JON LORD

Do not judge a book by it's cover.

Despite a craptacular art cover (creepy mustachioed exhibitionist or something) this album is a total keeper for the orchestra-keyboard-marriage lover that I am. I went around the block many times over, re-listening to the same old records and trying to discover some new material. I even went to the newcomers, unfortunately, nothing new to the horizon, just the same old flash in the pan: boom bang goes the drums, duhduh duhduh goes the bass and nini nini on the keys...yawn.

Finally Jon Lord arrived (too late) in my life, without Ritchie Blackmore this time. Frankly, this is a balm to me. On the contrary of ELP, Trace or Par Lindh Project, Jon Lord takes his time and does not focus on 'Hey Mom! Look what I can do!' attitude. He is not showing off; should he a bit more? If you like Triumvirat or Rick Wakeman, this could grind your gears (useless drum solo in Gigue, bongos, little keyboard diversity and humble technique). On the other hand, if you're a keyboard driven veteran, you could appreciate the modesty and the exotic/ modern music tangent of the album. The orchestral arrangements are nice and catchy, many times I surprise myself to air-maestro. Jokes on the side, the orchestra is very well melted in the songs: bombastic when needed and emotional as well.

Why this album is not in everyone's collection? Is it because it's on the simpler side of prog? Hey, a guy needs a bleeping break once in a while and Sarabande is a perfect soundtrack to chill out in your chair with a book and a pint of Harp lager.

Dedicated to the Raiders of the Lost ARP.

This is a strange hybrid of rock, jazz, classical and the avant garde. Although one can admire the bold eclectic experimentation of the two lengthy paces here, it is not quite a success. The first piece is billed as an attempt to continue Bach's unfinished art of fugue. There have been many attempts to conclude this magnificent composition in the past, usually less free than Lord's. The actual Bach composition does not start until we are 8 minutes into the piece and is played pretty straight. Before that we have rather incongruous jazz rock improves interrupted several times by heavy orchestral blasts of the BACH motif (B flat, A , C, B natural), and there's a viola solo hinting at themes from classical works followed by a jazzy trumpet solo. After the unfinished fugue, the jazz trumpet returns even more incongruous than before followed by an exciting but short lived riff passage. The problem for me is that none of this additional material bears any relationship to Bach's work either thematically or harmonically so I'm not sure what new insights it really brings. The longer piece "windows" is even more eclectic, Starting with a fairly ordinary bluesy organ, it is surprising to encounter a pair of sopranos improvising briefly interrupted by the more familiar strains of David Coverdale. Many rock fans, I suspect, will find their high pitched wailings rather grating. Without a break the slow movement begins about 10 minutes or so in. This is quite a change, a lushly scored and very big romantic theme, some weirdly 'spacey' sounds, then a memorable and darkly melancholy string tune. This is the highlight of the album for me. Coverdale adds some vocals but unfortunately the lyrics consist of platitudes such as "make love not war". A drum solo and more weird sounds lead to a return of the sopranos, intertwining to good effect. Then more generic 70s funky rock, drums solos etc and out of nowhere, a piano tune reminiscent of ELP. By now, what little shape the piece had has fallen apart and it is now an incoherent mess.

An excellent blues live record

Oh man ....this is really an excellent blues live record that I really enjoy it from start to end, without any signs of getting bored. It's basically a recorded live from the show at Rottweil Jazzfestival on May 14, 2011 and features classic blues songs written by Willie Dixon and Robert Johnson as well as more compositions by Deep Purple, Free and Tom Waits. Since Jon Lord left Deep Purple, I was not following his activities and I am now happy that he is still producing music even though no longer in rock arena. It;s OK. Please don't get surprised why this blues work is featured here. Well, if we look at history, Jon's solo album like Sarabande was actually a progressive music. He is now evolving into blues musician focusing more on Hammond organ backed with other musicians, including legendary drummer Pete York.

