Jon Lord playing the Hammond organ during “Child in Time”
An atmospheric photo of Jon Lord playing the Hammond organ during “Child in Time”, with some of the beautiful stained-glass windows in the Nidaros Cathedral in the background.
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Jon Lord playing the Hammond during “Child in Time”
Jon Lord playing the Hammond organ during “Child in Time”.
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.
Nathalie Lorichs, Steve Balsamo and Torodd Wigum During “Child in Time”
Vocalists Nathalie Lorichs and Steve Balsamo, with conductor Torodd Wigum during “Child in Time“.
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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.
Jon Lord playing “Child in Time”
Two photos of Jon Lord during “Child in Time”. The orchestral version had the Hammond organ as the leading instrument.
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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.
Jon Lord playing the Hammond organ during “Child in Time”
A close-up of Jon Lord playing the Hammond organ during “Child in Time“, gesturing / signalling to his fellow musicians with his left hand.
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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.
Jon Lord with the “Children in Time” choir in the background
Jon Lord plays the Hammond organ during “Child in Time”. In the background, the “Children in Time” choir is seen. Keyboardist Magnus Johansen is also seen on the left hand side in the background.
The “Children in Time” choir was, as the name suggests, gathered for the concert. Conducted by Elen Cath Furunes, the children’s choir was made up of then current and former song students at the Stjørdal school of culture – a municipal cultural offering for school children. Here’s an article about the choir from local newspaper Stjørdalens blad. (And if you, like a surprisingly large percentage of the world’s population, find yourself Norwegianally challenged, Google Translate is your friend.)
This was the first and only time “Child in Time” was performed by Jon with a choir. Jon wrote a totally new choir arrangement for this concert, which the choir received during the same week the concert was performed. They did a wonderful job, as can be seen and heard on the video from the concert.
Conductor Elen is in fact married to another of the unsung heroes of the evening – Terje Craig Furunes, who through his production company Craigtones produced the event. His version of “Smoke on the Water” translated to “nynorsk” during the birthday celebration that preceded the concert was also something to remember for those of lucky enough to be present.
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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.
Jon Lord playing the intro to “Child in Time”. Conductor Torodd Wigum leading the orchestra in the background.
Such a mighty moment. Jon Lord has moved from the grand piano to his “weapon of choice” in his days as a member of what was one of the biggest rock bands in the world during the 1970’s.
Starting to play on the Hammond organ, the opening chords – G – G – Am – from Deep Purple’s epic song “Child in Time“ from equally legendary 1970 album “Deep Purple in Rock“ from 1970.
What can I say? Being able to stand a couple of meters away as Jon played THAT intro, surely was an emotional moment for an old fan.
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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.
Jon Lord takes the sheet music, then communicates with conductor.
Jon Lord takes the sheet music from the grand piano, then communicates with the conductor as they’re getting ready for a new number.
It’s a number where Jon will be using the Hammond organ in the background extensively.
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Jon Lord playing “Pictured Within” on the grand piano.
Jon Lord playing “Pictured Within“ on the grand piano.
(Click the link above to see the video from the concert from the “Trondheim Experiment” webpage.)
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.
Nathalie Lorichs and Steve Balsamo singing “Pictured WIthin”
Nathalie Lorichs singing backing vocals and Steve Balsamo handling the lead vocals for “Pictured Within”.
Vocalist Steve Balsamo practically came “out of nowhere” when he impressed Andrew Lloyd Webber so much that he landed the title part in “Jesus Christ Superstar” in the production at the Lyceum Theatre in London from 1996 to 1997. His TV performance of “Gethsemane” reputedly sold tickets for the show for GBP 160,000 within half an hour, and saw the world famous composer calling him “one of the most exciting talents it’s ever been my privilege to discover”. Steve had only played the part at college prior to this.
In 1997 he also sang the part at Værnes Church during the Hell Blues Festival in Norway – where Knut Morten Johansen was one of the organizers. Knowing Knut Morten’s part in organizing Jon Lord’s orchestral concert in the Nidaros Cathedral in 2003 – the concert that in large part gave Jon the confidence to continue with his orchestral music – I wouldn’t have been surprised if Knut Morten was the one suggesting Steve as a fitting singer for Jon. But indeed – the man himself assures me that this was not the case, and that Jon and Steve starting to collaborate had nothing to do with him.
Steve Balsamo reputedly has a massive three and a half octave vocal range, thus nearly matching the vocal range of the young Ian Gillan – who sang the title part on the original studio version of “Jesus Christ Superstar“ in 1970. Steve matches Ian in vocal range, but has a distinctly different voice – what I would call a “cleaner” sound, where the young Ian Gillan could add a rawer, more powerful sound. Apples and oranges – both are / were great. Steve clearly states Ian’s version was a huge influence.
(A colour version of this photo has previously been published.)
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.