IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson performed at the Buddy Rich 25th Anniversary Memorial Concert on Monday, April 2 at the London Palladium. He sang while fellow heavy rock legend, Ian Paice of DEEP PURPLE, played drums alongside the full BUDDY RICH ORCHESTRA.
Dickinson is one of the most acclaimed heavy metal vocalists, regularly appearing at the top of lists of the greatest singers/frontmen of all time. DEEP PURPLE‘s “In Rock” was the first album he ever bought, so hearing him sing with the drumming legend of the very band that influenced his unique style was a treat indeed.
Other musicians that appeared at the event included singer extraordinaire Tony Christie and drummers Dave Weckl, Gregg Bissonette, John Blackwell and Gregg Potter from the USA; and Ginger Baker, Gavin Harrison, Clem Cattini and Elliott Henshaw from the U.K. The show will be hosted by Buddy‘s daughter, Cathy Rich, and comedian John Thomson of “The Fast Show” and “Cold Feet” fame. The annual memorial concert took place for the first time in the U.K., celebrating the music of the late great Buddy Rich. Previous sellout shows have taken place in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Boston. Source: Blabbermouth.net
Ian Paice interviewed by Rhythm magazine:
Bruce Dickinson and Ian Paice performing with BUDDY RICH ORCHESTRA:
In the annals of rock history, Tommy Bolin occupied a brief, but shining stint as a brilliant guitarist who wowed those in the know with his mastery of many genres —rock, fusion, funk, reggae and heavy metal among others. Along with a much-lauded solo career that, pushed the boundaries of rock/jazz fusion, Bolin played with THE JAMES GANG and DEEP PURPLE, which set him up for major solo guitar stardom which was cut short by his untimely death in 1976.
Not to be overlooked, there’s been much written about the guitar wunderkind and now a top notch roster of players have signed on to pay tribute to Bolin on “Great Gypsy Soul”. Produced by Greg Hampton and Warren Haynes, it’s a remarkable project that brings together major players who actually perform alongside Tommy Bolin‘s playing and vocals from the recording outtakes to his solo debut album “Teaser”. Peter Frampton, Warren Haynes (a key supporter of the project), Nels Cline, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Brad Whitford, Joe Bonamassa, John Scofield, Derek Trucks, Glenn Hughes and Myles Kennedy all contribute to this amazing project.
“Great Gypsy Soul” will be released on 429 Records on March 27 in both a single CD format and double CD with bonus tracks. A series of promotional concerts are also in the works.
Tommy Bolin was the quintessential guitar prodigy who focused his talents within the burgeoning rock/metal scenes of the early ’70s as well as mastered a highly lauded jazz fusion technique, catching the attention of rock tastemakers and guitar legend peers. It was just a matter of time before Bolin was making a name for himself playing on projects as diverse as Billy Cobham‘s “Spectrum” project (considered one of the great jazz fusion recordings of all time), replacing Joe Walsh in THE JAMES GANG, playing session work on seminal fusion projects by MOXY and ALPHONSE MOUZON, to replacing Ritchie Blackmore in DEEP PURPLE. With the release of his second solo album, “Private Eyes”, what should have been a red letter moment for Bolin, opening up for Jeff Beck in Miami, sadly turned tragic as Bolin was found dead of an overdose shortly after the gig.
Says Warren Haynes: “Many of the guests added after the fact have a close personal connection to Tommy — all share in acknowledging his place in rock history. Watching (and hearing) it all come to fruition some 35 years later was a journey of its own — well worth the travel.”
“Great Gypsy Soul” track listing:
Disc 1
01. The Grind (w/ Peter Frampton)
02. Teaser (w/ Warren Haynes)
03. Dreamer (w/ Myles Kennedy and Nels Cline)
04. Savannah Woman (w/ John Scofield)
05. Smooth Fandango (w/ Derek Trucks)
06. People People (w/ Big Sugar and Gordie Johnson)
07. Wild Dogs (w/ Brad Whitford)
08. Homeward Strut (w/ Steve Lukather)
09. Sugar Shack (w/ Glenn Hughes and Sonny Landreth)
10. Crazed Fandango (w/ Steve Morse)
11. Lotus (w/ Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Huges and Nels Cline)
Disc 2 Bonus CD
01. Flying Fingers (w/ Oz Noy and Nels Cline)
02. Marching Bag – Movement One (w/ Nels Cline, Bolin, Greg Hampton, John Scofield, Sonny Landreth)
03. Marching Bag – Movement Two (w/ Nels Cline, Bolin, Steve Lukather, Derek Trucks, Peter Frampton)
04. Marching Bag – Movement Three (w/ Gordie Johnson, Bolin, Nels Cline, Oz Noy, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa)
05. Marching Bag – Movement Four (w/ Nels Cline, Bolin, Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, Oz Noy, Brad Whitford, Peter Frampton)
According to JonLord.org, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Hagen, Germany will celebrate former DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Jon Lord‘s music at several of their concerts this year.
Working from plans put in motion early last year, this spring will see the orchestra perform five of Jon‘s pieces; “The Cathedral At Dawn”, a segment of his “Durham Concerto”; “Diguises”, released on the “Boom Of The Tingling Strings” album; “From Darkness To Light” in a brand new arrangement for full orchestra; “To Notice Such Things” and “Sarabande”.
