Colosseum

Jazz and rock fusion band Colosseum formed in England in 1968. The original group was founded by drummer John Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor sax). They were soon joined by keyboardist Dave Greenslade, bassist Tony Reeves, and guitarists James Litherland (who also handled lead vocals) and Jim Roche (who would leave shortly after they went into the studio to record their debut album. Colosseum released their debut album, Those Who Are About to Die Salute You, was released in 1969 on Fontana Records. The album climbed to number 15 on the UK Albums chart and is now considered a pioneer release in the world of jazz fusion. Moving over to Vertigo Records, Colosseum’s second full-length release, Valentyne Suite, was also released in 1969 and was the first album to be issued by Vertigo. The album reached number 15 on the UK Albums chart and number 18 in Australia. In late 1969, James Litherland left Colosseum, and the group added Dave ‘Clem’ Clempson to the line-up. Their next release was the US-only 1970 album The Grass Is Greener, which featured four new songs, three re-recorded songs from Valentyne Suite with Clempson on vocals, and one Valentyne Suite track that still featured Litherland’s lead vocal. More line-up changes saw the departure of bassist Reeves and the addition of Mark Clarke (bass) and vocalist Chris Farlowe. This new version of the band issued the album Daughter of Time in 1970. They followed it up a year later with the commercially and critically successful album Colosseum Live, which hit number 17 on the UK Albums chart. However, the group split up after its release and the members pursued other musical interests. Twenty three years after splitting, the final line-up -Hiseman / Heckstall-Smith / Greenslade / Clempson / Clarke / Farlowe - reunited and released the album LiveS – The Reunion Concerts in 1994. They then released the studio album Bread & Circuses in 1997, which was followed by Tomorrow’s Blues in 2003. Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith died on December 17, 2004, and the band chose to continue with Jon Hiseman’s wife Barbara Thompson replacing Heckstall-Smith. The group released the album Time on Our Side (2014) and continued to perform until 2015, when they performed their final show. Jon Hiseman died on June 12, 2018. In 2020, Clempson, Clarke, and Chris Farlow revived the Colosseum name and began to tour with new members. In 2022, they released the studio album Restoration and continued to play live shows.

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