He is the Dutch master best known for the rock anthem that might have unknowingly ignited the guitar shred Olympics, “Hocus Pocus,” recorded with his early ‘70’s band, Focus. But Jan Akkerman is a master of many styles of guitar displayed over 50+ years of recording – classical and medieval lute, jazzfusion, bebop, Bach-infused prog, proto-metal, blues rock, Gypsy swing and Middle Eastern EDM, as evidenced on an album recorded, mixed and mastered on a bet in 24 hours, the saucily titled Oil in the Family.
In 1973, Akkerman was named “Best Guitarist in the World” by the British Bible of Rock, Melody Maker Magazine, over Page, Clapton, Beck, and many more. But after his jet-setting days with Focus ended in 1976, he was happy to stay in Central Europe and make one great, but not so wonderfully promoted, album every year. With his Focus fame and incredibly broad talent, it is no wonder that some of his most fervent fans encompass an A-list of guitarist gods, including Eddie Van Halen, Brian May, Frank Zappa, Yes’ Peter Banks, Motörhead’s Phil Campbell, Gary Hoey, and even the Beach Boys, who reportedly had him play on some tracks, sadly unreleased, fromtheir 1973 album made in his home country, Holland. And just this month, two more monsters of the guitar, Dixie Dregs/Deep Purple’s Steve Morse and Dream Theaters’ John Petrucci, released their own take on Akkerman’s “Hocus Pocus,” complete with yodeling. The latter ingredient is something Jan said he quietly tolerated over his six-year stint touring the world with Focus, something that sometimes is still ringing in his ears!
While he is a master in the studio, Akkerman has displayed a serious addiction for releasing live albums, beginning with 1973’s sensational Live at the Rainbow with Focus through to his latest solo live collection, the eighth by my count, My Focus – Live Under the Rainbow.
Focus’s live album is a must for any lover of prog and adventurous improvisation. Akkerman’s playing on “Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!” is a masterclass on how to build a solo from silence to roaring climax. This five-minute extravaganza of taste and technique is even more impressive because the guitarist went into it after having to change a string mid-song.
His 1978 offering, “Jan Akkerman Live,” finds him in a jazz fusion mode, with a classic hollow body jazz tone à la George Benson, deploying sizzling flash on tunes like “Pavane.” His 1997 two-disc live offering, “10,000 Clowns on A Rainy Day,” may be his best captured on stage, with Jan finally beginning to give his fans the Focus classics he long avoided playing, like “Hocus Pocus” and “Focus II,” along with solo staples like the gorgeous ballad,“Primadonna,” “Tranquilizer,” and “Streetwalker.” This playlist has served as the template for other great releases like “Live in Tokyo” and “Live at Alexanders” (both 2009) and “North Sea Jazz – Legendary Concerts” (2013). I had the pleasure of seeing the recording on his only live acoustic album, originally titled Live at the Priory but retitled Unplugged in 1997 at his first series of shows in the UK in two decades.
Jan’s latest live album is continuation of his winning streak of capturing his best, and that of his always first-rate accompanists, on stage.
The album kicks off with its best tune, the nine-minute “Spiritual Privacy,” from his recent album, Close Beauty. It is a slow modal delight driven by steadily building funky beats from Jan’s longtime drummer, Martin van den Berg, and bassist David de Marez Oyens. It is a showcase for a lengthy solo from Jan where he runs through his favorite diminished and whole tone scales, escalating tension to a fever pitch before chilling it back to earth.
Another stand out is the super funky, “Big Sur,” also from Close Beauty. After his solo, Akkerman hands the spotlight to his longtime keyboardist, the wonderful Coen Molenaar. Coen has spent well over the decade at Akkerman’s side. He is a master of ‘70s-styled electric piano, a bit Herbie Hancock, a bit George Duke, who has added majestic Jimmy Smith-styled jazz and a classical Bach flavored organ to Jan’s cross-genre compositions. After Molenaar’s chromatically dancing solo on the Fender Rhodes, Jan returns for a knotty excursion accented with envelope filter effect (that’s automatic wah wah for the layperson). The band’s renditions of the vintage ballads, “Focus I” and “Focus II,” may be among the best committed to one of his live discs. Another standout is “Palace of the King,” a radical reinvention, like many here, of the earliest Focus single, “House of the King.”
In a brief email exchange, Jan Akkerman credits the great sound of his guitar on this album to a return to vintage Les Paul with PAF pickups, a close variation to the guitar setup he employed in Focus’ early years.
While this album is first-rate Akkerman, it is just the tip of a very deep iceberg of spell blinding live and studio albums. At 79 years of age, Jan is still a guitar master, one who gets better with age, a tirelessly seeking musician whose legend and influence grows more with the passing of time.
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