The passing of
Deep Purple
keyboardist
Jon Lord
in 2012 was sad for the obvious reasons, but also because he was about to release a just finished re-imagining of his "Concerto for Group and Orchestra," a piece
first played live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969, and one that is often cited as the first true meeting of classical and rock.
Lord
was a big part of the heavy orchestral prog rock sound of
, and he could rock when needed, or take center stage and play pretty as the soundtrack for a majestic autumn wind. He played with other bands as time went on, including
Whitesnake
, but in his later years he increasingly pursued his aspirations as a classical composer. Which brings us to this set, one of two volumes derived from a historic tribute concert held April 4, 2014 at Royal Albert Hall that marked the 45th anniversary of when
's "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" first debuted there. Surviving members of
were on hand for the tribute, as well as
Paul Weller
,
's
Micky Moody
Iron Maiden
Bruce Dickinson
Yes
Rick Wakeman
, and many others, including
the Orion Orchestra
conducted by
Paul Mann
. The evening opened with a classical set from the orchestra, which is what we have here, then went to a more rock-oriented second act, before concluding with a set by
-- the rock and
portions of the evening are available as
Celebrating Jon Lord: The Rock Legend
, the other volume of this tribute set. Among the highlights of this opening classical portion are the majestic "Fantasia" (from
Sarabande
), complete with horns, and a beautiful "All Those Years Ago," which features vocals from
and illustrates just how much vision
really had for a classical/rock fusion, and in retrospect, how
personified that vision. ~ Steve Leggett