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Like many a sodbuster who braved life on the prairie, the members of Proto-Kaw are unsung heroes. They were pioneers of progressive rock in America and like the pioneers who came to the plains a century before them, they paved the way for those who came after. But pioneering is hard. Many do not make it, even giving it all they have; the elements are sometimes too much and there comes a time to pack it in. 30 years ago, Kansas was not a place where progressive rock thrived and try as they might, Proto-Kaw (then simply known as Kansas), was forced to give up their dream and turn to other ways of life. However, they paved the way for the band that immediately followed their footsteps. Kerry Livgren, the song smith for the band joined forces with another group, White Clover, who picked up the now unused moniker: Kansas. The new Kansas picked up where their predecessors left off and managed to hold on until they were discovered. They went on to define the American sound of progressive rock.

That could have been the end for the first Kansas and for many years that is how it appeared. However, that is not the end of the story, because in 2002 the early demo recordings had become popular bootlegs in Europe and were available for download on the internet. Cuneiform Records became interested and released them on CD, but the band needed a new name and thus began the resurrection of Proto-Kaw (Proto: first or earlier - Kaw: the Native American name for Kansas).

How many bands can say that they have back to back album releases recorded 30 years apart? Thirty years after the dream of success as a band died and had been laid to rest, the dream has now been resurrected with the band reuniting to record an all new album.

_Before Became After_ is a weaving of old and new. The band is comprised of original members, Lynn Meredith, vocals; Kerry Livgren, guitars, keys & compositions; Dan Wright, keyboards; John Bolton, sax & flute; Brad Schulz, drums; plus newcomer Craig Kew, bass, who worked with Livgren on an earlier solo release. The songs, too, are a blending of old and new. Livgren updated songs the band played 30 years ago and added new compositions into a seamless fabric of their new sound. Which is which? It's impossible to tell unless you were around when the band first began performing 30 years ago.

The new Proto-Kaw is fresh, but more mature. Gone are the blood curdling banshee wailings from Bolton's sax, but no less frenetic is some of his playing than his younger days, coupled with some very lyrical flute work.  Gone, too, are the occasional stretches of experimental cacophony. The new music is much more euphonious progressive rock tinged with jazz improvisation shifting in tone and color as quickly as the weather of the band's home state. It is a bit hard to describe the band's sound because it is so varied and constantly shifting, not just from song to song, but within songs themselves there can be elements of soaring beauty which segue into rocking jams. In fact, there is very much the feel of a jam band within a nearly classical framework in its complexity.

Before Became After is great ensemble playing and the compositions give rise to some fine solo work, an interplay between Wright's keyboards, Livgren's guitar or Bolton's woodwinds, all anchored by Kew & Schulz. Meredith uses his voice as an instrument, just as the different ranges of sound produced by his instrumentalist band mates, his voice reflecting and inflecting just the right sound to fit the song. Truly, Meredith sounds better today than he did 30 years ago, which can't be said of many vocalists.

There will likely be the temptation to compare Proto-Kaw to other bands, especially their well known successor, but this is unwarranted as Proto-Kaw is very much their own band, with a sound that is their own. What is familiar about their music lies at the heart of their music, which is the song writing of Kerry Livgren. As with any composer there will be elements that are recognizable from song to song, a phrasing or chord progression. As an author's use of language keeps readers coming back for more, so does Livgren's writing, both musically & lyrically. "The Occasion of Your Honest Dreaming," departs from the prog format in a joyful straight ahead light rock number with an infectious melody sung as a group vocal. 

My only criticism would be the ending of one of the most powerful songs on the CD, "Theophany," which builds in dynamic crescendo & tempo to the final chord, but then has an extra beat with just bass and drums, sounding more like a minor miscued cutoff than a well planned anti-climax. That aside, this is an outstanding album and all the more joyous when you consider how it came to be, how long it was in coming. 

There is a line in "Axolotl" which says: "Dreams don't mean a thing until they're real." Surely these dreams mean something now, because this is the real thing. Proto-Kaw's Before Became After is American progressive rock at its best.

Ken Westphal  2/10/2004