Tag / Martin Axenrot

by trondjs

6. Playing “Bourée” (Outtake)

Jon Lord with his gaze fixed on the score during “Bourée”, a great number from his much loved “Sarabande” album. Martin Mendez and Martin Axenrot in the background.

Jon Lord, Martin Mendez, Martin Axenrot

Jon Lord at the grand piano with Martin Mendez and Martin Axenrot visible in the background.

Jon Lord with his eyes fixed on the score during the song “Bourée” – a number from Jon Lord’s 1976 solo album “Sarabande“, an album which is held in very high regard among his fans. There were two songs from the album played during this concert.

Martin Mendez – who is closely watching Jon – and Martin Axenrot from Opeth are visible in the background.

“Sarabande” was a fusion of orchestral music with the added “oomph” of rock musicians – including Andy Summers, later in The Police, on lead guitar, Mark Nauseef on percussion and Pete York on drums. Inspired amongst others by Bartók’s “Romanian Dances” and by Bach’s keyboard suites, the music is a playful mix of symphonic melody lines, often heavily saturated by Eastern European influences, and the rhythmic gusto of the electrically amplified musicians. In many ways, the album can be seen as the culmination of Jon’s attempts at joining the orchestra and the rock band starting with the “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” in 1969.

I was very pleased to get the chance to hear this song played live two times that day, both in rehearsal and during the concert – where there were very audible excited shouting from some of the audience after this performance.

(This photo didn’t make it to the printed book, but is shared here for the enjoyment of the blog’s readers and viewers.)

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No usage without my written consent. Links to the blog and blogs posts on social media etc are of course OK, but stealing the photos without permission is not.

by trondjs

4. Martin and Martin (and Magnus!)

Martin Mendez and Martin Axenrot from Opeth made up the rhythm section on some numbers. Here pictured with keyboardist Magnus Johansen.

Martin Axenrot, Martin Mendez, Magnus Johansen

Martin Axenrot (drums) and Martin Mendez (bass) from Opeth with Magnus Johansen on keyboards rehearsing before a concert with Jon Lord in the Nidaros Cathedral 2010

Quite a few of the pieces performed at the concert featured a rock band based rhythm section and modern keyboards in addition to the chamber orchestra and Jon Lord’s grand piano – and the occasional use of his trademark Hammond organ.
For this one concert, the rhythm section was a very special one: Bassist Martin Mendez and drummer Martin Axenrot from the Swedish prog-metal band Opeth – a band that is quite an institution by themselves by now. Indeed, I was told that several young girls were starstruck as they saw Martin Mendez relaxing outside the cathedral after one of the earlier rehearsals.

Fabulous musicians, both of them, they certainly helped assuring the classical/rock fusion numbers became really groovy.

Magnus Johansen on keyboards were added at the suggestion of Jon himself. Magnus is the son of Knut Morten Johansen, Joss amongst friends – the main man responsible for luring Jon Lord to play in Trondheim in the first place. Jon saw it fitting that Magnus got the chance to join him on stage for this concert. “I’ve known him since he was the size of my shoe”, he claimed during the concert.

I’m afraid I didn’t text my photos well enough back when I still remembered everything, so I’m not positively sure which number they were rehearsing here, but I think it was either “The Telemann Experiment“ or “Bourée“. Quite possibly the latter.

Photographically speaking, it’s quite amazing how Magnus’ face seems to peep out through a dent in the column in the old cathedral.

 

All Material: © Copyright Trond J. Strøm. All Rights Reserved.

No usage without my written consent. Links to the blog and blogs posts on social media etc are of course OK, but stealing the photos without permission is not.