Jan Akkerman

Last updated
Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman 2005.jpg
Jan Akkerman in Russia, 2005
Background information
Born (1946-12-24) 24 December 1946 (age 77)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres Progressive rock, rock, blues rock, jazz rock
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, producer
Instrument(s) Guitar, lute, bass, keyboards, drums
Years active1958–present
Labels Atlantic, EMIdisc, Sire, Atco
Formerly of Johnny and his Cellar Rockers, ZZ & the Maskers, The Hunters, Brainbox, Focus
Website www.janakkerman.com

Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. [1] He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding jazz rock influences.

Contents

Biography

Akkerman performing on Dutch television (AVRO's TopPop) in 1974 Jan Akkerman - TopPop 1974 09.png
Akkerman performing on Dutch television (AVRO's TopPop ) in 1974

The son of a scrap iron trader, Akkerman was born in Amsterdam. [1] He started playing the accordion before turning to the guitar. Around age ten he took guitar lessons and his first single, with the Friendship Sextet, was released in 1960, when he was thirteen years old. Akkerman won a scholarship to study at the Amsterdam Music Lyceum for five years, developing his composition and arranging skills.

At fourteen he was in the rock band Johnny and his Cellar Rockers with his friend Pierre van der Linden. [2] Both then joined The Hunters. [2] After seeing a performance by classical guitarist Julian Bream, he became interested in renaissance music and the lute. [2] He started the band Brainbox with Van der Linden, Kaz Lux, and André Reijnen. [2] They recorded for Parlophone. [2]

Akkerman joined the Thijs van Leer Trio in late 1969 which, as the nascent band Focus, was the pit band for the Dutch theatrical production of Hair (recorded as an album in 1969). Under the name Focus, the band explored progressive rock, an amalgam of classical, jazz, and rock music, and had hits in the seventies such as "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia". The band's albums Focus II (1971) and Focus 3 (1972) were certified gold by the RIAA in 1973 for selling 500,000 copies each. [3] [4] The live album At the Rainbow (1973) and the band's fourth outing, Hamburger Concerto (1974), were certified silver by the BPI for selling 60,000 copies each. [5]

In 1973 Akkerman was voted Best Guitar by readers of UK magazine Melody Maker , beating favorites such as John McLaughlin, Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore. [6] Akkerman and Focus were the only ones to challenge the bias toward American and British pop artists. [7] He placed in third a year later in MM's Polls, after Eric Clapton (#1) and Steve Howe (#2) from Yes. With manufacturer Framus he helped produce one of the first signature guitar models. [8] [9]

Atlantic released his solo album Tabernakel, which contains his playing the lute. [2] His concept album Eli, recorded with Kaz Lux on vocals, won the Dutch Edison Award for best album in 1976. [10] On the album, Akkerman experimented with a 12-string guitar tuned in parallel fifths. In the early 1980s he began to experiment with a guitar synthesizer, as on the album Oil in the Family. In 1985, he reunited Focus with Van Leer for an album and accompanying concert. The band reunited again in 1990 for the Dutch television program Goud van Oud (Old Gold). During the 1990s and in the 2000s he continued playing with his own band, and also as a solo musician, accompanied by pre-recorded computer-generated background (Roland synthesizers and Linn drums).

Akkerman was a session musician with André Hazes and worked with Alan Price, Herman Brood, Peter Banks, Jack Bruce, Charlie Byrd, Phil Collins, Paco de Lucía, Ice-T, and B.B. King.

In 1992, he was involved in a serious car accident, but he resumed playing in 1993. In the late 1990s, after an absence of nearly 20 years, he was persuaded to tour the UK again. He wrote for the Dutch magazine GitaarPlus. In 2013, Akkerman released the album North Sea Jazz. [11]

Discography

Awards and honours

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Focus (band)</span> Dutch rock band

Focus is a Dutch progressive rock band formed in Amsterdam in 1969 by keyboardist, vocalist, and flautist Thijs van Leer, drummer Hans Cleuver, bassist Martijn Dresden, and guitarist Jan Akkerman. The band has undergone numerous formations in its history; since December 2016, it has comprised Van Leer, drummer Pierre van der Linden, guitarist Menno Gootjes, and bassist Udo Pannekeet. They have sold one million RIAA-certified albums in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thijs van Leer</span> Dutch musician

Thijs van Leer is a Dutch singer and keyboardist, best known as the founding member of the rock band Focus as its primary vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist. Born and raised in Amsterdam among a musical family, van Leer took up the piano and flute as a child and pursued them at university and music academies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hocus Pocus (song)</span> 1973 single by Focus

"Hocus Pocus" is a song by the Dutch rock band Focus, written by keyboardist, flutist, and vocalist Thijs van Leer and guitarist Jan Akkerman. It was recorded and released in 1971 as the opening track of their second studio album Moving Waves. An edited version was released as a single on the Imperial, Polydor and Blue Horizon labels in Europe in 1971, but failed to chart outside of the Netherlands.

<i>Focus 3</i> Album by Focus

Focus 3 is the third studio album by Dutch rock band Focus, released as a double album in November 1972 on Imperial Records. Recorded after touring in support of their previous album, Moving Waves (1971), the album saw the band write extended pieces and is their first with bassist Bert Ruiter in the group's line-up.

