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Jan Hammer

Jan Hammer's musical career is as firmly rooted in the fundamentals of classical, jazz and rock as it is committed to the future of electronics, synthesized sound, the possibilities of interactive media, television, film and animation.

His walls are lined with Grammy awards and gold and platinum plaques from around the world. His name is found on scores of recordings spanning the 1970s to the '90s — solo albums, collaborations with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Neal Schon, Elvin Jones and many others. Jan has composed and produced soundtracks for a long list of motion pictures, the music for 90 episodes of Miami Vice (which spun-off four soundtrack albums and its worldwide #1 hit theme song), 20 episodes of the popular British television series Chancer, and the music for BEYOND the Mind's Eye, one of the all-time best-selling music videos in Billboard chart history.

Jan Hammer was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He began playing piano at age four; formal classical instruction began two years later. By 14 he was performing and recording throughout Eastern Europe with his own jazz trio. He entered Prague Academy of Muse Arts, but with the Russian invasion in 1968, he came to the U.S., to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston (on a scholarship) and become a citizen. Jan spent a year as keyboardist/conductor with Sarah Vaughan. In 1971, he became a member of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, (then) the most successful group ever to record and tour in the jazz-rock fusion genre, selling over 2 million records worldwide, and performing 530 shows before their December 31, 1973 farewell concert.

Jan's solo career began with The First Seven Days (1975), produced and recorded at Red Gate Studio in his upstate New York farmhouse. Over the next decade Jan produced and performed on nearly 20 albums with his own bands (the Jan Hammer Group, and later Hammer), and such musicians as Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, and Neal Schon (of Journey), among others. With Beck, Jan wrote, produced and performed on several tracks for the guitar legend’s platinum Wired album after which the two set out on a massive 8 month, 117 date tour that yielded the gold album Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live. In 1981 and 1983

Jan teamed up with Neal Schon on the albums Untold Passion and Here To Stay and, still in 1983, Jan also joined Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and others for a series of benefit concerts for Ronnie Lane's ARMS (Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis). Into 1984, Jan played on Mick Jagger's She's The Boss and Jeff Beck's Flash — which included Jan's Grammy-winning song "Escape." That same year Jan scored three major motion pictures, a number of documentaries, "made-for-TV" movies in the U.S., commercials, and station identifications. But his greatest challenge came in the fall '84, when the producers of Miami Vice enlisted him to commence the rigorous weekly schedule of scoring the series. In 1985, "Miami Vice Theme" (MCA Records) hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and, in so doing, became the first and only original version of an instrumental theme for television to reach this pinnacle of success. "Miami Vice Theme" became a top 5 international hit and earned Jan two Grammy awards: “Best Pop Instrumental Performance” and “Best Instrumental Composition.” The Miami Vice Soundtrack album stayed #1 in Billboard for 12 weeks, hitting quadruple-platinum and selling over 4 million copies in the U.S. alone, with worldwide sales in excess of 7 million as of this writing. Miami Vice II and Escape From Television were both million-selling albums for Jan in 1987, both featuring “Crockett’s Theme,” which had become a smash European hit, topping the charts in six countries. The following year found Jan bowing out of full-time scoring duties for Miami Vice.

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Radio & Podcasts

Live recordings from John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck-Jan Hammer and Threeo with Gerald Gradwohl

Read "Live recordings from John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck-Jan Hammer and Threeo with Gerald Gradwohl" reviewed by Len Davis


Part 1 of today's show is all live music, from John McLaughlin & 4th Dimension, Jeff Beck-Jan Hammer Group, El Grupo with Steve Lukather and Steve Weingart and Threeo with Gerald Gradwohl and the late Bob Berg. Playlist John McLaughlin & 4th Dimension “Mother Tongues" from The New Universe Music Festival (Abstract Logix) 00:00 Jeff Beck-Jan Hammer Group “Scatterbrain" from Live (Epicx) 12:24 El Grupo “Dismemberment" from El Grupo-Live (Self Produced) 24:48 Threeo “Take That" from There Live ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Al Di Meola, Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke, Deodato and Jean-Luc Ponty

Read "Al Di Meola, Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke, Deodato and Jean-Luc Ponty" reviewed by Len Davis


A nostalgic look at the '70s with Return To Forever, Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke, Eumir Deodato, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Jan Hammer. Playlist Eddie Henderson “Sunburst" from Sunburst (Blue Note) 00:00 Al di Meola “Suite—Golden Dawn" from Land Of The Midnight Sun (CBS) 07:33 Return to Forever “Theme to the Mothership" from Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy (Polydor) 15:04 Stanley Clarke “Hello Jeff" from Journey to Love (Nemperor) 22:28 Milt Jackson “The Steel Bender" from Olinga (CTI) 29:59 ...

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BackTracks

Live, Eclectic, And Electrifying

Read "Live, Eclectic, And Electrifying" reviewed by Mike Jacobs


Live albums. Love them, hate them, they are definitely a different animal from the studio album. It may be argued--especially with all of the tools available currently--that the “studio" recording is the means by which music can be crafted and honed into the most accurate representation of the artist's vision. And yes, live albums can be often characterized by poorer audio quality, crowd noise, mistakes in performance, meager facsimiles of studio material, etc. but the live album will never go ...

