Maybe the best album ever from this seminal British jazz rock combo – a record that really has the group stretching out in the expanded space of a concert setting! Colosseum were already one of the best groups to mix jazzy currents and heavy rock modes – but they really set a fire with this brilliant live album – which really gave the group plenty of room to show off their instrumental chops! Immediate Records star Chris Farlowe is on vocals – but the real charm of their sound comes from the tenor and soprano sax work of Dick Heckstall Smith, the Hammond and vibes of Dave Greenslade, and the heavy drums of Jon Hiseman – who really keeps things in the pockage, and provided more than a few funky passages on the album. Titles include "Lost Angeles", "Rope Ladder to The Moon", "Walking In The Park", and a version of Michael Gibbs' "Tanglewood 63". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the best album ever from this seminal British jazz rock combo – a record that really has the group stretching out in the expanded space of a concert setting! Colosseum were already one of the best groups to mix jazzy currents and heavy rock modes – but they really set a fire with this brilliant live album – which really gave the group plenty of room to show off their instrumental chops! Immediate Records star Chris Farlowe is on vocals – but the real charm of their sound comes from the tenor and soprano sax work of Dick Heckstall Smith, the Hammond and vibes of Dave Greenslade, and the heavy drums of Jon Hiseman – who really keeps things in the pockage, and provided more than a few funky passages on the album. Titles include "Lost Angeles", "Rope Ladder to The Moon", "Walking In The Park", and a version of Michael Gibbs' "Tanglewood 63". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark batch of work from the British jazz scene – the complete early run of recordings from Colosseum, maybe the greatest jazz-rock group of their time! The combo grew out of earlier work in the beat group generation – informed strongly by American jazz and R&B, but already on the forefront of the new prog generation – driven by the mighty drums of Jon Hiseman and topped with the sax and reed work of Dick Heckstall-Smith – both fantastic players who really gave the group their grounding! The lineup shifts a bit throughout this set, and maybe gets even better as the records go on – with later work from Chris Farlowe on vocals, whose soulful style is a perfect match to the groove-heavy sound of the group. Back in the days when we didn't like prog at all, and were more focused on jazz and funk, we still had a very soft spot for Colosseum – and it's no surprise that some of these records are always found in the collections of funk fanatics around the world. The 6CD set features the full albums Those About To Die Salute You, Valentyne Suite, Grass Is Greener, Daughter Of Time, and Colosseum Live – almost all of which are presented here with bonus tracks – alongside a full bonus CD of rare studio and live recordings too! There's also a huge booklet of notes – and this package is the comprehensive take on this legendary group. CD

Killer work from this jazzy UK combo! Although Colosseum are probably best known as a hard rocking progressive band, they certainly had plenty of jazz touches – and this album spawned the great groover "Elegy", which has become something of a jazzy dancefloor classic over the years! Overall, the record's got some very tight drumming, plenty of hard-wailing organ work, and a basic groove that takes off where the beat groups of the 60s left off – pushing into more expansive, more progressive jazz territory. Chris Farlowe's vocals can be good or bad, depending on the moment – but on the funkier cuts, like "Elegy", "Ropeladder To The Moon", and "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice", they have a sort of madness that makes sense, and which really sounds great. Other tracks include "The Grass Is Greener", "Lost Angeles", "Jumping Off The Sun", and "Butty's Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Colosseum – a record that really stands out as one of those completely unique hybrids from the British jazz rock years! Although Colosseum are probably best known as a progressive band, they certainly had plenty of jazz touches – and this album spawned the great groover "Elegy", which has become something of a jazzy dancefloor classic over the years. Overall, the record's got some very tight drumming, plenty of wailing organ work, and a basic groove that takes off where the beat groups of the 60s left off. Chris Farlowe's vocals can be good or bad, depending on the moment – but on the funkier cuts, like "Elegy" and "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice", they have a sort of madness that makes sense! The album also includes the freer jazzy "Valentyne Suite", which is pretty nice. CD