The dates are as folows:
February 28
Jon Lord: The Cathedral At Dawn
Peter Tschaikowski: Violinkonzert
Dmitri Schostakowitsch: Sinfonie Nr. 9
April 24
Jon Lord: Disguises
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Violinkonzert
Franz Schubert: Sinfonie Nr. 6
May 15
Jon Lord: From Darkness To Light (World premiere of version for large orchestra)
Jean Sibelius: Sinfonie Nr. 5
June 12
Johannes Brahms: Haydn-Variationen
Jon Lord: To Notice Such Things
Johannes Brahms: Violinkonzert
July 6
Jon Lord: Sarabande
All concerts take place at Hagen’s Stadthalle, and Jon Lord is not scheduled to appear.
Lord revealed last summer that he was fighting cancer.
Jon Lord is recognized for his Hammond organ blues-rock playing and unique sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms. He has most famously been a member of DEEP PURPLE, the band he co-founded in 1968.
Lord last year received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Leicester.
DEEP PURPLE guitarist Steve Morse spoke with TheSpec about the band’s classic song ‘Space Truckin’ and how it relates to a NASA tragedy. Referring to himself as a “tech geek,” Morse’s interests are not only musical. A qualified pilot and longtime fan of the US space program, Morse became friends with Kalpana Chawla, a mission specialist on NASA’s ill-fated Columbia space shuttle mission in 2003. All seven astronauts aboard the shuttle died when the craft disintegrated during re-entry. Chawla had taken a copy of Purple’s Machine Head album, with her on the mission. The album included the track ‘Space Truckin’’ which was played as a wake up call for the crew.
The disc, which had been signed by the band, was actually found among the wreckage and made its way back to Morse.
“It was folded over like the wings of an angel,” Morse said. “The frayed edges were burned but you could still see some of the writing.”
In memory of the Columbia crew, Morse composed ‘Contact Lost’, a mournful short instrument track which closes out Purple’s 2003 album, Bananas.
“I’m a big fan of what NASA has done,” Morse said. “People don’t realize the research and development strides that have been made, all that technology. We’re recipients of all of that eventually.”
Musicianews conducted an interview with DEEP PURPLE/FLYING COLORS guitarist Steve Morse at the 2012 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, a massive music-products convention that took place January 19-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. You can now watch the chat below.
FLYING COLORS — the spectacular new virtuoso prog/pop/metal rock band formed by drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-DREAM THEATER) and Steve Morse — will release its self-titled debut album via Music Theories Recordings in the U.K. on Monday, March 26, followed by a U.S. release on Tuesday, March 27.
FLYING COLORS is Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), and Steve Morse (lead guitar).
DEEP PURPLE announced plans to extend its writing and recording period through the summer of 2012. A new studio album is tentatively due in 2013, to be followed by a world tour.
DEEP PURPLE‘s 18th studio album, “Rapture Of The Deep”, was released in November 2005. It was the fourth studio CD from DEEP PURPLE since guitarist Steve Morse joined the band in 1994. It was also the second album to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey.
British hard rock legends DEEP PURPLE are very excited by the prospect of making a new and significant album. To that end, they have decided to extend their writing and recording period through the summer of 2012.
Commented DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan: “We know we will disappoint some of our fans this summer. However, we look forward very much to our autumn/winter tour and continuing our worldwide tour with our new album in 2013.”
Durung a 2011 interview with U.K.’s Express & Star, Gillan was asked when fans might be able to expect DEEP PURPLE‘s follow-up to 2005’s “Rapture Of The Deep” album.
“The fact is that we’ve been touring flat out,” said Gillan. “We did 48 countries last year. We’re getting so much off on that we just don’t feel the drive at the moment for writing.”
Gillan did reveal, though, that DEEP PURPLE convened for a mini writing session earlier in the year.
“We were in Spain for a little while and we had a week off,” he said. “We spent most of the time in the bar, to be honest with you. It was a good session, but nothing absolutely dynamic came out of it.
“I think to get some progress as far as an album’s concerned you’ve got to have a target, you’ve got to work to a date, and that gives you pressure. If you’ve got the pressure, you get stuff done. We don’t have a plan, to be honest.
“Things have always been chaos, certainly since I joined, and we’ve never been able to plan anything. If we’d been able to make plans, we’d probably have retired by now!”
“People like to do stuff that they’re good at, that they enjoy, that they get something out of. So while it’s fun and we’re all getting older and bits are dropping off here and there, it’s still great. I think there probably will be another album.
“And because we’re not doing an album (right now) doesn’t mean I don’t write every day. It’s a day off today and for me it’s a full day at the office. This morning is interviews and this afternoon I’ve got two or three interesting pieces I’m working on at the moment. I write every day and so when I do come round to making an album there’s never a shortage of what I call color material.”
DEEP PURPLE‘s 18th studio album, “Rapture of the Deep”, was released in November 2005. It was the fourth studio CD from DEEP PURPLE since guitarist Steve Morse joined the band in 1994. It was also the second album to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey.
“Rapture of the Deep” was produced by Mike Bradford, who also worked on the band’s previous release, 2003’s “Bananas”. Source: Blabbermouth.net
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
