LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Don Robertson in 1969, when this album was released on Limelight (a subsidiary of Mercury) was the obscure and uncontested master of "eastern psychedelia". Robertson began his musical life as a classically trained pianist, but his infatuation with the music of Elvis Presley soon led him to try his hand at something less formal; the result of which was his first band the Contrasts, with whom he played until 1965. In the mid-sixties, like many of his peers, Robertson began experimenting with non-western music, which led him to record the extraordinary Dawnin 1969. Here, in addition to piano, Robertson plays guitar, harp and various traditional instruments, such as the tablas and the jaltarang. The result is a surprising and engaging mix of eastern-influenced jazz, psych rock, and classical music. Gatefold sleeve with biography and archival photos provided by Don Robertson himself.