A burning set from the second Colosseum group – with Gary Moore on guitars and vocals, Jon Hiseman on drums, John Mole on bass, and Don Airey on lots of keyboards – including Fender Rhodes, Arp, mini moog, and clavinet! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the greatest moment ever from Caravan – one of the greatest groups to emerge from the jazzy Canterbury scene in the late 60s! The album's a wonderful blend of jazz roots and more focused rock impulses – and has some subtle funky elements that's given it a wider sort of audience over the years – that special sound you'd find in a rare few Deram gems by artists like Mike Westbrook or Colosseum too. The drums are especially great – snapping out in a way that really holds things together, even when the instrumental solos really step out strongly – especially the organ, flute, and tenor – all of which retain a jazzy appeal. The vocals from Richard Sinclair are nice, too – never overdone, with almost a Robert Wyatt sort of reserve – and titles include "Golf Girl", "Love To Love You", "In The Land Of Grey & Pink", and the extended "Nine Feet Underground", which takes up all of side two. CD features bonus tracks – the unreleased "I Don't Know Its Name", "Aristocracy", "Group Girl", and "It's Likely To Have A Name Next Week" – and a new mix of "Disassociation/100% Proof". CD

2 lost jazz rock classics from Cressida – back to back in a single package! While decidedly more rock-oriented than some of their progressive contemporaries in the UK jazz rock scene, Cressida still had a great approach to rock that used a lot of jazz-based chords and rhythms, in the manner that was being explored by other bands at the time – like Colosseum or Nucleus. On the self-titled Cressida album, the general instrumental mix features hard drums, organ, and guitars – plus vocals that are very much in a Moody Blues tradition, but which seem to have more of an early King Crimson approach to lyrics, touched by some of the Nick Drake chord progressions on guitar. A hard one to pin down, but surprisingly enjoyable today – and the kind of record that lives way way past its noodly progressive roots! Titles include "Lights IN My Mind", "The Only Earthman In Town", "To Play Your Little Game", "Time For Bed", and "Down Down". Asylum has an even fuller, more ambitious feel than the first album – and the lineup is expanded slightly to make some great room for the legendary Harold McNair on flute! Tracks are bold and focused – with great lead vocals from Angus Cullen, who sometimes sings in a jazzy mode – but other times comes off with a raspy, heartfelt quality – and there's almost a Moody Blues-esque sense of mysticism going on with some of the best tracks. Titles include "Munich", "Asylum", "Goodbye Post Office Tower Goodbye", "Let Them Come When They Will", "Summer Weekend Of A Lifetime", and "Survivor". CD

A great little combo, and one with a fair bit of organ in the mix – more of a rock instrumental combo than a jazz one, but still with plenty of jazzy touches – thanks to the keyboards! The tunes here are all instrumental – a bit fuzzy at times, but nice and clear at others – and the group stretch out with a wonderful vibe that's much more soulful than some of their contemporaries on the Euro scene – a style that reminds us of the best British jazz rock moments at the end of the 60s, before part of that scene went a bit over the edge. Guitar and organ take the lead on most numbers, and there's almost a Colosseum sense of rhythm going on at the bottom. All titles are pretty great – and titles include "Faster & Faster", "Obsession", "On The Way To Eden", "Feeling In The Living", "Travelling", and "Reinyet Number". This CD version includes the bonus tracks "Under The Sun" and "Travelling (Single Version)". CD

A really cool British group, and one who work here with equal influences from blues and jazz – all at a level that has the complex riffing of a group like Colosseum mixed with some of the earthier woodwinds of Jethro Tull! Female lead singer Linda Rothwell has a really unique style, and one that doesn't try too hard to ape bigger American names of the time – while Joseph Rosbotham provides loads of cool work on flute and tenor, which further underscores the album's special kind of sound. Malcolm Grundy turns in some excellent work on guitar – and titles include "Port & Lemon Lady", "Hunters Song", "Men", "I Heard A Song About A Friend", "Emerge Breath Sunshine Dandelion", and "Prism". CD

