Brian Auger steps in to save Blues Project concerts
September 18, 2011Jon: Your responses have touched my heart
August 30, 2011
A personal message to you from Jon:
Just a quick line or two from an absolutely overwhelmed, gratified and humbled musician.
Your responses to the news of my condition have touched my heart in a way that has truly helped to make my life a better place to be than it had occasionally threatened to become these last few weeks.
Your wonderful messages wishing me strength and courage have given me even more strength and courage – and so much more than you can ever know.
I read many of them with tears in my eyes, grateful for this cast-iron proof of the innate goodness of the human being, and grateful to every single one of you for your invaluable support.
This message goes out too to all the similarly wonderful folk on other websites whose support has been equally warm and strong and I want you all to know how greatly heartened and comforted I am by all this.
The treatment continues and I am confident and being supported by my glorious family and an amazing group of friends.
See you soon.
God bless
Jon
Photo: Florida, March 1994 by Ram Samudrala
A Message from Jon:
August 9, 2011
I would like all my friends, followers, fans and fellow travelers to know that I am fighting cancer and will therefore be taking a break from performing while getting the treatment and cure.
I shall of course be continuing to write music – in my world it just has to be part of the therapy – and I fully expect to be back in good shape next year.
God bless and see you soon
Jon
May we also, at Jon’s request, ask if everyone could please respect his need for privacy so that he can spend time with his family (and his music).
Thank you.
Jon Lord releases orchestral live album
August 9, 2011
Jon Lord releases new live album titled simply LIVE. Exclusive teaser available below.
Recorded in Bucharest, Romania in 2009 with a full symphony orchestra, the album includes a glorious selection of orchestral pieces representing Jon Lord’s touring repetoire all over the world in recent years.
From Pictured Within (voted everybody’s no. 1 favourite Jon Lord track on this website) over infectious The Telemann Experiment; the two Sarabande favourites Bouree and Gigue to the female voice delights Wait a While and The Sun Will Shine Again featuring Kasia Łaska.
Steve Balsamo handles male vocals throughout, and the album also includes three completely reworked Deep Purple classics with full orchestral arrangement by Jon Lord; Pictures of Home, Soldier of Fortune and an immense Child in Time.
The Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Nayden Tadorov with Darin Vasilev (guitar), Ivaylo Zvezdomirov (bass) and Venko Poromanski (drums) completing the line-up.
Listen here to snippets of Bouree, The Sun Will Shine Again, Soldier of Fortune and The Telemann Experiment:
The CD is available exclusively here on JonLord.org.
Worldwide shipping available.
Watch also a clip of Child in Time filmed at the Bucharest concert:
Listen to Jon Lord Blues Project’s live CD
August 7, 2011
Check out a samples of Jon Lord Blues Project’s new live CD.
In this clip you can hear snippets of Back at the Chicken Shack, Wishing Well, Lazy, When a Blind Man Cries and I’m a Man.
The CD was recorded at Rottweill, Germany on May 14, 2011. Read more about the concert.
Line-up:
Jon Lord – Hammond organ
Miller Anderson – vocals, guitar
Maggie Bell – vocals
Zoot Money – keyboard, vocals
Colin Hodgkinson – bass, vocals
Pete York – drums
Concerto rarities in charity auction
August 7, 2011
Conductor Paul Mann has kindly donated a few Concerto related items from his private collection to a new charity auction.
The items include a fully band + conductor signed copy of the 1999 Royal Albert Hall concert poster (a massive 96 x 146 cm), Paul Mann’s personal setlist for the shows, Roger Glover‘s bass plectrum and a signed copy of the programme.
All proceeds go straight to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up & Shout Cancer Fund.
Auction ends on August 13.
Jon Lord made honorary Doctor of Music
July 27, 2011
Jon Lord has received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Leicester.
“Jon Lord is one of British music’s most eclectic and talented instrumentalists. There are no signs of his creative talents abating.”
These words rounded off a detailed account of Jon Lord’s musical life that preceded Jon being presented with the Honorary Degree.
- It is humbling to hear your life retold with such accuracy, he said in his acceptance speech, where he also spoke fondly of his musical childhood in Leicester.
His first concert was experience was in the same hall where the presentation ceremony was being held.
- I was 6 or 7 years old and heard cutting edge classical stuff performed by the Hallé Orchestra; the William Tell Overture, Grieg’s Piano Concerto and the New World Symphony.
- It thrilled me and possibly changed things right there, he explains.
Years later in the same hall, he saw Buddy Holly.
- He spun my head around. The love of what Buddy Holly represented and the love of what the Hallé Orchestra represented has defined my musical life.
- This town was and still is deep inside my bones, and it’s a huge, huge privilige and an honour to come back here and accept this honorary degree. My parents – were they alive – would be dancing in the street. I suspect and hope they’re dancing somewhere far more pleasant than Averill Road [Jon's childhood home]. Thank you and God bless!
The last time Jon Lord visited the University of Leicester was 41 years ago when Deep Purple played at the Students’ Union on 7 February 1970.
Jon Lord Blues Project release live CD
July 17, 2011Now available online, Jon Lord Blues Project’s new live CD titled ‘Live’.
Lord & Wakeman world premiere at Sunflower Jam
July 9, 2011
The Sunflower Jam 2011 will be remembered for one of Jon Lord’s most rewarding appearances of 2011 – musically daring and performed with sharp excellence.
On an evening already rife with musical talent, Jon Lord shared the stage with Rick Wakeman for the pair’s brand new composition It’s Not As Big As It Was (allegedly about the music biz although it was preceeded by jokes about old age and prostate problems). This was without a doubt The Sunflower Jam’s musical crown jewel benefitting the good cause of helping children suffering from cancer. Donations are still welcome.
This is Rasmus Heide’s report:
Jon Lord appears onstage after almost an hour of excellent music from the likes of Danny Bowes (Thunder), Gary Brooker, Joe Bonamassa and Newton Faulkner. These gentlemen (and woman) have entertained the crowd with blues and rock classics that fare very well, particularly Gary Brooker’s rendition of A Whiter Shade of Pale and Joe Bonamassa’s Thrill is Gone. However, Jon will proceed to seize the show and push up the excitement level several notches.
Jon Lord’s weekend double
July 8, 2011This weekend, Jon Lord makes two British concert appearances.
Friday night (July 8), Jon is performing at all-star The Sunflower Jam at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Other artists include Rick Wakeman, Deep Purple, Anna Phoebe, Joe Bonamassa and more.
On Sunday evening, July 10, you have the opportunity to catch Jon Lord in a rare performance of his suite To Notice Such Things at St. Andrew’s Church in Nuthurst near Horsham. This is just a short drive from London’s Gatwick Airport.
Performing with the professional choir of St. Thomas More, Chelsea and the Bernardi Music Group conducted by Paul Mann, the evening’s programme will also include Fauré’s Requiem.
Tickets for Nuthurst are available from The Capitol box office (01403 750220) or thecapitolhorsham.com. Concert starts 6.30pm.
Photo: Andrew Bernadi and Jon Lord at Nuthurst for the 2009 world premiere of To Notice Such Things.
