The Quintessence

Quintessence Was Among The First True Progressive Rock Outfits Signed By Island Records. Led By Australian-Born Shiva Shankar Jones Keyboards Vocals And Raja Ram Flute Violin Percussion The Group Also Included Alan Mostert Lead Guitar Sambhu Babaji Bass Maha Dev Guitar And Jake Milton Drums All Of Whom In Addition To A Common Interest In Indian Music Also Shared The Hindu Faith. The Group's Roots Lay In The Hippie Community In The Notting Hill Area Which Was To London Roughly What Haight-Ashbury Was To San Francisco. Their Breakthrough Performance Took Place At A Festival Called Implosion Where They Put On A Good Enough Show To Get Noticed By Island Records Which Signed Them And Got Their Debut LP An Elaborately Packaged Concept Album Entitled In Blissful Company Out Before The End Of The Year. Its Mix Of Rock Jazz And Indian Elements Was Popular Enough At The Time With Their Core Audience Especially One Track Entitled "Notting Hill Gate " A Tribute To The Hippie Community Which Found A Slightly Wider Audience The Band Subsequently Recut The Song In A More Pop-Oriented Rendition As A Single. The Group Had A Strong Reputation From Their Live Work And Their Early Recordings Seemed To Build From This Base. Quintessence's Career Reached Its Commercial Peak With Their Self-Titled Second Album Which Got To Number 22 On The U.K. Charts. They Did One More Album For Island And Then Jumped To RCA's New British Progressive Rock Neon Imprint For Two LPs In The Early '70s. Jones Departed Soon After The Release Of The Group's Second Album For The New Label And They Split Up Not Long After That. In 1973 Jones Became Part Of The Big-Band Progressive Outfit Kala Which Recorded One Album For The Bradley's Label And In Subsequent Decades He Restarted His Own Version Of Quintessence. There Are More Tracks By Quintessence At Http //www.Last.Fm/music/Quintessence read less