Rob Thomsett Group - Hara. 1976 Australia

Rob Thomsett is, by most measures, an ordinary citizen. He was in the military and had a successful career working for the Australian federal government. And he also happens to be quite the talented guitarist - with an enormous imagination and creativity rarely seen even among the more avant garde oriented populace. He'd played in a couple of progressive oriented bands prior (Astral Plane and Oak), neither of which lasted long and there's no recorded history. Living in the relatively isolated government town of Canberra, there was no "scene" to which to attach to, or clubs to express one's new artistic vision. So Thomsett looked inward toward the Aboriginal legends and myths. With that, he created one of those 6th Dimension type recordings we talk about often here - for more on that release see here.

Hara is the followup album, and demonstrates Thomsett moving toward a more professional type sound. Ostensibly a jazz fusion album, it still hasn't lost the magic touch that Yaraandoo had, and tracks like 'It Might Have Been - it Will Be!" and the title song would have fit perfectly on its predecessor. In other places an acoustic otherworldly vibe is brought forth. On its own accord, Hara is excellent, though it will always pale in comparison to Thomsett's master work. Well worth pursuing, especially since you can own the whole album along with the aforementioned Yaraandoo (see below).

Personal collection
CD: 2017 Now-Again (w/Yaraandoo)

Was released on LP+CD, or just the CD by itself (which is what I own - since I already had the LP reissue on Roundtable of Yaraandoo). According to the liner notes of the CD, Hara was released in 1976.