 70s funk. Somewhere between Chris Hinze, Cos, Cortex, and Herbie Hancock is where you'll find the sound of Abraxis. Flute drives the melody and solo lines, but there's plenty of introspective piano sections as well. Which play nicely against some of the ferocious electric guitar. A nice discovery on the always surprising IBC label.

Waterloo - 1970 - First Battle

Waterloo

1970

First Battle

01. Meet Again - 3:02

02. Why May I Not Know - 3:06

03. Tumblin' Jack - 2:34

04. Black Born Children - 3:42

05. Life - 2:45

06. Problems - 2:58

07. Why Don't You Follow Me? - 3:30

08. Guy In The Neighbourhood - 2:54

09. Lonesome Road - 2:48

10. Diary Of An Old Man - 10:58

Bonuses:

11. Plastic Mind - 4:25

12. Smile - 3:50

13. I Can't Live With Nobody But You - 3:41

14. The Youngest Day - 7:33

15. Bobo's Dream - 4:58

16. Bad Time - 3:19

Personnel:

On tracks 1 to 12:

- Dirk Bogaert - lead vocals, flute

- Gus Roan - guitar

- Marc Malyster - organ

- Jacky Mauer - drums

- Jean-Paul Janssens - bass

On tracks 13 to 16:

- Dirk Bogaert - lead vocals, flute

- Gus Roan - guitar

- Frank Wuyts - organ

- Jacky Mauer - drums

- Jean-Paul Musette - bass

- John Van Rymenant - saxophone

One of the rarest (and most expensive) vinyl albums of Belgium, First Battle is also Waterloo's only battle, but they won it brilliantly. This quintet was made from the remains of two established groups, Adam's Recital and Today's Version (the former even managing a spot in the Windsor Festival) and soon enough Waterloo was born in October 69. After a few months composing and touring, their album was recorded in Soho during the Christmas break and released early the next year with a Napoleon-ian artwork on the French label Vogue, where the group would tour extensively along with Belgium.

Sonically Waterloo is a mix of short (under 4-mins) psych rock and jazzy proto-prog tracks (except for the 11-mins finale), often reminiscent of jazzier early Tull albums (especially This Was). Opening on the single Meet Again (which through an amazing succession of feats got some major French airplay under the Waterloo moniker from an unknown group), but it is hardly the album's best piece with its 60's aura, even if you can hear Malyster's Emerson influence on organ. Much stronger are the superb Why May I Not Know with some heavy Anderson-ian flute, which coupled with Malyster's organ could lead to think of Aqualung tracks and the frantic Black-Born Children with its constant breaks. Further down the album (past the bluesy Problems), the dramatic Wrong Neighbourhood and the hard- rocking Heep-ian Lonesome Road are also much worthy of the proghead's attention. Of course the alnum's cornerstone is the lengthy Diary Of An Old Man, which an awesome progressive jazzy blues rock track with plenty of excellent solos and interplay between all concerned, but particularly Roan's guitar, but Bogaert's flute has its Tull-ian say as well.

Some bonus tracks are tagged on the original album, and they consist of the non-album singles that were following or preceding the First Battle release, but most feature a changed line-up as Malyster and Janssens leaving and being replaced by Wuyts (ex- Wallace Collection) and Musette respectively, and the addition of saxman and bookstore owner Van Rymenant, thus creating a slight jazzier shift in the group's sound. If Plastic Man and Smile are very 60's bubblegum, Nobody But You gives a slight brassy ELP feel, at least in its first part, before very Colosseum-like. Clearly the major gift in these bonus tracks is the 7-mins+ Youngest Day, an outstanding prog track that shows that the group was sliding towards their future Pazop-style of fusion. The Heep-ian Bobo's Dream (reminiscent of Gypsy and Hensley in some ways) and Bad Time show that the band was ready to move further into uncharted territories.

Long available on the great Musea label (and maybe long OOP), Waterloo's only album now receives a Guerssen label release with the same bonus tracks as before and the same group's history texts, courtesy of Musea's Francis Grosse. Singer Bogaert, drummer Mauser and keyboardist Wuyts would surface two years later in Pazop and record another superb album (but apparently never-released), this one still available on the Musea label. Much worth it, if you're into late-60's & early-70's proto-prog.