The first studio recording of the late Deep Purple founder Jon Lord’s “Concerto For Group And Orchestra” will be released on September 3.
Originally issued on CD last September, the project will now be made available as a Blu-ray/CD set and double vinyl.
The recording of the album began in June 2011 in Liverpool. Lord, the rhythm section of Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd, Madonna) and Brett Morgan (Jon Anderson, Sting) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (with whom Jon had recorded twice before) were conducted by Paul Mann.
The production then moved to Abbey Road Studios in London to record Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson (on vocals with Steve Balsamo and Kasia Laska) and Joe Bonamassa, Darin Vasilev and Steve Morse on guitars.
Jon got to hear and approve the final mixes a few weeks before he passed away on July 16, 2012 at the age of 71 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Lord's family decided to proceed with the release of the album in September 2012 as scheduled, as this seemed the best way to celebrate and pay tribute to Jon and his music.
“Over these last years since leaving Deep Purple,” said Jon, “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.”
Following the huge demand of the fans, the Concerto will now be made available on double vinyl including a special bonus audio piece: Jon Lord’s last interview with the BBC from August 2012. There will also be a special Blu-ray + CD edition, which includes not only the full Concerto on CD and a 5.1 audio bonus piece on the Blu-ray, but the Making Of feature and in-depth interviews with Paul Mann and Marco de Goeij. Exclusive to this format is the new behind the scenes documentary Up Close & Personal (Orchestral Recording Sessions) which gives an interesting insight into the work of Jon Lord and the orchestra.
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