Baba Scholae - 69 (Reissue) (1969/2012)

Baba Scholae was founded in 1967 by Parisian music students. The driving force behind the group was the multi-instrumental keyboardist Jean-Yves Labat de Rossi, perhaps better known as M. Frog Labat. In the mid-1970s, under this name, he used the keys of Death Rundgren's Utopia (see "Utopia").

The first cast of Baba Scholae fell apart soon. Nevertheless, Labat and guitarist Jules Vigh sought a donor for an LP recording. It was found in London and they then put together a new, now British-French occupation of the group. This second incarnation of Baba Scholae recorded material for an album in 1969, but soon disbanded due to musical differences. The recorded LP was not released. A little later - he had received his call-up order - Labat relocated to the US, where he was to live for the next 20 years.

The master tapes of the Baba Scholae album had kept Labat well and also used as a demo. Apparently it was these recordings that drew the makers of Bearsville Records (Rundgren's record label) to the Frenchman. Nevertheless, they were never released. It was not until 2012 that Labat, now living in France for a long time, released the material on his own label Ad Vitam Records. According to the recording year, the album got the title "69".

A very colorful, perfectly produced and varied instrumented Protoprog can be found on "69", which sometimes comes out jazzy, sometimes a bit harder bluesy-rocky, sometimes folky-psychedelic and sometimes complex-progressive, almost experimental out of the speakers (listen to the concluding , rather oblique "L'œil du maître" The quite pleasant, restrained vocals Woody Woodbines (a pseudonym?), guitars, keys and the rhythm department determine the sound, but also sax and all sorts of flutes (also recorders), occasionally come in Mellotron and even rarer medieval double reed instruments (Bombarden).

By this means, the six British and French produce an elegant and loose skirt, which sometimes, especially in the long "1984 - Melancolia Street" reminiscent of the more lyrical parts of the debut in the same year of King Crimson. However, Baba Scholae were a bit looser and also jazzy going on than the later much more famous colleagues. This "longtrack" is of course the highlight of the album, but the following shorter numbers are consistently of high quality. In particular, the original use of the various wind instruments already mentioned above can always sit up and take notice.

If "69" had been published in the year of creation (presumably with a different title), we would now safely ship the disc together with the first discs of e.g. Traffic, Family, Caravan, Soft Machine, Audience or Renaissance know as one of the first and best Protoprogalben. The CD Reissue comes in a nice digipack, includes a booklet with interview and band history and has a really first-class sound. Protoprog lovers should access!