Published on Jan 29, 2004
Long before “Dust In The Wind” blew across the musical horizon,
there was a different Kansas. That Kansas was for all purposes, a
completely different band except for the founder, Kerry Livgren.
The earlier version of Kansas formed in 1971 and disbanded in 1973.
They also left a recorded legacy which was never released until
recently. The Kansas you know carried only a passing similarity to
its predecessor. The famous version played arenas and went
multi-platinum. The other played crappy bars for free beer, and
played unbridled, experimental progressive rock.
Recently, the old tapes that early version Kansas recorded were
remastered and released under the name Proto-Kaw. The results are a
fascinating look at the early work of a composer whose later songs
would become fixtures of classic rock radio. Often, these sort of
releases are more of the vanity kind, and cater to the sycophantic
diehard fans who can’t live without every b-side and studio fart.
This is definitely not the case, as this disc easily stands on its
own as a cohesive collection of original music.
In stark contract to the more mainstream work of Kansas, these
recordings delve into long-form prog-rock fantasies, free-form
jazz/fusion, psychedelia and epic visions that should make any fan
of early ELP, Genesis or King Crimson prick up their ears. The
amazing thing about this, is that very few people had ever heard
these recordings, and that they went unreleased and virtually
unknown for over 30 years. Amazing to me, because of the quality of
the music. I was expecting some able players backing up Livgrens’
well-known talents, but that was not the case. Musically, these
guys are more than able to crank out some stellar progressive jams.
I was amazed at the quality of the musicianship. Every man stands
on his own here and supports the cohesiveness of the band. Singer
Lynne Meredith has an excellent range, transitioning from a soft
croon to menacing growl. Liberal use of woodwinds greatly enhances
the ensemble sound, and sets this apart from a lot of other music
of the genre, and of the time. John Bolton plays sax in an
aggressive, some might say brutal style. His powerful chops propel
the driving “Nactolos 21,” and the live track “Skont,” (my favorite
track) which also features a killer Hammond organ solo by Dan
Wright, that sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
True to the genre of early progressive rock, the track titles
are full of fantastic imagery in themselves. “Reunion In The
Mountains of Sarne,” “Nactolos 21,” “Totus Nemesis ” and “Greek
Structure Sunbeam” are some examples. The songs stay mostly within
expected progressive realms, but often venture into instrumental
experimentation. Often compelling, often collapsing into atonal
chaos, the juxtaposition of highly structured sections and totally
unstructured instrumental jams ultimately add a perfect touch to
music that was meant to be extremely experimental and fresh. This
is an amazingly strong album, very typical of the prog-rock
sensibilities of the early 70s. The influence of ELP and King
Crimson will be apparent. What will be less apparent, unless you
dabble in some of the more obscure progressive rock from that era,
is the even stronger influence of some lesser known bands of the
time. Specifically, Touch, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator
and Soft Machine.
Two songs here would eventually appear on the first two Kansas
albums, “Belexes” and “Imcommudro.” They appear here in a similar
form as their eventual Kansas recordings, but with a more rough and
experimental feel. Listening to both gives an interesting view into
how those two songs evolved. The remainder of the album flows along
similar lines. The highlight for me is the two live tracks that
close the disc.
Recently, I was privileged to hear Proto-Kaw play live in Kansas
City. All the original members save keyboardist Don Montre, who has
passed away, were on hand to celebrate the release of a new CD
featuring all new Proto-Kaw material. After 30 plus years, these
guys haven’t lost one bit of the shine that graces this disc. I got
to hear three of the new tracks, and they sounded simply amazing.
Hopefully I will be able to review that release as well. In the
meantime, this CD would be a welcome addition to any collection,
alongside the early progressive giants.