He played with the Graham Bond Organisation, with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and later formed what has been described as the "seminal" jazz rock/progressive rock band, Colosseum.

[1] In school, he played in a trio with classmates Dave Greenslade on piano and Tony Reeves on double bass.

[1] In 1966, he replaced Ginger Baker in the Graham Bond Organisation[2] and also played for a brief spell with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames.

Hiseman subsequently played in jazz groups, notably with his wife, saxophonist Barbara Thompson,[3] with whom he recorded and produced more than 15 albums.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, searching for a "sound" for an album to feature his brother Julian on cello, stumbled upon Colosseum II by accident and imported the whole band into his "Variations" project.

They played the Freiburg Zelt Musik Festival and followed it up with a German TV Special (WDR Cologne) in October, which was recorded and released as a CD and a VHS video; a DVD version followed in 2003.

[6] In 2017 Hiseman formed a new trio band called JCM with guitarist/vocalist Clem Clempson and bass player/vocalist Mark Clarke.

He died at the age of 73 on 12 June 2018 in Sutton, London, England from a brain haemorrhage, following surgery to remove the tumour.