Lotsa people have been trying to get hold of a copy of this very unique Belgian LP. To the best of my knowledge, only one track had ever been posted in the blogsphere ("Extra Pol-Action"). Well, here is the whole album, eventually.
I've owned a copy since it was released in 1970. A friend of mine was talking drums lessons with Johnny Peret and introduced me to the album. It was released on a small label based in Jette (one of 19 communes making up the Brussels Region) which specialised in Renaissance / Early Baroque Music. Their only foray into jazz was The Cotton City Jazzband, a popular Dixieland outfit.
Babs Robert Quartet was something completely different and remained the only Alpha release in the field of avant-garde jazz.
The musicians:
The original quartet was made of Babs Robert (sax), Johnny Brouwers (piano), Paul Dubois (bass) and Johnny Peret or Robert Pernet (drums). For this session the original quartet was expanded into a septet as Johnny Peret took the vibes (and percussions) chair while John Van Rjimenant (saxes) and Michel Gobbe (bass) were added. In addition to their main instrument(s), they all played a whole range of exotic, mostly percussions, instruments.
The sleeve notes were by Jo Dekmine, director of the famous Theatre 140 in Brussels, and by Marc Moulin.
Trivia: did you know that it was Robert Pernet who designed the "Ball of Eyes" on the cover of Placebo's first album (titled "Ball of Eyes") ?
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| Top: Robert and Johnny - Middle: band - Bottom: Robert |
Link in comments.
With thanks to JC!
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ReplyDeleteBelgian Beauty! thanks for this ultra rare & ear-scratching music [:-) Never mind the proof it's been played a lot, I'm glad I got a chance to hear it too! Complete & utterly out-there, thanks for sharing Boogieman.
ReplyDeletepeace, E-mile
if all rare things were also so beautiful we all would be hunters, many thanks
ReplyDeleteAlready have this one from a friend, and it's really great. I use your post as an opportunity to give it a re-listen. Cheers!
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ReplyDeleteHi Reza, welcome. Glad you came and had a look around. Yours was one of the blogs that inspired me to start my own. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteBoogieman
Hi Reza,
ReplyDeletesince you.ve gone private, any hope to join?
Cheers
Boogieman
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletethank you so much never thought i would see this in blogland. I'm very pleased to have found your blog. Great one
ReplyDeleteThanks Boogieman, very nice share and great blog too!
ReplyDeleteHiya , thanks for the comment , hey check the price !
ReplyDeletehttp://www.swejazz.com/shop/product/babs-robert
Wow! A few like that and my retirement is financed!
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ReplyDeleteRipped in 320 K from the original LP. The
ReplyDeleteMy album is 40 years old and had been played quite a bit (it's an old favorite!), so it's not mint. Expect some surface noise. Sorry but I did not have the time to clean and make it sound mint. I'll do that in a few years when I'll retire and have a lot of free time. In the meantime, enjoy this rip because the music is quite unique.
http://www.mediafire.com/?b53nlyhuob57b9d
Watch it go thru the roof !!!
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/a4nzqsu
Unbelievable! I shoulda bought the whole stock when they could be bought for less than 100 Belgian Franc!
DeleteI just feel sad that my friends Johnny and Robert left us too early to witness this sudden and unexpected notoriety.
RE UP: http://www64.zippyshare.com/v/44309475/file.html
ReplyDeleteRe-up March 2014 - improved rip (thanks to onxidlib for cleaning and declicking)
ReplyDeletehttp://www5.zippyshare.com/v/10243623/file.html
http://www21.zippyshare.com/v/40146334/file.html