<i>Moving Waves</i> 1971 studio album by Focus

Focus II is the second studio album by Dutch progressive rock band Focus, released in October 1971 on Imperial Records. Following the departure of original bassist Martin Dresden and drummer Hans Cleuver in 1970, the band recruited Cyril Havermans and Pierre van der Linden, respectively, and prepared material for a new album. Recording took place in London in April and May 1971 with Mike Vernon as producer. The album features "Hocus Pocus" a hard rock song featuring keyboardist Thijs van Leer's yodelling, scat singing, and whistling, and "Eruption", a 22-minute track inspired by the opera Euridice by Italian composer Jacopo Peri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brainbox</span> Dutch rock band

Brainbox is a Dutch rock group from the late 1960s/early 1970s. The band was founded in Amsterdam by guitarist Jan Akkerman , drummer Pierre van der Linden and singer Kazimir Lux (Kaz). Their debut single was "Down Man", which established their progressive blues sound. They had several hit singles in the Netherlands, including "Down Man". "Doomsday Train", "Summertime", "To You", "Virgin" and "The Smile".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Havermans</span> Dutch musician

Cyril Havermans is a Dutch musician, best known for being in the progressive rock band Focus.

<i>Focus Plays Focus</i> 1970 studio album by Focus

Focus Plays Focus is the first studio album by Dutch rock band Focus, released in September 1970 on Imperial Records. It is the only album recorded by the group's original line-up consisting of organist and vocalist Thijs van Leer, bassist Martijn Dresden, drummer Hans Cleuver, and guitarist Jan Akkerman. It was renamed In and Out of Focus for the international version of the album released in January 1971 which included their debut single "House of the King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre van der Linden</span> Musical artist

Pierre van der Linden is a Dutch drummer, songwriter and member of the band, Focus.

<i>Hamburger Concerto</i> 1974 studio album by Focus

Hamburger Concerto is the fourth studio album by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus, released in May 1974. It peaked at No. 20 on the UK charts. The title track is based on Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Johannes Brahms. The composition also incorporates the first two verses of the Dutch Christmas carol O Kerstnacht, schoner dan de dagen at around 15 min. The first track is based on a Gaillarde of Joachim van den Hove of his work Delitae Musicae.

<i>Mother Focus</i> 1975 studio album by Focus

Mother Focus is the fifth studio album by the band Focus, released in 1975 on Polydor in Europe, on Atco Records in North America and on EMI in Japan.

<i>At the Rainbow</i> 1973 live album by Focus

At the Rainbow is the first live album from the Dutch rock band Focus, released in October 1973 on Imperial Records. The album was recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London on 5 May 1973 by The Pye Mobile Unit, recording engineer Alan Perkins. A studio album was initially slated for release, but it was shelved due to disagreements within the band. At the Rainbow was released instead.

<i>Ship of Memories</i> 1976 compilation album by Focus

Ship of Memories is a compilation album from the Dutch rock band Focus, released in 1976 on EMI-Bovema. During a period of group inactivity, longtime associate Hubert Terheggen asked their producer Mike Vernon to select previously unreleased material for official release. Compiled without any active involvement by any band member, the recordings date from January 1970 to mid-1975, and largely during unproductive recording sessions in 1973 for a follow-up studio album to Focus 3 (1972).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Dumée</span> Dutch musician

Jan Dumée is a Dutch rock/jazz guitar player, composer and record producer.

<i>Focus con Proby</i> 1978 studio album by Focus

Focus con Proby is the sixth studio album by the Dutch rock band Focus, released in 1978 on EMI Records. It features five tracks with vocals from American singer P. J. Proby. The record also features guitarists Eef Albers and Philip Catherine, drummer Steve Smith, as well as the two Focus members from previous albums. Smith and Albers would later go on to collaborate on the second album of Smith's band Vital Information.

<i>Eli</i> (Jan Akkerman album) 1976 studio album by Jan Akkerman

Eli is the fourth solo album by the Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman. It appeared under the name "Jan Akkerman & Kaz Lux". The track "Strindberg" was written as a tribute to August Strindberg's works. A departure from the progressive rock that Focus produced, "Eli" is a concept album with elements of jazz, pop, and funk intermixed. It won the Netherlands' Edison Award in 1976 for Best Album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia (Focus song)</span> 1972 single by Focus

"Sylvia" is a 1972 song by Dutch progressive rock band Focus. It was released on their 1972 album Focus 3. As a single, it became the band's biggest international hit, reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, after entering the charts there on 27 January 1973. and number 89 in the US Billboard chart in August.

<i>Live at the BBC</i> (Focus album) 2004 live album by Focus

Live at the BBC is a live album by the Dutch progressive rock group Focus, recorded on 21 March 1976, and broadcast on Radio 1 in the BBC Concert Series, but released only in 2004 by Hux Records, in CD format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of the King</span> 1971 single by Focus

"House of the King" is an instrumental by the Dutch rock band Focus. It was released as a single in January 1971 and reached No. 10 on the Dutch charts and sold well across Europe. In the UK, it was issued on both the group's first album, In And Out of Focus and the 1972 double album Focus 3.

References

  1. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 26/7. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eder, Bruce. "Jan Akkerman". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  3. ↑ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Program". RIAA . Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database" (To access, enter the keywords "Focus"). RIAA . Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. ↑ "BRIT Certified". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  6. ↑ "1973 Pop Poll Results". Melody Maker . London. 29 September 1973. p. 5. ISSN   0025-9012.
  7. ↑ "1973 Pop Poll Results". Melody Maker . London. 29 September 1973. p. 4. ISSN   0025-9012.
  8. ↑ "Jan Akkerman". Framus Vintage Archive. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ "'Framus - known all over the world'". Framus Vintage Archive. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  10. ↑ Kelman, John (24 November 2018). "The Complete Jan Akkerman: Focusing on a Life's Work". All About Jazz . Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Tidido". tidido.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2013-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.