A promotional video for the very limited mediabook edition of JON LORD’s Concerto For Group And Orchestra, which includes a CD, documentary DVD, and 80-page book, can be viewed below; the release date is December 7th.
With his legendary organ blues-rock sound, DEEP PURPLE’s founder and soul, Jon Lord has influenced decades of rock music. He is with no doubt the pioneer of fusing rock and classical/baroque forms and became one of the most important composers of the last decades while having a major impact on the music business. On July 16th, he passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Jon Lord co-wrote many of Deep Purple’s legendary songs like ‘Smoke On The Water’ and played with many bands and musicians throughout his career (WHITESNAKE, to mention one out of many). Best known for his orchestral work Concerto For Group And Orchestra, first performed at Royal Albert Hall with Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969 and conducted by the renowned Malcolm Arnold – a feat repeated in 1999 when it was again performed at the Royal Albert Hall by the London Symphony Orchestra and Deep Purple.
Jon Lord always wanted a studio recording of the concerto. Irony of fate: he made his desire real only most recently. Hefinalized his very last mission – the first and only studio recording of the famous Concerto For Group And Orchestra, representing the definitive performance of a unique work.
Lord assembled guest musicians such as IRON MAIDEN’s Bruce Dickinson, Joe Bonamassa or Steve Morse in the Abbey Road Studios, to work with his trusted partner, director Paul Mann, on the 2012 version of the legendary concert.
Already available in 2 different formats (CD and CD+DVD including a 5.1 audio mix) now comes a very special edition of the Concerto For Group And Orchestra. Conductor Paul Mann has written a personal history of his association with the Concerto and also detailed the full story of the work and the new recording.
All this resulted in a fascinating 80 page story highlighted with rare pictures that will now be released in a mediabook featuring the full Concerto on CD as well as a DVD containing the Making Of as well as exclusive interviews with Paul Mann and Marco de Goeij.
So, to paraphrase an early Deep Purple lyric: “Listen, Learn and Read On…”