Playing The Band: The Musical Life Of Jon Hiseman

4.4/5 ( ratings)

This book takes you on the roller-coaster ride that is the life of both Jon Hiseman – one of Britain’s top drummers – and his wife, saxophonist and composer, Barbara Thompson. It's a personal journey through one of the most intriguing and fascinating periods in rock and pop history, telling in detail of the forces, the personalities, the triumphs and disappointments that make up a life spent at the centre of modern music...and all set against the background of how, in the second half of the 20th century, the British music industry reached dizzying heights…until the advent of new technology brought it back to earth with a bump!
There are stories of The New Jazz Orchestra, John Mayall, Graham Bond, Georgie Fame, Colosseum, Tempest, Colosseum II, The United Jazz & Rock Ensemble and Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia. But it's not just a story of lives in music; it is a tale of individualism, survival, friendships and rivalry, romance, brutal reality and the occasional insanity.
The author of 'Playing the Band', Martyn Hanson, had access to Jon and Barbara’s extensive archive and interviewed most of the protagonists. Colin Richardson who was Colosseum's manager, undertook the onerous task of editing the final draft. His many years as an agent and manager in the music business began with The New Jazz Orchestra and continued throughout the ’60s and ’70s acting, in one capacity or another, for many of the participants in this book. He brought a combination of his specialist knowledge and a long-standing interest in language to the job of polishing and further refining the narrative. Jon Hiseman: "I am so please our book made it to Kindle - we are avid Kindle users and read more now than at any time in our lives"