Late Deep Purple legend Jon Lord's "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" is set to be released as Blu-ray/CD set and on double vinyl on September 3rd. The new release follows the standard CD release from September 2012.Lord said of the project in May 2012, shortly before his death, "Over these last years since leaving Deep Purple, I've played it over 30 times with different orchestras and conductors all over the world, and, of course, in 2000 I did it well over 30 times with Purple on the Concerto tour, so I've been honing the piece live on stage, and I've had the opportunity to change things in the score that weren't sounding quite right. It is therefore a marvelous and exciting prospect to have the definitive recording of the definitive version of the score."
The recording of the project began in Liverpool in June of 2011 when Lord recorded the rhythm section by conductor Paul Mann with Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd, Madonna) and Brett Morgan (Jon Anderson, Sting) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
The recording then moved to the famed Abbey Road Studios in London where Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, Steve Balsamo and Kasia Laska recorded vocals and Joe Bonamassa, Darin Vasilev and Steve Morse recorded guitar parts.
The double vinyl release will feature a special bonus of Jon Lord's last interview with the BBC from August 2012. The Blu-ray + CD release will include the full Concerto on CD and a 5.1 audio bonus piece on the Blu-ray, as well as a "Making Of" feature, in-depth interviews with Paul Mann and Marco de Goeij, and an exclusive new behind the scenes documentary "Up Close & Personal (Orchestral Recording Sessions)".
