In the way that coincidence can be quite uncanny, even unsettling: just as I am starting to write about this Quintessence album, I happen to be listening to another, David Munyan and Mary's Band Meanwhile, Back in Japan, and the track that plays is Hare Krishna Christmas. None the wiser? Quintessence is a band often termed a 'Hare Krishna band' because of their use of chants and similar [Indian music/Hindu faith], so it was an apt if mildly mystical overlapping!
The above observation adds to the peripheral nature of this posting in as much as I'm not writing to review the album. On Friday I made what could possibly be my last visit to Snoopers Paradise in Brighton [here] where I love to occasionally visit in search of vinyl. Changing circumstances mean there won't be a need to travel to Brighton and thus, in reality, it seems unlikely I will be visiting again, certainly for some time. But on this probable final visit I did manage to find and buy a not particularly rare but nonetheless special vinyl copy of Quintessence's first album In Blissful Company, this one a 500 limited edition reissue.
As I haver written elsewhere, I first heard Quintessesnce on the Island sampler Nice Enough to Eat, and it was their debut album's stand-out 'Hare Krishna' track Gange Mai. This song showcased what for me would be the great and long-lasting attraction to their music, the beautiful rock vocal of Shiva Shankar Jones, and the gorgeous rock guitar of Allan Mostert. This attraction was bolstered by the band's prodigious performing on the free concert circuit and festivals that I managed to attend at that time.
I haven't yet written about their sophomore eponymous album as one of my Top Fifty, and I will rectify this soon. For now, this is a posting in tribute to the band and a secondhand vinyl stall that has always been a joy to visit and discover therein genuine gems.
Think I'd like Quintessence. Will trawl the internet to find some.
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