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ROBERT CALLENDER - LE MUSEE DE L’IMPRESSIONISME - CD

Robert Callender – Le Musée de l’Impressionisme. Brand new CD. Sealed.

1. Nadars (The Baptism Of Impressionism)
2. Senses and Soul
3. Interlude no. 1
4. Les Impressionistes
5. Bienvenue au Musée de l’Impressionisme
6. Interlude no. 2
7. Senses and Soul – Reprise
8. Claude Monet
9. Pierre Auguste Renoir
10. Edgar Dégas Prologue
11. Bienvenue à M. Dégas’ Classe de Danse
12. Morisot Motif
13. La Classe de Danse – Reprise
14. Morisot Motif - Reprise
15. Berthe Morisot
16. Vincent Van Gogh
17. Paul Gauguin (Tahitian Man)
18. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
19. Jean Frederick Bazille
20. Nadars (The Baptism Of Impressionism) – Reprise

All words and music by Robert Callender

Bobby Callender’s first two albums, Rainbow and The Way, need no introduction to fans of psychedelia - but until recently this gloriously eccentric early 70s psych-funk suite was known only to hardcore collectors. Originally released only in Holland, and making its CD debut here, it’s a beautifully arranged and played concept album that’s bound to delight fans of prog, psych and funk worldwide.

The enigmatic Bobby Callender made his first bid for pop stardom with 1963’s Little Star / Love And Kisses 45 (Roulette 4471), before working for legendary DJ Murray The K in New York, embracing the counter-culture and diving into Eastern psychedelia. Two singles appeared on Coral in 1967 (You Really Got A Hold On Me / I Can’t Get Over You and Sweet Song Of Life / Vicissitude, Or A Day At Jaffry’s), and hinted at the change of direction that became manifest when he signed to MGM and made his 1968 debut LP, Rainbow. Produced by notorious ‘Bosstown’ hype-merchant Alan Lorber, it’s an eccentric, meditative blend of pop and poetry that sold predictably poorly. Undeterred, Callender’s follow-up, The Way (First Book Of Experiences), was a sprawling blend of psychedelia, raga and jazz, which appeared on the tiny Mithra label in 1971. It also sank without trace - and that, as far as most people ever knew, was that for Bobby Callender.

But in the 1990s, rumours started to circulate in collecting circles that he had in fact made a third album, a psych-funk homage to the Impressionist movement that had appeared in Holland alone in the early 70s. Even by Callender’s unconventional standards, it sounded far-fetched – but then a handful of copies surfaced, and began to change hands for several hundred dollars each. The rumours were correct: he had indeed prepared a final release, and it turned out to be his most grandiose folly yet. Clearly the Impressionists had made a deep impression on him, as the album is a complicated suite based on their work, constructed with painstaking care and the help of a veritable army of session musicians and backing vocalists. The songs are devoted to individual painters, with the texture of the music and the lyrics carefully reflecting the life and style of each artist. It clearly cost a small fortune to make, and quite why it was only released in the Netherlands is a mystery that may never be solved, as Callender appears to have vanished without trace shortly afterwards. But the album stands as unique testament to his singular vision, and calls to mind the words he himself uses to describe Monet: ‘a visionary of time, space and the light, he died spiritually a success, leaving behind a legacy of heavenly bliss’.

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