BABS ROBERT & the Love Planet RARE PRIVATE JAZZ LP modal spiritual jazz LISTEN

$

1,102

BABS ROBERT & THE LOVE PLANET

Very rare small label jazz LP. Nothing on popsike - first time on eBay?!

Here are some notes & info taken from the Spiritual Jazz 3 album released last year on our Jazzman label:

Personnel: Babs Robert (as, ts, perc), John Van Rymenant (bs, flg, perc), Johnny Peret (vb, perc), Johnny Brouwers (p, perc), Paul Dubois (b, perc), Michel Gobbe (b, perc), Robert Pernet (dr, perc) 

It’s hardly a surprise to learn that Belgium isn’t considered a country of jazz. Compared to France, Germany and Scandinavia, its jazz output has been limited, and the few jazz musicians of note it has produced, such as Bobby Jaspar and Fats Sadi, have found their fortunes elsewhere.

In the opening liner notes to the LP “Babs Robert and the Love Planet”, the legendary Marc Moulin simply states: “Belgium is not, alas, the country of beauty.” He goes on to further deride the country of his birth, even making a disparaging comment about the weather. However, in so doing does Moulin make his point; that Babs Robert’s music is comparable to a moon shining brightly in a dull and dark sky.

In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the Belgian live circuit provided many opportunities for free-blowing jazz sessions, but the same could not be said about recording. With few studio sessions on which to play, serious jazz musicians such as Robert found it difficult to make a living, so when the chance to make an album came up, he seized it. In January 1970, he took his quartet to the large GST studios in Ghent, usually used for housing large orchestras when making classical recordings. To make use of the extra space, some additional musicians were called in, such as bass player Michel Gobbe and John Van Rymenant, the only musician in Belgium to own a Varitone sax.

Van Rymenant remembers, “Free jazz in Belgium was something that was played a lot live but rarely recorded, so to record an album as close to what was recorded live was quite something. People like Babs were only able to play free jazz by keeping ‘variété jobs’ as a main source of income. Babs was actually more of a musician from the ‘60s, who actually stopped around 1973. He was considered a ‘Blue Note Avant-garde’ musician, a term to describe his style and quality.”

The album they recorded, however, remains an obscurity, having been pressed in small quantities on a label more noted for its classical output. As such it received little or no publicity, and as one of the few Belgian jazz LPs of note, it’s now regarded as a highly sought-after collectors‘ item.

Take a listen to some snippets below:

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We use the following grading system:

Sealed : Factory sealed, as new condition and unopened since manufacture

NM : Very clean, shiny and like new

VG++ : Clean vinyl, few if any marks which will be light and not affecting play

VG+ : Marks on vinyl but no scratches that make any significant noise, plays well

VG : Marks and light scratches on vinyl, plays ok with some noise here and there but nothing detrimental to the overall sound