Jon Lord – Concerto For Group And Orchestra

Concerto For Group And Orchestra, a groundbreaking meeting of rock and classical music was first recorded by Deep Purple back in 1969, and some say paved the way for other groups to push their own experimental music , I.E Pink Floyd.
This new version, the definitive, was performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Paul Mann, and was recorded in Liverpool and at London’s famous Abbey Road studios.
Jon had this to say about the composition.
“Over these last years since leaving Deep Purple, I’ve played it over 30 times with different orchestras and conductors all over the world, and, of course, in 2000 I did it well over 30 times with Purple on the Concerto tour, so I’ve been honing the piece live on stage, and I’ve had the opportunity to change things in the score that weren’t sounding quite right. It is therefore a marvelous and exciting prospect to have the definitive recording of the definitive version of the score.” (Jon Lord May 2012)
This ground breaking piece of music features guest musicians such as Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickenson on Vocals, Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd)on Bass with Joe Bonamassa, Darin Vasilev and Steve Morse on guitars.
The most obviously differing elements of this studio version are the performances of the new instrumentalists and vocalists. These will no doubt surprise some and disappoint others, Ian Gillan is out, Bruce Dickenson is in, Ritchie Blackmore is out, Darin Vasilev is in, a massive shift in musical direction, bringing in a more modern feel, however Darin’s decisive first guitar passage version is shorter than Ritchie’s 1969 self-indulgent take on the piece. Which one is better ? I’ll let you decide.
The guitar contributions by Joe Bonamassa are stunning, so it was a wise choice by Jon in bringing in different guitarists for the different passages within the movements, instead of just sticking to one.
The family and earMUSIC decided to proceed with the release of the album in October as scheduled, as this seemed the best way to celebrate and pay tribute to Jon and his beautiful music. Thus this superb studio recording of “Concerto For Group And Orchestra” is exactly the way Jon wanted us to hear it and will now hopefully become Jon’s legacy for generations to come.
Jon lord, has left us a massive legacy, a shining reminder to the great man’s work. Rating: 10/10

Track Listing:
1. Movement One;
2. Movement Two;
3. Movement Three;

Conducted by Paul Mann.

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