Lord, Jon - Beyond The Notes Live

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Capitol
Catalog Number: 7243 5 44468 9 4
Format: DVD
Total Time: 156:21:00

Recorded at the Vulkanhalle in Cologne, Germany on 5th October 2004, this DVD pretty much contains the same material Jon Lord would later perform during the 2005 European tour. Here, however, both Frida and Sam Brown show up as guests, whilst also the Trondheim soloists appear as the incredible string section. Those of you fortunate enough to have witnessed Lord live on one of these occasions will agree that the quality of the performance was extremely high, yet also the public should be congratulated as they respected the music to the same extent as if they were witnessing a pure classical concert. In fact, you can hear a pin drop during the entire set, the way it should always be! The sound is ever so detailed from the warm voice of Miller Anderson during "Pictured Within" right down to the ending of "Boureé." This is a real treat for everyone who is into beautiful music.

Lord's slightly jazzy piano approach during the middle section of "Sarabande" slightly evokes the grandeur of Jacques Loussier. Hats off again for the way the audience waits until the very final chord is struck before starting their enormous applause. It's also nice to see how also the backing singers add extra percussion to the whole, resulting in wonderful and full arrangements, as you can clearly see and hear during the intro for "Cologne Again," which is composed like a bolero. The powerful and at the same time fragile and crystal clear voice of Sam Brown perfectly compliments the soothing "One From The Meadow." Contrary to his concert in Tilburg, Jon's Hammond organ was placed next to his grand piano, which enabled the audience to see Jon from the front as opposed to his back when he put the fun into Dave Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance." From a visual point of view, seeing an orchestra and band perform is not the same as looking at a Slipknot concert, but the inclusion of one Emilia Amper on her keyed fiddle during "The Telemann Experiment" surely is nice to see (and hear). ABBA fans will be delighted to know that none other than Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad for the connoisseurs) steps on stage as guest during the splendid ballad "The Sun Will Shine Again." Sadly, and I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's shoes* by suggesting this, I can't help thinking she is playbacking the song all the way. Looking at her mouth, this can't be her singing live at all. To take away this hesitation though, once the song has ended, no doubt the sound of the microphone is well and truly on so the audience can hear Frida talk. Loaded with flowers, she goes on to thank Jon Lord's wife Vicki, who apparently has helped her along some hurdles in life. Nice to see the personal touch sneek into a wonderful performance like that. I still have my doubts whether at all she sang live though! [Later overdubbed maybe? -ed.]

Nice to see is the percussive intro for "Boureé" with both Mario Argandona and Bert Smaak setting the tone. In all, no fewer than eight out of the ten new compositions from the Beyond The Notes album are performed live here. I guess this is a rare event, as most of the time only a couple of new songs are featured in a live set. Only "Miles Away" and "Music For Miriam" didn't make it, the latter, of course, being a remake from a song from the Pictured Within album. Next to a short biography and an incomplete discography, which only informs you about Beyond The Notes and Pictured Within, there's also an interesting interview with Jon to make this DVD a worthwhile investment. So if you went to see one of Jon's recent concerts with the orchestra then for sure this is a nice souvenir. If on the other hand you live in those secluded parts of the world where Jon Lord will never perform, then for sure this DVD will amount to countless hours of unlimited pleasure in the company of one of the most talented composers to come from a rock background ever. Well done Jon and god bless!

[* esp. if they're blue suede -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Sunrise - Pictured Within / Sarabande / I'll Send You A Postcard / Cologne Again / Pavane / Gigue / A Smile When I Shook His Hand - Here Comes The Sun / One From The Meadow / Unsquare Dance / November Calls / The Telemann Experiment / The Sun Will Shine Again / De Profundis / Boureé

Bonus features : Interview with Jon Lord / Beyond the scenes / Biography / Discography

Musicians:
Jon Lord - piano, organ
Mario Argandona - percussion, guitar, vocals
Urs Fuchs - bass
Paul Shigihara - guitars
Matthias Kraus - keyboards
Bert Smaak - drums
Susanne Heitmann - flute, clarinet
Sabine Van Baaren - vocals, percussion
Emilia Amper - keyed fiddle
Miller Anderson - vocals
Sam Brown - vocals
Frida - vocals
The Trondheim soloists

Discography:
Gemini Suite (1970)
Windows (1974)
Sarabande (1976)
Before I Forget (1982)
Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady (1984)
Pictured Within (1999)
Live At The Basement (2003)
Beyond The Notes (2004)

Live At The Basement (2003) (DVD)
Beyond The Notes Live (2004) (DVD)

Genre: Other

Origin UK

Added: March 8th 2005
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.jonlord.com
Hits: 2226
Language: english