Listening to this record is to me like a refreshment having listened to many prog albums. Well, in fact I love blues as I have collected many CDs of John Mayall, BB Kings and the rest. This live set opens with a beautiful Hammond organ solo by Jon Lord in "Back At The Chicken Shack" (James O. Smith). This instrument piece is really killing and it has successfully set the overall tone and vibes of the show. There are jazzy piano solo in the middle of the track that is really nice, combined with blues rock guitar work by Miller Anderson. Miller Anderson then take a vocal part on the next track "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Willie Dixon). Again there are great parts of Hammond and piano solo followed nicely with guitar work.

Free's "Wishing Well" was sung excellently by Maggie Bell. Her voice that actuailly suits for R&B music sounds really nice here and it gives different sort of experience compared with traditional blues female vocal like Janis Joplin, for example. I can sense good drum playing by Pete York in this track. "It Never Rains But It Pours" starts nicely with piano followed by vocal work by Zoot Money. I like the Hammond organ and guitar work. Well, Jon Lord is still kicking!

"Lazy" by Deep Purple has become a legendary track that has grown with me since I was teenager. In fact it was part of my daily routine to play the Made In Japan cassette of Deep Purple as I love this track. The good thing is that this time Jon has completely rearranged the music to suit blues and jazz requirements and he is successful! Don't worry, the song does not radically transform into new totally different track. Rather, Jon is very smart by keeping the opening melody of the track that has been so legendary intact. What happen is that the nice flow of music which then changes smoothly into blues / jazz arena with duet vocal of Maggie Bell and Zoot Money. There is also another great performance of I'm a Man which was popularized by Chicago. The other Deep Purple track is When a Blind Man Cries.

Overall, I highly recommend this excellent blues performance by Jon Lord and his band. The performance of all contributors are really excellent. In fact the bass player (Collin Hodgkinson) was given a chance to provide his solo work in Walking Blues. It's a captivating bass guitar solo backed with great applause from the crowd. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Windows 74, way ahead of Bill Gates

Probably Jon Lord's most ambitious project to date, interpolating classical music with a soul singer, a blues singer and an opera singer, plus a rock band backing up. The 1969 'Concertofor Group and Orchestra' was hit- and-miss, the first movement being amazing, while the other two movements were rather half-good half-boring. Well, with 'Windows' Jon Lord still isn't capable of making it all great, but still, who could have?

It's a very peculiar live performance if you can deal "rock meets classical", it's not something out-of-this-world, but it's neither your usual orchestral rock music. The first piece is a completition of an uncomplete piece by Bach, this piece does include rock instrumentation, though it's by no means as rockin' as the Movement 1 of the Concerto. This is essential for Bach fans, haha.

The second and final piece, 'Window', is the central piece though, lasting over 30 minutes. With the fantastic and emotive vocal performances of David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Tony Ashton and a female opera singer, this is indeed a strange but not really out-there piece as you think it might be. The whole composition is divided into three different parts, each having their own ups and downs. While I wouldn't say there's much coherence between the three parts, the amount of interesting bits on this, clearly something that no other band or artist had done by that time, makes it up for me.

4 stars: excellent, mainly interesting, record that is a must-have for fans of 'rock meets classical' and its variations. The 'Concerto' was more straightforward classical and rock music interpolated, with 'Windows' Jon pushed the boundaries even more adding new styles and letting the compositions be more loose. Not top- notch althrough though, so don't expect two grandiose epics, if not excellent "experimentations" with orchestra.

Before I Forget was, as far as I know, the only Jon Lord solo album ever releaesd in Brazil. It wasn´t met with much praise here (or anywhere else, for that matter). Too bad. While most Lord´s work was more classical inclined, this CD can be seen as a showcase of his rocker side, plus his other musical roots in blues, soul, funk and gospel. The results are mixed,of course. It was 1982 and the times were quite confusing, to say the least! Lord was in Whitesnake at the time and it is no surprise that some of the songs here sound a lot like David Coverdale´s group. What ties it all together and makes it a worth result is Lord´s extremely personal keyboards playing, his tasteful arrangements and his great knack for the nice melody. And I got the new remastered CD with three bonus tracks only recently and I must say I enjoyed it much more now than at the time it came out in vinyl.

