Colosseum
Live At Montreux International Jazz Festival 1969
Live At The Boston Tea Party 1969
Live At Ruisrock Festival Finland 1970
Live At The Piper Club Italy 1971
Live ‘71 Canterbury, Brighton & Manchester
(Repertoire)

By Decibel Report - Sept 1, 2020

This clutch of early archive live recordings chronicles the collective talents of a top-class blend of musicians fusing their individual prowess to produce timeless musical results.

With players of the quality of Hiseman, Greenslade, Heckstall-Smith, Clempson et al, the material across these five souvenir recordings, taken from their early seminal studio albums, is stretched into improvisational adventures by this band of musical gladiators on these excellent releases.

In many ways, this Progressive Jazz-Rock ensemble was a fulcrum for music without boundaries. They created interwoven musical explorations none more so than in the live context where rhythms and themes were expanded upon as they pushed their technical skills into uncharted musical territory.

This warts and all slew of releases perfectly frames an era when bands produced stellar live music without the safety net of pre-recorded gizmos and gadgetry with only their own instrumental skills and collective instincts to fall back and rely upon

Of particular note is the rare and unreleased recordings especially on the previously issued Live ‘71 now expanded on this new release. Sit back and immerse yourself in the entrancing musical motifs wrapped in delicious curls of compositional complexity by players tenaciously applying themselves to their craft.

Comprehensive and authoritative liner notes by former Melody Maker journalist Chris Welch adds a sharply observed context to these classy issues on the esteemed Repertoire label.