High Treason

In 1967 the psychedelic jazz fusion outfit High Treason first took shape on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia. Keyboardist Edgar Koshatka, then a classical music student at the school, was drawn more deeply to jazz and to the fresh psychedelic and rock currents of the moment, especially the Jefferson Airplane that defined the era’s soundtrack. He began sitting in with an array of experimental musicians sharing those same wide-ranging tastes, and by mid-1968 had struck up a close musical rapport with vocalist Marcie Rauer and guitarist Saul Goodman. Koshatka’s compositions, already weaving jazz, classical, blues, rock and funk threads into personal patterns, supplied the group’s emerging identity once High Treason officially formed. They completed the central lineup by adding Joe Cleary, a veteran of successful Top 40 work, to trade vocals with Rauer and continued rotating through a series of drummers and bass players.

By late 1968 the band had become a full-time operation that included a manager, road crew and shared house. Steady regional bookings carried them across Pennsylvania and into New York, New Jersey and Delaware, generating interest from multiple record companies. In 1969 they signed with Abbot, a label previously known chiefly for spoken-word children’s recordings. The group spent much of the year in New York cutting its self-titled debut, which appeared in a jacket featuring the novelty of usable American Flag rolling papers. Although the album achieved neither major sales nor commercial traction—the label plainly lacked the means to promote them effectively—it stood out as a forward-looking progressive rock blend. High Treason remained a strong draw through the early 1970s, especially in New York, racking up repeated appearances at the Electric Factory, Café Au Go Go, the Electric Circus and the Fillmore East. The absence of a decisive breakthrough, together with ongoing difficulty locking in an ideal rhythm section, gradually wore the group down. Goodman grew increasingly absorbed by the Sri Chinmoy movement and devoted less time to shows and rehearsals; Koshatka returned to school to finish his remaining credits, and Rauer did the same.

Koshatka and Rauer eventually reassembled High Treason as a streamlined four-piece that also included bassist Terry Morrissey and drummer Richard Ormsbee. Active from 1971 to 1973, this final version dispensed with guitar altogether and steered toward funkier, more melodic and accessible material, maintaining a busy schedule of local Philadelphia dates. In spring 1973, however, a burglary that stripped the band of most of its equipment amid the post-Watergate climate brought their run to an end.