A pair of records from Tempest – a group formed by drummer Jon Hiseman after the breakup of Colosseum! First up is the self-titled Tempest record – music by a hell of a group from the glory days of the Bronze Records scene – a group who boast some fantastic guitar work from a young Allan Holdsworth that are more than enough to get them on the label – but who also have a richness and complexity that rivals some of the hippest prog acts on labels like Vertigo or Harvest too! Ex-Colosseum member Jon Hiseman handles drums and percussion with a mighty nice edge, Mark Clarke delivers some heavy sinister basslines, and Paul Williams echoes all of those strengths with his dark-tinged vocals – in a mode that's nicely beyond some of the cliches that other groups might hit on a record like this. Titles include "Gorgon", "Brothers", "Foyers Of Fun", "Upon Tomorrow", "Grey & Black", "Up & On", and "Dark House". Next up is Living In Fear – a really great record from Tempest – a group who have so many different things going on at once – guitars that would be right at home on a hard rock effort, rhythmic complexity that verges on prog, and a tunefulness that really sends the whole thing over the top with an unexpected appeal that keeps on going throughout the entire set! Maybe the tipoff is the group's great cover of "Paperback Writer" – showing a love of the harmony in earlier work by The Beatles – updated here to a more guitar-based, fuzz-heavy style for the 70s – and matched with some equally groovy songs that have us wondering why these guys never found more of a following at the time! Other titles include "Funeral Empire", "Stargazer", "Dance To My Time", "Living In Fear", and "Waiting For A Miracle". CD set features two bonus tracks – "You & Your Love" and "Dream Train". CD

One of the stranger chapters of the Holland-Dozier-Holland story of the early 70s – and one of the coolest, too! Warlock are a jazzy rock combo with plenty of soul – a bit like a twisted version of Blood Sweat & Tears, but with all the sinister energy you'd guess from the image on the cover! Most of the numbers have a nasty scratchy sort of vocal – almost Alice Cooper-ish, in keeping with the Warlock name of the group – but a few others get a bit more soulful and funky, belying the HDH connection of the group – sometimes even showing a righteous jazzy vibe, as kind of an odd echo of the Detroit Tribe Records scene. The best tracks have some jazzy phrasing in the mix, and let the guitars go off to the side – and titles include "Love Girl", "You've Been My Rock", "So Can Woman", "Thrills Of Love", and the 14 minute jammer "As You Die/Music Box", which almost has a Colosseum build to it! LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic little set that heralds the beginning of a whole new generation in music – post-psych sounds from the year of 1969 – a time when the revolution had cooled a bit, but new waves of creative activity were really bubbling underground in the UK scene – as all these many groups and singers were striding forth to make their own sorts of sounds, after borrowing bits from others in previous years! The music here is more compact than later prog, but equally jamming – and some of the artists were born from blues and R&B inspirations, but are really moving into their own territory here – helping forge styles that would set the pace for so much more music to come in the 70s! The groups aren't completely obscure – most were recording for the hipper sides of bigger labels – but the tracks here often mark a point when they were just leaping off, a bit before hitting bigger fame – mixed with a few others that never hit the heights later on. As always with these boxes from Cherry Red/Esoteric, the presentation, set list, and notes are great – supporting 52 tracks from groups that include Colosseum, High Tide, Bloodwyn Pig, Jack Bruce, Pete Brown & Piblokto, Free, Jethro Tull, Genesis, East Of Eden, Man, Fat Mattress, Locomotive, Eyes Of Blue, Fairport Convention, The Deviants, Sunforest, Taste, Ten Years After, Mighty Baby, Michael Chapman, and many more! CD

The great second chapter of the UK mode scene in the 60s – and a batch of work that's even headier than the first – not really mod at all, but instead a lot more psych-styled, and taking off into the farther reaches of British styles of the time! Eddie Piller put the whole thing together with as much care as the initial volume – right down to the notes in the cool book-styled package, and the very well-chosen array of 31 rare cuts within. Things get nice and weird and wiggy at points – as the groups here may have started with more R&B-styled inspiration, but are starting to trip out a bit more as the psych years move in – making for some really cool combinations of sounds that keep things interesting throughout! The whole thing's overflowing with greatness – work from artists who include The Fire, Billy Nicholls, Aquarian Age, Vamp, Timebox, The Koobas, Graham Bond, Colosseum, Terry Reid, Tintern Abbey, Dantalian's Chariot, Wimple Winch, The Poets, Birds, Flies, and even a young David Bowie! LP, Vinyl record album