The opener Chance on a Feeling is a typical Whitesnake track, as it is the third, Hollywood Rock´n Roll (well, maybe a more Glenn Hughes song then). Just imagine Coverdale on vocals and you´ll have a tune that could be on Saints & Sinners or Slide It In. He is backed by several outstanding musicians, among them fellow Deep Purple/Whitesnake member Ian Paice, Bad Company´s Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell and studio drummer extraordinaire Simon Philips) There are several strong instrumentals that I think are the best ones. The title track is a beautiful piano ballad and sure is among Lord´s best ever compositions. Poignant and powerful at the same time. I just love this song! The longest (and more progressive) Bach Onto This is quite good, but never reaches the heights he achieved when played on Deep Purple on their best moments.

The ballad Say It´s Alright has a fierce vocal perfomance by Sam Brown and mixes very well its bluesy feeling with some gospel influences. Unusual, ok, but very well done. I also fancy very much the soulfulness of Going Home (a nice voice and keyboards only track) . The production is quite good and the new CD version sounds much better mixed and balanced than the original vinyl as far as I can tell. The two bonus tracks are a worth addition to the 10 previous ones (the third bonus is just a long interview).

Conclusion: I don´t agree with the low ratings this CD got from several reviewers. Before I Forget is a very good album. It shows Jon Lord tackling styles that he usually didn´t handle on his solo output. But those songs prove he is much more versatile composer and player than most of us knew. A kind of homage to his early musical origins as a professional player in the 60´s if you like. Just don´t expect anything too symphonic and it´s alright.

Rating: 3,5 stars.

First years of new Millennium Jon Lord met with his new low-profile band (of old guys, including bassist Bob Daisley) Hoochie Coochie Men. No jokes, they play blues standards, using vintage keyboards, in a traditions of British blues of late 60-s.

This album is first new band recording, and it's double CD album, recorded live in Sydney, Australia. From band's name and cover art you can perfectly recognize, what kind of sound you will find inside. Guys play enthusiastic, but extremely simple classic blues tunes, with harmonica, some characteristic Lord's Hammond passages ( too much of cliché) and .... it's all. Plenty of speaking communication with dedicated public makes this release more attractive for heavy fans.

Musically there are myriads of blues musicians, playing that music better. Even in rare moments, when band goes to heavier blues rock, the music sounds as played by good suburb pub band. Guest vocalist is terrible though.

I believe Lord and Co. have fun playing easy and relaxed music. This recording is absolutely collectors item, possibly released for sales during band's live shows ( by the way released in Australia only). Fans can hear Jon playing simple music in informal atmosphere. Nothing else to add.

I wish he had forgotten about this!

Jon Lord made some strange decisions in the late 70's/early 80's. Joining Whitesnake was one of them and recording Before I Forget was another. Lord's motivation behind making this album seems to have been to show Keith Emerson that he (i.e. Lord) could make an album worse than Emerson's Honky! I'm not sure whether he succeeded with that difficult task, but the two albums are close in badness. The major problem is that Lord seems not to know in what direction he wanted to go; we have Blues Rock, Rock 'N' Roll and Classical music in a pretty disparate mix. He is alternating between the different styles, but never once is he trying to fuse them together to create something more interesting. I'm not saying that all the material here is bad, there are indeed some decent moments. But there is nothing as good as would have been needed to save this album from overall mediocrity.

The three first tracks are very mundane bluesy Rock 'N' Roll songs whose only redeeming feature is a decent organ solo. The fourth track is actually the only thing that is remotely interesting on this album; it is an eight minute long Bach influenced track with nice keyboard work and some electric guitar. Good, but nothing too impressive. After this the album slows down quite a bit and changes its nature radically. It visits parts that come very close to what Lord would do many years later on his Pictured Within album. Most of the rest of the songs are based on grand piano, strings and guest vocals by "classical" singers (some of which would resurface on the Pictured Within album). Needless to say, most of these songs have absolutely nothing to do with Rock, progressive or otherwise. They are not bad songs, but not really my cup of tea.

