British progressive-rock drummer and composer Jon Hiseman has died at the age of 73 from complications of surgery that he underwent in May to remove a brain tumor.
Hiseman is best known for his drum solos and as leader of respected UK pioneering prog-rock bands Colosseum and Tempest. Colosseum only played and recorded for three years initially, from 1968 to 1971 but made a big impact, particularly on other musicians. They reunited in the 1990s and continued to perform and record for two more decades.
In 1966 Hiseman, replaced Ginger Baker in the Graham Bond Organisation and followed this with stints with Georgie Fame and John Mayall. From 1969 to 1978 he led three pioneering Jazz-Rock groups – Colosseum, Tempest and Colosseum II. In March 1969 Colosseum were invited to take part in Supershow, a two-day filmed jam session, along with Modern Jazz Quartet, Led Zeppelin, Jack Bruce, Roland Kirk Quartet, Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills, and Juicy Lucy. The film had a limited run in Australia upon release.
Hiseman was in demand as a session drummer and in 1977 met Andrew Lloyd Webber, a composer in search of a small orchestra. Colosseum II, featuring Gary Moore, became the nucleus for the No 1 hit ‘Variations’ album. Working alongside his wife Barbara Thompson and Rod Argent on this project led to the Rod Argent / Barbara Thompson album ‘Ghosts’ released by MCA in 1982 and ‘ShadowShow’ in 1984. Jon’s association with Andrew Lloyd Webber continued with ‘Cats’ and ‘Tell me on a Sunday,’ ‘Starlight Express’ and ‘Requiem’.
Colosseum gave its last concert on the 28th February 2015 at the O2 Sheperds Bush, London and since then Jon had concentrated on bringing his studio up date and working on his and Barbara’s extensive archive of tapes, cassettes and videos which he was dragging, screaming into the digital age.
Following the passing of musician friends, Larry Coryell and Allan Holdsworth in the first few months of 2017, Jon conceived the idea of a tribute album to all the great players he had had the privilege of working with and who had greatly influenced his music. JCM (Jon Hiseman, Clem Clempson & Mark Clarke) pay tribute to Graham Bond, Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ollie Halsall, John Mole, Larry Coryell and Allan Holdsworth with their latest album ‘Heroes” which was released earlier this year.
Jon is survived by saxophonist & composer, Barbara Thompson and two children, Marcus & Anna
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