Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has continued its look back at underrated artists of the progressive rock era with a recent trio of reissues from Quintessence and Colosseum.

Formed in the Notting Hill area of London by Australians Ron "Raja Ram" Rothfield (flute) and Phil "Shiva Shankar" Jones (keyboards/vocals) with four of their mates, Quintessence took its inspirations from a variety of sources including The Band, Dr. John, Grateful Dead, and most noticeably, the sound of Eastern music.  Rothfield, Jones, Richard "Shambhu Babaji" Vaughan (bass), Allan Mostert (lead guitar), Dave "Maha Dev" Codling (rhythm guitar), and Jeremy "Jake" Milton (drums) were given their Eastern names by Swami Ambikananda, and their shared spiritual philosophy informed the lyrics of the songs they were writing.  After performing just a few gigs, Quintessence was spotted by Island Records' Chris Blackwell and Muff Winwood (brother of Steve), and signed to the label.  After sessions with Andy Johns proved to be abortive, John Barham (a student of Ravi Shankar and collaborator of fellow Eastern-philosophy disciple George Harrison) was enlisted to produce the band's 1969 debut, In Blissful Company.  That album is one of three collected in full on Esoteric's Move Into the Light: The Complete Island Recordings 1969-1971.

Quintessence saw itself as a jam band in the Dead mold rather than a singles act, though Island tried to garner the band airplay with a punchier single version of their "Notting Hill Gate."  (This version is included here as a bonus track.)  The band achieved its greatest success as an albums artist with its second, self-titled LP also produced by Barham.  Quintessence reached No. 22 on the U.K. Albums Chart, and the group continued to be a popular live act, playing alongside the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Who.  Quintessence is split, by side, over both CDs here.  The band's third and final Island LP, 1971's Dive Deep, had less involvement from Barham as the members assumed production roles.  Quintessence's relationship with Island soured when Blackwell attempted to get the group a deal with U.S. label Bell of which Rothfield and some of the other members disapproved.  They went on to record one more album for RCA's U.K. division before Jones and Codling exited the line-up; the final Quintessence album arrived on RCA in 1972.

The story of the band is told not only through the evocative and unconventional music but via Malcolm Dome's liner notes in the 24-page booklet; interview subjects include Jones and Codling.  Paschal Byrne has remastered the 28 tracks (including bonus tracks) on 2 CDs for this definitive Island anthology.

The Esoteric imprint also has recently reissued two 1969 albums from Colosseum in deluxe expanded editions.  The jazz and classically-influenced prog band formed in the summer of '68 was a supergroup of a sort, originally consisting of drummer Jon Hiseman, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith, organist/vocalist Dave Greenslade, bassist Tony Reeves, and guitarist/vocalist James Litherland - veterans of groups including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band, Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds, and The Graham Bond Organisation.

Colosseum's debut, Those Who Are About to Die Salute You, was produced by Tony Reeves and Gerry Bron, and issued on Philips' Fontana label in 1969.  It introduced the band's powerful, aggressive sound and gave each member a chance to instrumentally shine on both original compositions and two covers (Leadbelly's "Backwater Blues" and Graham Bond's "Walking in the Park").  The unusual combination of jazz, classical (the track "Beware the Ides of March" even nodded to a melody by Bach) and blues paid off when the LP reached the top 15 of the U.K. Albums Chart.  Esoteric's reissue, remastered by Ben Wiseman, adds liner notes from Malcolm Dome and three previously issued bonus tracks recorded at Pye Studios in 1968.  (The live bonuses included on previous editions have been dropped.)  In the U.S., Those Who Are About to Die was released on Dunhill Records with a different track listing culled from both the U.K. album and the band's sophomore effort.

Valentyne Suite, the subject of Esoteric's second reissue, arrived later in 1969.  The title track was an ambitious three-part composition consisting of "January's Search," "February's Valentyne," and "The Grass is Always Greener."  However, American listeners can be forgiven for confusion, as the Dunhill edition of Those Who Are About to Die included the first two parts of the suite, with "Beware of the Ides of March" as the third part.  In Malcolm Dome's liner notes, Jon Hiseman reveals that the switch was made for the U.S. release because the intended third part hadn't been completed yet!  Colosseum brought in one outside collaborator for Valentyne, Cream lyricist Pete Brown.  He contributed to the spacey blues-rocker "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice."