Among all the tracks from the title track onwards, only Going Home strays from this Classical style. It is a cheerful, somewhat jazzy, up tempo instrumental piece and whose main melody is played on some keyboard instrument. It feels totally out of place among those classically oriented songs.

My version of this album has a 16 minute radio interview with Jon Lord recorded at the time of this album's release. This is easily the most interesting track and Jon is a very charming and funny person.

A weak album with only a few decent moments, only recommended for fans and followers of the Lord.

Praise the lord (with moderation!)

During the period from the late 60's to the mid 70's, Jon Lord was very much interested in fusing Classical music with Rock. 1976's Sarabande album was the very culmination of that interest and most probably the most successful of his works in this style (I must admit that I have not heard them all, hence the 'probably'). I would say that this is about 80 - 85% Classical music and about 15 - 20% Rock music. In stark contrast to Concerto For Group And Orchestra, the Rock elements are perfectly blended into the overall mix of Sarabande. While Concerto For Group And Orchestra sounded more like a battle of group against orchestra rather than any kind of interesting fusion of Rock and Classical music, Sarabande achieves the goal of actually fusing the different styles together (even if the Classical elements dominate things). Maybe Lord himself also thought that he had achieved his goals with this album since this was the last album he ever did in that style.

The Rock elements consist of drums, occasional electric and acoustic guitars, bass and a quite interesting array of different keyboards including Hammond organ (obviously!), acoustic and electric piano and some different synthesisers. While Lord is most known for his Hammond playing, he did use synthesisers during the latter half of the 70's and occasionally in the 80's both with Deep Purple and on outside projects. However, from the 90's onwards he went back to his roots and played only Hammond and piano like he did in the 60's and early 70's. Maybe the presence of synthesisers is what has made Prog fans like this album so much? Or maybe it is the memorable melodies? Anyway, I think that this is worth listening to, but it is by no means essential.

Keeping busy in retirement

Four years after the release of "Pictured within", Jon Lord decided it was time for him to make another solo statement. In the intervening period, he had played with an R'n'B/Blues rock band, but his studio activity was limited. By this time, he had retired from Deep Purple, primarily due to the rigours of touring. In a clear attempt to emphasise that he now sees himself as a composer as much as he does a performer, the sleeve image is of Lord with conductor's baton in hand.

The line up for the album is very similar to that on "Pictured within", including return appearances by Sam Brown, Thijs Van Leer and Pete York. Also present once again is what is best described as a small orchestra. From a pop history perspective, the most significant addition to the line up is Frida from Abba (reportedly a family friend), recording for the first time in 10 years.

The main difference between this album and the previous one is that there is much more vitality to the music this time around. We still have the reflective and melancholy sections, but they are interspersed with spirited passages of up-tempo sounds. Last time around, John was in mourning, here he is torn between the relief of having a blank sheet in front of him in terms of his future, and the trauma of leaving a band he had dedicated much of his life to. The second track, "De profundis" is dedicated by Jon to his departure, the piece capturing the melting pot of emotions perfectly.

Apart from some choral style voices on the opening "Miles away", the first vocals we encounter are on the third track "One from the meadow". This melodic 8 minute song finds Sam brown in typically fine form, delivering her own emotional lyrics beautifully. Her voice is nicely counterpointed by solo violin. "Cologne again" is the most dynamic solo composition by Lord in many years. It features a quasi-improvised organ section, complemented by some aggressive orchestration and the odd eastern sound.

Frida's voice on "The sun will shine again" is instantly recognisable, the piece allowing her to demonstrate the often under-appreciated talent she possesses. It seems ironic that the vast majority of long time Abba fans will be quite oblivious to what is undoubtedly one of her finest singing performances. Miller Anderson returns again to sing "November calls", his deep emotive voice suiting the song well. Incidentally, it is the lyrics of this song which provide the album title.

The title "The Telemann experiment" refers to a contemporary of Bach's, one of Jon's favourite composers as evidenced by his Bach references throughout his early solo work. Telemann also wrote in the Baroque style, and indeed was the more famous of the two in their day. This track actually takes us back to Lord's "Sarabande" album.

