Review: Colosseum – Valentyne Suite (1969)

Valentyne Suite is Colosseum’s second studio album

Valentyne Suite was released in November 1969, just under a year later than the band’s debut Those Who Are About to Die Salute You (March 1969). Colosseum was formed in 1968 by drummer Jon Hiseman (1944-2018) and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith (1934-2004), who had both previously played together in the New Jazz Orchestra and the semi-legendary The Graham Bond Organisation (the band had played with Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, John McLaughlin, etc.). Graham Bond, who led the Organisation, was a heavy substance abuser and the band was chaotic, which contributed to Hiseman and Heckstall-Smith forming their own band. Another reason was the desire to make more ’complex and serious’ music. The Graham Bond Organisation, however, despite its quality players, was a relatively traditional rhythm & blues outfit, and Hiseman in particular had much higher ambitions.

Those Who Are About to Die Salute You, which preceded Valentyne Suite, was an ambitious album, and pioneered jazz-rock, while already taking steps towards progressive rock, incorporating themes from Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). For the most part, however, the album was still pretty much stuck in the blues. Valentyne Suite, however, is clearly a step up from the debut, containing on average much more interesting compositions and going even further in the direction of progressive rock.

The album opens with the energetic and addictive vocal track ”The Kettle” (sung with a bit of a sniffle by the band’s guitarist James Litherland), a relatively bluesy tune and in that sense quite close to the songs on the debut album.

The next track ”Elegy” is a much more upbeat song and still sounds surprisingly modern. Hiseman’s fast and airy jazzy drumming propels the song forward beautifully. Heckstall-Smith plays a great tenor saxophone solo and Litherland’s soulful vocals also work nicely. ”Elegy” reminds me of some of the triphop songs that came out decades later.

The third track ”Butty’s Blues” is a slow blues where the band’s skilled Hammond organist Dave Greenslade (b.1943) really comes into his own for the first time. The song also features successful orchestrations for string and horn sections, which make a nice break from the usual blues. Especially the end of the brass section, with Litherland’s electric guitar soloing chaotically in the background, is handsome.

Lue myös: Levyarvio: The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)

”The Machine Demands A Sacrifice” is one of the highlights of the album. Litherland’s vocals are powerful, and the song swings nicely with the various members taking turns to take solo parts. Hiseman’s drumming on this track is particularly creative. At the end of the song there is a strange fade-out/fade-in section of a few minutes with screams and echo effects, reminiscent of krautrock experiments of a few years later.

The album ends with its absolute highlight, the 17-minute ”Valentyne Suite”, divided into three parts and composed by keyboardist Greenslade. ’Valentyne Suite’ begins with Greenslade’s organ and Heckstall-Smith’s saxophone, then kicks into high gear with Hiseman’s explosive drumming. Greenslade rattles on with an elegant melody on vibraphone. The instrumentation lives on nicely throughout the song with different members taking turns to carry the melody. Composer Greenslade himself gets most of the solo space, and his Hammond flourishes are a treat to listen to. As is the case throughout the album, Jon Hiseman’s skilful and constantly hyperactive drumming on ”Valentyne Suite” gives the song a great forward momentum. It would be easy to accuse Hiseman of overplaying, but somehow it all just works. Unlike previous tracks on the album, ”Valentyne Suite” is entirely instrumental. ”Valentyne Suite” is a stunning combination of jazz-rock and progressive rock.

Valentyne Suite was one of the pioneers in combining not only jazz, blues and rock, but it was also right on the cutting edge, using a small symphony orchestra to back up the rock/jazz band. Colosseum released two more albums before disbanding. Later, in the 70s, Hiseman formed a band called Colosseum II, which in a way continued along the lines of Colosseum, but mainly played a more generic and technical fusion jazz style. Dave Greenslade, on the other hand, formed his own prog band Greenslade in 1973, but as a composer he never again achieved the same level of excellence as in ’Valentyne Suite’. In 1994 Colosseum regrouped and performed on a fairly irregular basis until 2015.

Best songs: ’Elegy’, ’The Machine Demands A Sacrifice’ and ’Valentyne Suite’.

Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Tracks

”The Kettle” 4:28
”Elegy” 3:14
”Butty’s Blues” 6:46
”The Machine Demands a Sacrifice” 3:53
”The Valentyne Suite” 16:53
- ”Theme One: January’s Search”
- ”Theme Two: February’s Valentyne”
- ”Theme Three: The Grass is Always Greener”

Colosseum:

Dave Greenslade: Hammond organ, vibraphone, piano, backing vocals (”The Machine Demands a Sacrifice”) Dick Heckstall-Smith: saxophones, flute (”The Machine Demands a Sacrifice”) Jon Hiseman: drums, machine (”The Machine Demands a Sacrifice”) James Litherland: guitars, vocals Tony Reeves: bass guitar

Guests:

Neil Ardley: conductor (”Butty’s Blues”), jousisovitus (”Elegy”)