Classroom: the forgotten Belgian prog-rock group that established jazz fusion
Progressive rock is a divisive genre, renowned equally for both its inventiveness and its self-aggrandising complexity. The prog rock scene began to rise in popularity during the early 1970s, helped along by a plethora of groups like Genesis, Yes and Emerson Lake and Palmer. However, the roots of the genre stretch back much further and incorporate a much broader range of styles and influences. Even some prog rock aficionados are unaware of the groundbreaking Belgian outfit COS, but even fewer are aware of the band’s predecessor, which went by the name of Classroom.
Belgium is not often noted for its musical exports; the quality of the nation’s chocolate tends to overshadow all other products. Nevertheless, the European nation has produced a wealth of groundbreaking, innovative bands over the years. From the proto-electronica of Telex to the funk hip-hop of Baloji, Belgian artists have always been a little more inventive in comparison to the cultural landscape of their surrounding nations. Perhaps the most fiercely innovative group to ever arise from Belgium were Classroom.
Formed in 1967 by multi-instrumentalist Daniel Schell at the University of Brussels, Classroom were ruthlessly ahead of their time. In the spirit of the psychedelic age of the 1960s, the band predominantly played music that was adjacent to the Canterbury scene, but Schell succeeded in adding his own unique twist to the style. In fact, pinning Classroom down to one specific genre is needlessly reductive, as the band could equally be considered psychedelic, proto-punk and progressive.
Classroom were also incredibly influential in the development and popularisation of jazz-rock fusion, though they are often omitted from the history of the genre. Unlike many of their contemporary jazz fusion groups, like Steely Dan, Classroom never got too bogged down in the restrictions or boundaries of a certain genre. Instead, it seemed as though Schell was operating entirely by his own rule book, allowing others to attach labels to it after the fact.
Strangely, Classroom never actually released any material during their initial tenure. It was not until the group morphed into COS that the world at large became exposed to the inventive sounds of Daniel Schell and company. Nevertheless, a wealth of material recorded by the band during the late 1960s and early 1970s has recently been unearthed and issued for the first time by Finders Keepers Records. Listening to these releases, it is pretty awe-inspiring how ahead of their time Classroom truly was; the music still sounds fresh upwards of 50 years after it was first recorded.
The music of Classroom, in many ways, acted as a blueprint for later projects by Schell, with many of their tracks sounding like demo versions of early COS songs. However, Classroom were far from being merely a learning curve for the Belgian musician; their music was among the most inventive and important to arise from mainland Europe during the late 1960s. Without their innovative, psychedelic progressive rock stylings, the genres of jazz fusion and progressive rock in Belgium would be unrecognisably different.
Although COS might have overshadowed Schell’s earlier incarnation to an extent, but Classroom remain an endlessly interesting account of the Belgian underground music scene during the latter part of the 1960s. Mainland European music during this time is often ignored in favour of American counterculture rock, but it is groups like Classroom which show that the continent was more than capable of producing incredible artists in their own right.