The album closes with "Music for Miriam", a reworked and lengthened version of a piece which appeared on "Pictured within", Miriam being Jon's late mother.

In all, an album which complements the previous "Pictured within". When heard together, the two albums work with each other to offer an even better experience than when heard individually. Whether Lord's aspirations as a serious composer will be recognised by future generations in the same way as his own influences (especially Bach) have enjoyed, is for future generations to decide. For now, we simply have to sit back and enjoy the music.

At one with the Lord

Having released four solo albums between 1971 and 1982, Jon Lord waited a further 17 years before venturing back into his solo career. During the intervening period the classic Deep Purple reformed twice and then fell apart completely; Lord however kept the faith throughout. After the general disappointment with his 1982 release "before I forget", hopes were high that he would rediscover the inspiration which had been apparent on his three albums from the 1970s.

While the 12 tracks here tend to be listed as individual pieces, Lord's official website describes how they are actually grouped into four suites. These are "The valley" (tracks 1 2 and 3), "Blue sky dreams" (tracks 4,5 and 6) "Of heroes and heroines" (tracks 7,8 an 9) and "Beneath a higher heaven" (tracks 10, 11 and 12).

Lord stops short of restoring a full orchestra to the line up, but does call in an army of classical and rock musicians (including Thijs Van Leer of Focus) plus the ever present Pete York on percussion and female vocalist Sam Brown (Joe Brown's daughter). Brown is given a couple of lyric writing credits too, the only person other than Lord to receive such a credit. Jon had been working on the music for some time before recording commenced, the loss of his mother in 1995 having a clear influence on the mood of the album. Significantly, he signed with the Virgin Classics label for its release.

The virtually inaudible opening bars of "Sunrise" imperceptibly increase in volume until a cello picks out a theme and Jon plays his introductory notes on piano. And so we are quickly reassured that this is to be an album of considered beauty with strong symphonic leanings. Those who are familiar with Deep Purple's revisiting of their "Concerto" (captured on the "Live at the Royal Albert hall" album) will recognise the piece and the following title track, which also opened that gig. As at that performance, Miller Anderson delivers an impassioned vocal to this beautiful song. "From the windmill" is a slightly looser instrumental which features classical guitar. The track remains downbeat, but has a more contemporary feel overall.

"Circle of stones", which opens the second section "Blue sky dreams", is a short reflective composition for strings, which merges into "Menorca blue". Here the strings remain but become the accompaniment to the lead piano and flute (played by the aforementioned Van Leer). "Evening song" finds Sam Brown providing lead vocal for the first time, her pained vocals and the crying violin accompaniment now really testing the emotions.

The title "Music for Miriam" is Jon's direct dedication to his late mother, the piece introducing the "Of heroes and heroines" tracks. Solo violin forms the main part of this emotionally charged piece. "Arc-En-Ciel", while still melancholy, offers a welcome change of lead instrument to Cor Anglais, once again joined by piano. "Wait a while" features further vocals from Sam Brown, the song having a familiar, almost traditional feel to it. The familiarity may simply be that it also featured on the "Royal Albert Hall" album also sung there by Sam Brown.

The longest track on the album, "Crystal spa", runs to well over 14 minutes. It opens as a sort of requiem with choral vocals and orchestration, the strings holding the notes poignantly as Lord adds colour on piano. There is a resemblance here to Tangerine Dream's later trilogy of interpretations of Dante's "Divine comedy". "Mountain sunset" takes us full circle from the opening "Sunrise", painting a picture of the last light of day. The melody reminds me of Scottish airs and long evenings in the remote Highlands. We close with "Different sky", a final glimpse of (Jon) Lord's emotional landscape before we must return to our own reality.

It is probably fair to say that you need to be in the right mood to listen to and appreciate this album. "Pictured within" is not for those wanting to rock out or to sing along. It is an album for relaxation, for reflection, and as Jon himself was doing, for remembering those who are no longer with us. While the music remains impassioned but gentle throughout, this is not a morbid affair. It is quite feasible to enjoy the music while indulging in personal thoughts and memories.