Recorded by The Basement.com for an International webcast which went live to the world, this DVD is a testament to the vast talent of Jon Lord, THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE MEN, and Jimmy Barnes. Bob Daisley Tim Gaze Rob Grosser Jon Lord

JON LORD WITH THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE MEN & SPECIAL GUEST JIMMY BARNES LIVE AT THE BASEMENT 

When legendary Deep Purple keyboard player, Jon Lord first performed his "CONCERTO FOR GROUP AND ORCHESTRA" in London in 1969, who would have guessed that some 3 decades later that his piece would very much be the focus of a new generation of chart topping musicians -this time Australia's GEORGE. 

Always an ambition of Jon's to play at the world famous Sydney Opera House, when he was asked to perform his most cherished composition at the 2003 Sydney Festival he naturally jumped at the chance.

GEORGE, the band, have recently achieved remarkable success with their album, POLYSERENA, spending 10 weeks at the top of the Australian charts. Fans of Jon and Deep Purple, they had previously performed the "CONCERTO" in Brisbane January 2002 under the guidance of British conductor, Paul Mann, and the Queensland Orchestra. They were delighted to have the chance of performing with Jon and met in London prior to Christmas 2002 to 'nut out' how the program would proceed. It was to be a collaboration made in heaven.

With the Opera House dates set for the period of 23-26th January 2003, and Jon deciding to accept an offer from the Queensland Orchestra to world premier his new piece, "BOOM OF THE TINGLING STRINGS" on February 15th, Jon thought it might be a great opportunity to play a few smaller shows featuring music from his classical past and new solo release "Pictured Within". Dates were organised for Melbourne (6th February), Sydney (7th February), and The Sunshine Coast Queensland (14th February), with 10 players from the Queensland Orchestra performing with Jon. In the final of the 3 sold out Opera House performances with GEORGE and The Sydney Symphony, Jon struck a spot of bother, aggravating an old ligamentous injury in his left thumb which made playing classical piano almost impossible.

With the solo shows booked, and promoted, Jon found himself in quite a quandary. Devastated with his injury, but desperate to fulfil his obligations the following week, he quickly contacted an old friend in Australian born bassist Bob Daisley (Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep, Gary Moore) who Jon had crossed path's with many time's over the year's.

Bob had recently returned to Australia after more than 2 decades based in London and the U.S, and had formed a local group known as "The Hoochie Coochie Men" performing classic blues standards, with Rob Grosser (drums),Tim Gaze (vocal/guitar) and Jim Conway (harmonica), all highly regarded musician's in their field. 

Jon and the band assembled in Melbourne at The Athenium Theatre on the afternoon of February 5th to rehearse for the following days show. Quick to knock together a storming set, the songs came together in a 4 hour period, with the following days show going down a treat.

The following lunchtime the band flew to Sydney, rehearsing a few numbers with Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes at The Basement. With sound restrictions they only had time to run through an acoustic version of Deep Purple's "When a Blindman Cries", before rushing to the ABC TV studio to perform 2 numbers live on national TV.

On returning to The Basement, the band immediately hit the stage and performed in front of a packed house. Here, commissioned by TMM, and recorded by The Basement.com for an International webcast which went live to the world, this DVD is a testament to the vast talent of Jon Lord, THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE MEN, and Jimmy Barnes.

A very special event indeed, enjoy.