After a summer of touring with Chicago tribute band Brass Transit and iconic Canadian rock band Lighthouse, one of North America’s top drummers is returning to Peterborough to perform with his jazz fusion band featuring Peterborough’s own award-winning electric violinist Victoria Yeh.
Paul DeLong’s ONE WORD will be performing at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 26th. Along with DeLong and Yeh, the other highly talented musicians in the band are Grammy nominee Steve Lucas on bass, Michael Murray on guitar, and Marco Luciani on keyboards.
The Juno award-winning drummer formed ONE WORD five years ago to perform rarely heard classic tunes from the great jazz-rock fusion bands of the 1970s, including the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, Allan Holdsworth, Weather Report, the late guitarist Jeff Beck, jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and more.
The band last performed in Peterborough to a full house at the Gorden Best Theatre on May 4 — 50 years to the day that DeLong saw the Mahavishnu Orchestra live in concert for the first time at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, which he calls “the real major turning point in my musical life.”
“I remember that they started with Birds Of Fire and, as the guitar solo built, I got the old chills again, then I felt myself starting to shake, and then I started to cry,” DeLong recalls. “I didn’t know that music could have that kind of emotional impact, but I found out that night.”
Formed by English guitarist John McLaughlin, the Mahavishnu Orchestra became one of the most important and high-profile bands in jazz fusion, a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians began combining jazz harmony and improvisation with rock, funk, and rhythm and blues.
VIDEO: Paul DeLong’s ONE WORD
While DeLong is best known for his multi-platinum success with rocker Kim Mitchell, he has also worked with other legendary artists including Domenic Troiano, Lawrence Gowan (Styx), David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat and Tears), Roger Hodgson (Supertramp), Tom Scott (L.A. Express), and David Blamires (Pat Metheny).
In addition to his May 4 show at the Gordon Best Theatre, DeLong performed in Peterborough at Showplace Performance Centre on May 28 with Brass Transit and on June 10 with Lighthouse.
Of note for the October 26 Market Hall show, original keyboardist Marco Luciani will be rejoining ONE WORD after taking a medical leave from the band over the spring (veteran Toronto keyboardist Don Baird performed in his absence at the May 4 Gordon Best show).
“Ecstatic to be reunited, the full original band will be performing an expanded setlist at Market Hall, including music from Return To Forever,” reads a media release from band member Victoria Yeh, who is presenting the concert as part of her Travel By Sound concert series, where ticket holders can access VIP backstage passes, hotel discounts and pre-show dinner specials.
For Paul DeLong’s ONE WORD concert, patrons who purchase table seats will get a VIP pre-show meet and greet with the band. You can make it a complete night out with a pre-show $75 dinner special at Amandala’s Restaurant, located in downtown Peterborough steps away from the Market Hall.
Advance tickets are $50 for assigned table seating in front of the stage or $35 for general admission and are available in person at the Market Hall box office at 140 Charlotte Street from 12 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday or online anytime at tickets.markethall.org.
VIDEO: “Take It Off The Top” by Dixie Dregs performed by Paul DeLong’s ONE WORD
