Jan Akkerman - ...and on guitar (2001)

I've already covered Jan Akkeran's early years in my 'Minstrel' post, which took him up to the solo albums that he released in 1972 and 1973, so this collection of guest appearances follows on nicely from that one, as it starts in the early 70's and includes his collaborations with fellow musicians over the next 30 years. His solo career actually dated from 1968, though his attempt at a solo album, later titled 'Guitar For Sale', and which contained his covers of numbers such as 'What'd I Say', 'Ode to Billy Joe', and 'Green Onions', was so primitive by the standards of the time that it was deemed unreleasable until Akkerman started topping reader surveys as best rock guitarist in the mid-'70s. Although it's unlikely that it would have been heard much in the UK, you can hear his early prowess on 'The Morning After The Third' by Hans Dulfer & Ritmo Natural from 1970, which came out two years before his first real solo album, 1972's 'Profile'. The music on that album was actually recorded in 1969, while he was still a member of Brainbox, and so it wasn't util 1974's 'Tabernakel' that the music reflected his interests at the time, which included the lute. Having finally acquired a medieval lute of his own, he taught himself to play it, and the results comprise more than half of the album, with authentic medieval music mixed with originals composed in a medieval style. After leaving Focus in 1976, Akkerman began releasing a stream of solo albums, beginning with the concept offering 'Eli', and this also gave him more time to offer his services as a guitarist for hire, mostly appearing on records by fellow Dutch artists such as The Tielman Brothers, The Joachim Kuhn Band, Mark Nauseef, and André Hazes. His own albums frequently embraced classical, jazz, and blues, and much of his work during the 1980's wasn't released officially outside of Holland, but in 1990 he issued the album 'The Noise Of Art' in the US on Miles Copeland's I.R.S label, and this revitalized him in terms of releases, becoming more active than he had been in over a decade, although this caused the guest appearances to slow down as a consequence. When he did show up on someone else's album his guitar-work was as fluid and emotive as ever - just listen to him on Ange's 'Autour D'Un Cadavre Exquis' from 2001. Akkerman's first two albums of the new century, 'Jazzah!' in 2000 and 'I'm In The Mood' in 2002, were self-released, but gained much acclaim from critics and the public alike, and 2003's 'C.U. On Coast To Coast' even earned him a place in the Dutch charts. He continues to record and release albums to this day, and I mentioned 2019's 'Close Beauty' in the last post, so enjoy this celebration of his contribution to Dutch music over the years, both as a solo artist, with his bands, and with these collaborations with his fellow countrymen. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 The Morning After The Third (from 'The Morning After The Third' by Hans Dulfer 

                                                                                                                 & Ritmo Natural 1970)
02 The Sky Has Called Us Out To Dance (from 'Scarecrow's Journey' by Robin Lent 1971)
03 Get Out Of My Fridge (from 'Two Sides Of Peter Banks' by Peter Banks 1973) 
04 Be-Bop-A-Lula (from 'Rock And Roll, Our First Love' by The Tielman Brothers 1976)
05 Orange Drive (from 'Sunshower' by Joachim Kuhn Band 1978) 
06 Don't Want Nobody (from 'J.D. Drews' by J.D. Drews 1980) 
07 Doctor Marathon Parts I & II (from 'Personal Note' by Mark Nauseef 1982)
08 Volgens Mij Ben Ik Getrouwd (from 'Dit Is Wat Ik Wil' by André Hazes 1989) 

Disc Two
01 Atlantis (from 'Atlantis: Bilder Från En Ö' by Björn J:son Lindh 1983)
02 I Lose Again (from 'The Talisman' by Forcefield 1988)
03 Stealth (from 'Guitar Speak II' by Various Artists 1990) 
04 Blij En Bang  (from 'Mijn Hart Slaapt Nooit' by Henny Vrienten 1991)
05 Soul Detective (from 'Soul Detective' by Bernard Oattes 1995)
06 Autour D'Un Cadavre Exquis (from 'Culinaire Lingus' by Ange 2001)

Jan Akkerman - Minstrel (1973)

Jan Akkerman was born on 24 December 1946 in Amsterdam, and is best known as being the guitarist with Dutch prog-rockers Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. However, that wasn't his first gig, as he'd been playing in other local bands for some time. At age five he took guitar lessons, and his first single was released in 1960, when he was just thirteen years old. At eleven he was in the rock band Johnny And His Cellar Rockers with his friend Pierre van der Linden, and when he left he took Linden with him to join The Hunters. After seeing a performance by classical guitarist Julian Bream, he became interested in medieval music and learned to play the lute. In 1968 he started the band Brainbox with van der Linden, Kaz Lux, and Bert Ruiter, and in the same year he also recorded and released his fist solo album 'Talent For Sale'. In late 1969 he joined the Thijs van Leer Trio, which was the pit band for the Dutch theatrical production of Hair (recorded as an album in 1969), before they changed their name to Focus. Under this name the band explored progressive rock, with an amalgam of classical, jazz, and rock music, and had hits in the seventies with singles such as 'Hocus Pocus' and 'Sylvia'. In 1972 he released his second solo album 'Profile' on the legendary Harvest Records label, and solo and collaborative albums have appeared regularly ever since. 
This album collects together examples of his work with the all bands mentioned above, including a great cover of The Shadows' 'Blue Tango' from Johnny And His Cellar Rockers, some nice originals from The Hunters, and some nascent prog from Brainbox. There's also the two songs that he wrote for his 'Talent For Sale' album, and a couple of tracks from his 70's records 'Profile' and 'Tabernacle', both of which were released as singles in 1972/73. I've omitted anything from Focus as they are already well-known enough to need no introduction, but I have included his own take on their 'House Of The King' as it's a nice interpretation of the song. His latest album 'Close Beauty' has just been released to positive reviews, so if you like what you hear then check it out to see what he's up to now.  

Track listing

01 Exodus (Johnny And His Cellar Rockers 1961)   
02 Blue Tango (Johnny And His Cellar Rockers 1962)    
03 It Ain't Me Babe (The Hunters 1965)    
04 Russian Spy And I (The Hunters 1966)  
05 Janosh (And His Big White Poodle) (The Hunters 1966)    
06 Lost Money (The Hunters 1968) 
07 Strange Things Appear (The Hunters 1968)
08 Blues In G (The Hunters 1968)
09 Revival Of The Cat (Jan Akkerman 1968)
10 Moonbeam (Jan Akkerman 1968) 
11 Down Man (Brainbox 1969)
12 Sea Of Delight (Brainbox 1969)   
13 Summertime (Brainbox 1969)   
14 Minstrel/Farmers Dance (Jan Akkerman 1972) 
15 House Of The King (Jan Akkerman 1973)