Ouba came together as the collective conciousness of Montreal musicians Tony Roman, Michael Pagliaro, Denis LePage and Andy Shorter in 1968.
Recorded at Montreal’s Stereo Sound Studio the recording is nothing more than an acid drenched self-indulgent jam that wasnt originally destined to be released as an album. Divided into two parts over both sides of the album (hence the imaginative song titles, “Premiere Partie” and “Deuxieme Partie”) it consists of just one extended freeform freakout jam with driving organ parts, wild guitar passages and sections of incoherent wasted vocals.
For 1968, the music was very experimental with progressive leanings and a jazzy atmosphere that was entirely set for the underground music market of the day. The original album was privately pressed on the A1 label, with no more than a handful of copies for release.
All of the musicians from this session went on to make their mark in the music business with Michael Pagliaro becoming the most famous with a string of hit records since the 70’s while Tony Roman made his name as a film composer, musician and writer. Denis Lepage has had numerous recordings released since the 70’s under a variety of names and is a noted session performer, Andy Shorter is still in Montreal and is a resident musician at a local jazz club.
This release of the legendary “Ouba” album by Gear Fab Records features liner notes by Tony Roman and a re-mastered sound that has been cleaned up to be a vast improvement over the original vinyl pressings. Although this album clocks in at less than 30 minutes it is another rare Canadian musical adventure resurrected for all to experience.