Jon Douglas Lord (born Leicester 9 June 1941) is an English composer, Hammond organ and piano player.Born in Leicester, he has been a member of Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Paice, Ashton & Lord, The Artwoods, and Flower Pot Men. He is recognised for his unique Hammond organ blues-rock sound, compositional flair in both the rock and classical idioms and career principally with the heavy rock band, Deep Purple. In 1968, Lord co-founded Deep Purple. Lord and drummer, Ian Paice, were the only constant band members during the band's existence from 1968 to 1976 and then from the time they reformed in 1984 to Lord's departure in 2002. Lord retired from Deep Purple after their UK tour that year, and was replaced by ex-Ozzy Osborne and Rainbow (band) keyboard player Don Airey.One of his most ambitious works was his composition Concerto for Group and Orchestra which was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969 with Deep Purple right after establishing the legendary Mk II lineup with Blackmore, Gillan, Glover and Paice. The concerto was later revisited in 1999 with another performance at the Albert Hall with DP, guitarist Steve Morse replacing Ritchie Blackmore.Lord had been considering leaving the band for some time, due to his busy touring schedule and his concerto being aired again, after thirty years, 1999. In 2001, Don Airey was hired to substitute Lord for a month after a knee injury. Lord decided to leave the band for good in 2002.Lord is well-respected for his mastery of the Hammond Organ and for his eclectic compositional talents and in his 34-year Deep Purple career, you can hear his distinctive solos amidst many classic tracks in the Deep Purple canon.From Wikipedia. Plain MySpace Layouts by Iron Spider