The finished album was slated by Philips as the very first release on the new prog-oriented Vertigo label.  Heavily promoted by Philips, it too reached No. 15 on the chart.  Across the pond, the U.S. Dunhill label faced a conundrum, as some of the album's material had been used on the U.S. version of Colosseum's debut.  The result was another hybrid album called The Grass is Greener.  It presented unique mixes of four Valentyne tracks along with four new songs recorded in winter 1969 with Dave "Clem" Clempson (later of Humble Pie) having replaced James Litherland in the line-up.  Clempson added new guitar and vocals to three of the Valentyne songs, while "Elergy" retained its Litherland vocal.  As this LP is so vastly different than the U.K. original, it is included as CD 2 of Esoteric's reissue (again remastered by Ben Wiseman).  After one more album welcoming Chris Farlowe to the band, Colosseum broke up, but they reunited 23 years later in 1994 with the same 1971 line-up.  The group endured the death of Dick Heckstall-Smith, and performed and recorded together through 2015.

All three of these releases are available now from Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red!

Quintessence, Move Into the Light: The Complete Island Recordings 1969-1971 (Esoteric ECLEC 22584, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Giants
2. Manco Capac
3. Body
4. Gange Mal
5. Chant
6. Pearl and Bird
7. Notting Hill Gate
8. Midnight Mode
9. Move Into the Light
10. Notting Hill Gate (Single Version)
11. Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Guaranga
12. Sea of Immortality
13. High on Mount Kailash (Excerpt from Opera)
14. Burning Bush (Live)
15. Shiva's Chant

CD 2

1. Prisms
2. Twilight Zones
3. Maha Mantra
4. Only Love
5. Pancras (Live)
6. Infinitum
7. Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Guaranga (Live)
8. Dive Deep
9. Dance for the One
10. Brahman
11. The Seer
12. Epitaph for Tomorrow
13. Sri Ram Chant

CD 1, Tracks 1-8 from In Blissful Company, Island ILPS 9110, 1969
CD 1, Track 9 from Island single WIP 6075-B, 1969
CD 1, Track 10 from Island single WIP 6075-A, 1969
CD 1, Tracks 11-15 & CD 2, Tracks 1-6 from Quintessence, Island ILPS 9128, 1970
CD 2, Track 7 from various-artists compilation Bumpers, Island IDP 1, 1970
CD 2, Tracks 8-13 from Dive Deep, Island ILPS 9143, 1971

Colosseum, Those Who Are About to Die Salute You: Expanded Edition (Fontana STL 5510, 1969 - reissued Esoteric ECLEC 2598, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Walking in the Park
2. Plenty Hard Luck
3. Mandarin
4. Debut
5. Beware the Ides of March
6. The Road She Walked Before
7. Backwater Blues
8. Those About to Die
9. I Can't Live Without You (Outtake)
10. In the Heat of the Night (Outtake)
11. Those About to Die (Demo)

Tracks 9-11 recorded at Pye Studios, November 1968, previously released on Morituri Te Salutant, Sanctuary 2709352, 2009

Colosseum, Valentyne Suite: Expanded Edition (Esoteric ECLEC 22599, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Valentyne Suite (Vertigo VO 1, 1969)

1. The Kettle
2. Elegy
3. Butty's Blues
4. The Machine Demands a Sacrifice
5. Valentine Suite: January's Search/Theme Two - February's Valentyne/Theme Three - The Grass is Always Greener
6. Tell Me Now (Bonus Track) (previously released on Morituri Te Salutant, Sanctuary 2709352, 2009)

CD 2: The Grass is Greener (ABC/Dunhill DS 50079, 1970)

1. Jumping off the Sun
2. Lost Angeles
3. Elegy
4. Butty's Blues
5. Rope Ladder to the Moon
6. Bolero
7. The Machine Demands a Sacrifice
8. The Grass is Always Greener