Book of Remembrance
Friends, Fans, Musicians & Colleagues
270 entries.
Learning of Jon's illness shortly after the gig at the Robin2 was a major shock for me as Jon performed... Read more
Learning of Jon's illness shortly after the gig at the Robin2 was a major shock for me as Jon performed impeccably as always. To then discover of his passing was a very sad day for me personally. I can remember buying Colosseum's Valentyne Suite at the age of 16 and being completely blown away. What an album that was!
Have followed Jon's career ever since. Its hard to convey the impact musicians such as Jon has on the lives of ordinary people like myself. Music has been my best friend throughout my life and I thank Jon for his part in that.... Collapse
Dear Barbara I am so sad to hear about Jon. I booked you both so many times at Norwich Arts... Read more
Dear Barbara I am so sad to hear about Jon. I booked you both so many times at Norwich Arts Centre and got to know you both as friends. He was a wonderful man and an amazing drummer, i can still see him now with one of his solo pieces. My heart goes out to you as I know how close you were.
with all my love Pam xxx... Collapse
My first aquired recording featuring Jon was via Colosseum IIs (second album|) Electric Savage featuring Jon Mole, Gary Moore &... Read more
My first aquired recording featuring Jon was via Colosseum IIs (second album|) Electric Savage featuring Jon Mole, Gary Moore & Don Airey.Fast forward to 2005 and i felt extremely luucky to have been ablr to attend one of the Cream reunion concerts at London's RAH. Not long afterwards i attended a tribute concert to Dick Heckstall-Smith at The Mean Fiddler (If i recall correctly) Collosseum were the headlining act and Jon provided a very fine spoken tribute to Dick. Jon's spoken delivery was very grand too. A fine orator. Earlier, The Jack Bruce Band featured a Cream set and delivered a storming performance (with Gary Moore on Guitar and Garry Husbamd on Drums)
Jon came for that fine school during a period when music and culture were changing during the post war years thrugh the Jazz and Rock N Roll of the 50s, the Jazz and Blues of the 60s(the further) and explosion of Rock continuing with the 60s into the 70s and beyond.
Sadly , so many of these artists have now passed on but the music is an enduring legacy to these masters.... Collapse
I just listened to the Daughter of Time Album via YouTube, and all of a sudden, memories go back to... Read more
I just listened to the Daughter of Time Album via YouTube, and all of a sudden, memories go back to 1971, I think. I was 18 and went to Essen or Düsseldorf to see Colosseum performing together with a band called If. Entrance fee was about 14 Deutschmarks, now seven Euros. I best remember Jon playing the drum solo on Lost Angeles, me and my then girlfriend holding hands, kissing and smoking grass. Those were the days. All the best for Barbara from Detlef in Hamburg.... Collapse
I emailed Jon a month before the latest album was released to ask if they were going to come to... Read more
I emailed Jon a month before the latest album was released to ask if they were going to come to the United States. He said they had no plans to tour here. It was our loss and is STILL our loss that Jon was not appreciated for his genius in this country. The New York Times was the only OBIT I saw in the United States. I was a HUGE Jack Bruce fan and thus came to know one of the greatest, if not the greatest, drummer of all time. Thank you, Jon Hiseman... Collapse
Dear Barbara, as a lover and collector of British Rock, Folk & Jazz music I feel very ashamed to know... Read more
Dear Barbara,
as a lover and collector of British Rock, Folk & Jazz music I feel very ashamed to know only today in November by chance that your beloved husband Jon has died already in June. I offer my sincere condolences to you, dear Barbara.
Jon was a hero of mine and I saw him several times in concert with Colosseum, Paraphernalia and the United Jazz & Rock Ensemble. He was the best drummer I ever saw live playing. Oh, what a miss! I own all of his albums and met him live backstage at the FABRIK in Hamburg in the 80’s when he was your drummer in Paraphernalia. As a member of the German magazin DER SPIEGEL I interviewed your husband together with my then trainee Rüdiger. It was an exceptional situation to meet an outstanding artist during a break after a sweaty first set... I will remember.
I saw Colosseum for the first time in my life in 1969 at the famous Star Club in Hamburg. It was Mark I with James Litherland playing and singing in the band. And this event was the reason because I wanted to ask your late husband if he knew which date this concert was. But now I must learn that he only will anwer me in heaven...
Dear Barbara: stay strong. What remains is your music.
An old (70) pensioner from Hamburg sends you all his love and sympathies.
Thinking of you: Peter Kühn
PS: please excuse my bad Pidgin English... Collapse
Jon and his music has been a major influence for me as a musician, primarily with Colosseum and Colosseum II.... Read more
Jon and his music has been a major influence for me as a musician, primarily with Colosseum and Colosseum II. He was one of the greats and a legend, not only for drummers but for many musicians, no matter what instrument they play. Rest in peace, mate.... Collapse
Everybody lives on in the memories of their friends and family, and in their children. But great musicians live on... Read more
Everybody lives on in the memories of their friends and family, and in their children. But great musicians live on in a special way, in the music making they inspire in those who have heard and loved them. It's true for me. I must have first heard Jon when I was sixteen years old. Do you like jazz a friend said, and slipped Bare Wires on his cool 60s stereogram. I couldn't really take it in at first but came to love it. It opened the door to jazz and blues for me. A lifelong passion.
I saw Jon several times with Colosseum and heard his amazing drum solo at the Bath Festival at Shepton Mallet. He seemed such a gentleman. As Dick Heckstall Smith told us in his biography, when everyone else was out of their minds in the Graham Bond Organisation, Jon was reading the paper or nipping out for quiet curry with Dick. If you haven't heard Bare Wires, Those Who Are About to Die Salute You or the wonderful New Jazz Orchestra albums well you should do. And if you have then listen again. They are little masterpieces. The whole British jazz and blues scene gave us so much and still does. Truly, it is part of Jon's living memorial.... Collapse
Simply the best drummer I've ever seen
Simply the best drummer I've ever seen... Collapse
