And sometimes heaven and thoughts of wonder: Jon Lord, 1941–2012

jonlord.org 

Sadly, Jon Lord passed away yesterday. It has always been natural to address him as one of the most important figures, and the greatest keyboard player, in the history of rock music; and yet, he was more than that. Jon Lord was an exceptional musician in that he was distinguished both as a  composer and a soloist, and his interests and abilities transcended genres, including hard rock, the blues, progressive rock, classical music, and fusion. 

Choosing a representative sample of music from a career spanning over six decades may not be the easiest of tasks, but if I was to choose just one track, that would be the title track of his 1998 album Pictured Within. The following live version is from the DVD Deep Purple in Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1999. The LSO is conducted by Paul Mann, and Pictured Within is sung by Miller Anderson; the lyrics have been written by Jon Lord. 

                                   here be friends...

                                   here be heroes...

                                   here be sunshine...

                                   here be grey...

                                   here be life...

                                   here love lies bleeding...

                                   memories so hazy...

                                   and dreams that drove me crazy

                                    here be down...

                                    here be paradise...

                                    here be starbright...

                                    here be pain...

                                    here be smiles in eyes like rainbows...

                                    my father and my mother...

                                    my sisters and my brother -

                                    pictured within

                                    where there're shadows ill met by moonlight...

                                    there be dragons I have slain...

                                    and here be bright eyes with hair so golden...

                                    sunrise and sunset and running free...

                                    and laughing at the rain

                                     here be home...

                                     here be travellin'...

                                     here be thunder...

                                     here be blue...

                                     and sometimes heaven and thoughts of wonder...

                                     the miracle of children...

                                     a poet and a pilgrim

                                     kith and kin - pictured within

                                     lose and win - pictured within

Jon Lord was classically trained, and he maintained his interest in classical music throughout  his life, as is evident in a variety of releases ranging from the Gemini Suite, Windows, and Sarabande in the 1970s, to the Boom of the Tingling Strings and To Notice Such Things in 2008 and 2010 respectively. However, his first and groundbreaking attempt to fuse rock and classical music was his Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a Deep Purple album recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Arnold; a video of this performance is available here. Thirty years later, the Concerto was performed in the same premises; the following videos present its three movements in full, and are part of the aforementioned DVD Deep Purple in Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. The Concerto was also performed internationally between 2000 and 2010.

During his long career, Jon Lord was involved in a variety of rock bands and projects; but first and foremost, he was the founder of, and a key driving force in, Deep Purple. In the first of the following videos he discusses the band's landmark album In Rock, and the development of his trademark Hammond organ sound. Deep Purple enjoy the status of pioneers and innovators on the basis of their unique sound, quintessential compositions, and unmatchable improvisational abilities; and it is due to the latter quality that they also happen to be the only band who has far more live albums than studio releases. 

It is in this respect that I have chosen live versions of two pivotal Deep Purple tracks. Child in Time is performed at the BBC in 1970 by Jon Lord on the Hammond organ, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Ian Paice on drums, Roger Glover on bass, and Ian Gillan on vocals; this of course is the classic Mark II line up in its halcyon days. Lazy is another astonishing performance, this time in Melbourne in 1999 by the Mark VI line up; the band, with  Steve Morse on guitar, had reinvented themselves, and entered a new era of musical creativity and evolution.

I have had the pleasure to see Jon Lord perform with Deep Purple Mark V, Mark II (second reunion), and Mark VII. It is not simply that his musicianship was always of the highest level; it is that he played with immense love, respect, and care for the music, the band, and the audience. And most of all, whether the Hammond soared its storming riffs over hands instantly raised in the air, or the piano sent its delicate notes to an audience holding its breath, whether it was groovy blues chords, or classically structured melodies, the spirituality of his performance was always there, both in terms of musical quality and personal dignity. This is what Jon Lord was for me; and he will be missed terribly much.  

Photograph by Csaba Molek  jonlord.org

See also:

Jon Lord has sadly passed away

Jon Lord, The Official Website

Press room

Jon Lord, The Official Website

Jon Lord, keyboardist with Deep Purple, dies at 71 

Ben Sisario, The New York Times 

Stars pay tribute to Deep Purple's Jon Lord

BBC