Colosseum

Colosseum, for me, were the real class of the pack of British Progressive/Rock bands of the late sixties and early seventies. With artists such as Clem Clempson, Jon Hiseman, Dave Greenslade, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Mark Clarke and Chris Farlowe on board, they combined jazz and Blues origins, bringing together the two warring camps in a band that really did make music that was way ahead of the rest.

They broke up, originally, in 1971, when the band could not agree on the inclusion of ‘The Pirates Dream’ – a massive jazz piece that eventually surfaced on Dick Heckstall-Smith’s solo album ‘A Story Ended’ – on the next Colosseum album. They reformed in 1994 and toured with various combinations of members, recorded new material and were active up until Jon Hiseman’s death from a brain tumour in 2018. They reformed again in 2019 and this version of Colosseum has been active since then, consisting of Clem Clempson, Mark Clarke and Chris Farlowe from the original/Mark 2 line up, Malcolm Mortimore (ex-Gentle Giant, Arthur Brown, Ian Dury & Chris Spedding) on drums, Kim Nishikawara on sax and Nick Steed on keyboards.

So, that’s the history behind this release but, what is it like?
Tbh, I wish that they had gone out under a different band name because, while there are similarities to Colosseum, his just ain’t Colosseum. It’s a good album and, if you are a jazz/rock fusion fan, it really needs to be listened to. But it doesn’t have the delicacy of Jon Hiseman’s drums or the inventiveness of Dick Heckstall-Smith’s sax playing while Dave Greenslade plays keyboards with an ethereal touch that is missing here.

Mortimore is an excellent drummer (I love his work with Gentle Giant and Chris Spedding) but he is a rock drummer while Hiseman started in Blues and learned jazz from his wife (who replaced Heckstall-Smith when he died) Barbara Thompson. Kim Nishikawara plays some wonderful fills but Hecksttall-Smith was famous for his multiple playing and that is missing here.

The writing is more rock orientated than before and it is more reliant on Clempson’s guitar than previous iterations of Colosseum. On the other hand, it still has Chris Farlowe on vocals and I adore his full throated bellowing.

So, put away the Colosseum thing and listen to it as a superb rock album with jazz influences.