Colosseum

One of the most iconic of the British bands of the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s, Colosseum were a blend of the power of the Blues and the inventiveness and subtlety of Jazz. They included members of almost all the great bands of the time – from Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated to Graham Bond’s outfits and added the mighty Chris Farlowe on vocals. After self-destructing over differences in direction in the mid-‘70’s they became legendary and finally re-surfaced as a unit in the early ‘aughties’. This set captures them on a great night in Stuttgart in 2005 and why it has taken so long to get a ‘proper’ release is beyond me – the album, from 1st moments to the last, is simply magnificent and a huge reminder of just how good British Jazz/Rock could be.

The band here are almost all original Colosseum-ites – Chris Farlowe, Clem Clempson on guitar, Dave Greenslade on keyboards and Jon Hiseman on percussion with bass from Mark Clarke and, replacing the sadly demised Dick Heckstall-Smith, Barbara Thompson on horns and flutes and while they may be more portly and grizzled than they were in their prime musically they have chops that most modern musicians can’t even dream of. There is no feeling either that the music has stood still or been preserved in aspic – this is music of real power and majesty and as relevant to day as it ever was.

The two CD’s here were actually recorded in a number of German halls in 2005 but the editing is seamless and the music flows brilliantly.
The first Cd features a stunning version of ‘Theme For An Imaginary Western’ as well as Jack Bruce’s ‘Rope Ladder To The Moon’ with an terrific organ solo courtesy of Dave Greenslade and their magnum opus ‘Valentyne’s Suite’ featuring contributions by all the band – Barbara Thompson’s playing is especially fine on ‘February’s Valentyne’.

The second disc kicks off with a belting version of ‘Those About To Die’ before getting all bluesy on our asses with the classic ‘Stormy Monday Blues’ which gives Chris Farlowe a chance to show just why so many people rate him as one of the greatest British vocalists of all time. The drum solo introduction to ‘Los Angeles’ will surprise a lot of people as he keeps it to less than 3 minutes before the band launch into ‘Los Angeles’.

This is proper grown-up music for people who want to hear skill and talent as well as riding the hurricane of a huge band and there are moments that are completely exhilarating. Not one for callow youth but us old-un’s need our pleasures too.