R.I.P. JON HISEMAN 1944 - 2018

The second piece from Big O this morning came as a shock at the passing of Jon Hiseman at 73. An early drum hero, I saw Jon several times live way back at festivals around Britain and he and his various band incarnations turned me onto rock/jazz fusion and no mistake. A dear friend and fellow drummer my old school pal Malcolm Curtis, worshipped all that Hiseman achieved and turned me onto his work. Me more for the overall sound and songwriting but drummer par excellence he undoubtedly was. 
Rest easy now Jon 
He will be sorely missed . . . . . . . 

+ + + + + Big O Says from the NY Times:

Jon Hiseman, the British drummer, composer and progressive-rock innovator who led the bands Colosseum and Tempest and played in many other groups, died early Tuesday (June 12) in Sutton, England. He was 73. His son, Marcus, said the cause was complications of surgery that Hiseman underwent in May to remove a brain tumor. He had lived in Sutton, a suburb of London, before entering hospice care there. Hiseman was a nimble, hard-hitting player who tuned his drums melodically and kept an improvisational spirit through complex pieces. His music held elements of the classical music he grew up on, the modern jazz and free jazz he played early in his career, and the blues and rock that built his career in 1960s London.

Hiseman replaced Ginger Baker in the Graham Bond Organisation in 1966, and later joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, appearing on their 1968 album Bare Wires. That year he founded Colosseum, one of the first bands to blend blues, jazz and progressive-rock elements in an improvisational format. Through the years, the group featured other influential members, including Dave Greenslade, Chris Farlowe and Dick Heckstall-Smith. They released four albums in their first incarnation before splitting in 1971.

After his next band, Tempest, folded in 1974, Hiseman formed Colosseum II, featuring Gary Moore, Don Airey (later of Deep Purple) and Neil Murray (later in Whitesnake). Hiseman reformed Colosseum in 1994 and went on to work in production, while also becoming part of the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble. His latest project was JCM, featuring Mark Clarke and former colleague Clem Clempson, who released their debut album Heroes in April 2018.

The band canceled a planned UK tour that same month, and noted on its website that Hiseman “was taken ill during the course of the tour and was discovered to have a cancerous brain tumor. He will be undergoing life-saving brain surgery as soon as possible…”

Clempson wrote on Facebook, “Hard to believe that this could come to pass just a few weeks after we were playing together onstage with JCM. For all who worked with him he was a constant guiding light, inspirational and indefatigable, a true leader who will be greatly missed by his many colleagues and legions of fans. Thanks for everything Jon, RIP.”

Recalling his introduction to the full-time music business in 2014, Hiseman recalled how Bond had seen him perform in a London jazz club in 1966 and said, “if Ginger Baker ever leaves, he’s going to play drums.” Hiseman later told Bond, “I’m not a professional musician. I’ve no intention of becoming a professional musician… Graham was the ultimate rabbiter. He spent all of one night smoking enormous joints, which looked like bonfires, convincing me that this organization was the greatest organization… Three days later, Ginger just left.” - ultimateclassicrock.com/nytimes.com

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This is really worth a listen and check out the line up! Supergroup was coined for bands like this

If you do one thing today check this out . . . Chris Farlowe on vocals making what most think of as a Jack Bruce song his own, the drumming is always of note but also check out Dick Heckstall Smith's sax solo

Track 01. Rope Ladder To The Moon 10:29