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Extended Analysis

Stanley Clarke: The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection

Read "Stanley Clarke: The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection" reviewed by John Kelman


Legacy Recordings' recent spate of Complete Albums Collection box sets have righted a whole slew of wrongs by bringing long out-of-print recordings back in a reasonably priced and tidily collected series. They may be relatively light on production values--simple clamshell-style boxes, mini-LP cardboard sleeves, and booklets whose information, beyond detailed track and personnel listings, is largely dependent upon how much the artist has to say, if anything at all--but the opportunity to collect an entire discography from a specific period ...

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Album Review

The Jan Hammer Trio: Maliny Maliny

Read "Maliny Maliny" reviewed by John Kelman


Sometimes plenty can happen in three years; sometimes plenty can happen in a matter of days. When Jan Hammer recorded Maliny Maliny at a club in Munich on August 30, 1968, the keyboardist had no idea that, in three short years he'd be at the top of the jazz heap as founding member of one of fusion's most significant groups, guitarist John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. He did know, within 30 days of this live recording--when the young Czechoslovakian moved to ...

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Recording

Jan Hammer Will Release Seasons Pt. 2 On August 19

Jan Hammer Will Release Seasons Pt. 2 On August 19

Source: GoMedia PR

In 2018 Jan Hammer re-emerged after a nearly decade-long hiatus with the release of Seasons Pt. 1, a compilation of existing musical ‘sketches’ that he’d developed into longer pieces just for the album. Seasons Pt. 1 was so well received—it was lauded by Something Else Reviews as..." a fully orchestrated sound, all springing from his fertile mind and creatively assisted by technology…” while Jazz da Gama raved, “Rarely have the breathtaking evocation of endless vistas and the glorious traditions and ...

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Recording

Jan Hammer Will Release Sketches In Jazz On March 27

Jan Hammer Will Release Sketches In Jazz On March 27

Source: GoMedia PR

While he may be best known for his Grammy-award-winning music for Miami Vice, Jan Hammer’s roots have always been planted firmly in jazz. He was 14 when he formed his first jazz trio in Czechoslovakia, after which he came to the United States to study jazz at the Berklee College of Music. He spent a year as keyboardist/conductor for the inimitable Sarah Vaughan before joining forces in 1971 with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird, and Billy Cobham in the ...

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Recording

Jan Hammer To Release "Seasons Pt. 1" On July 20

Jan Hammer To Release "Seasons Pt. 1" On July 20

Source: GoMedia PR

On July 20, after a nearly 10 year-long hiatus, Jan Hammer—whose extensive body of work has spanned the musical spectrum from jazz to prog to classical to pop—will release Seasons Pt. 1, a compilation of existing musical sketches that Jan developed into full length compositions and selections that were created just for this album. Why the delay? Laughing, Hammer emphatically says, “It’s about time.” “I’ve actually been thinking about releasing something new for 6 or 7 years,” he continues. “This ...

Recording

Neal Schon and Jan Hammer Albums "Untold Passion" & "Here to Stay" Available for Download

Neal Schon and Jan Hammer Albums "Untold Passion" & "Here to Stay" Available for Download

Source: GoMedia PR

In 1981, when keyboardist and drummer extraordinaire Jan Hammer and guitar wizard Neal Schon were each enjoying massive success in their own careers — Hammer for his work with John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, as a solo artist, founder of his eponymous Jan Hammer Group and frequent collaborator with Jeff Beck, and Schon for a decade's worth of work with Santana and as one of the founding members of Journey — their long-standing mutual admiration finally brought them together for a ...

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Recording

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Mike Stern and others on the New Gary Husband Album

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Mike Stern and others on the New Gary Husband Album

Source: Souvik Dutta

Multi-dimensional drummer, keyboardist, composer and arranger Gary Husband hits his stride with Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2, his latest release on Abstract Logix Records. Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2 features an explosive all-star line-up of guest musicians such as John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jan Hammer, Robin Trower, Jimmy Herring, Wayne Krantz, Mark King, Alex Machacek and Mike Stern. Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2 does not merely pick up where 2010's Volume 1 left off. Volume 2 expands upon Husband's musical ...

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TV / Film

Jan Hammer's Music Remains Relevant Twenty-Five Years After Miami Vice

Jan Hammer's Music Remains Relevant Twenty-Five Years After Miami Vice

Source: GoMedia PR

Nike's LeBron James Video Featuring Hammer's Crockett's Theme Approaches 4 million views on YouTube This week marks the 25th anniversary of Jan Hammer's now iconic “Miami Vice" theme's ascent to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In those 25 years, there has not been another instrumental track that has experienced an equal measure of chart success. While Miami Vice the television show came to epitomize the 1980s, spawning fashion trends and a culture that have long fallen ...

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Recording

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Allan Holdsworth on Gary Husband's new album

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Allan Holdsworth on Gary Husband's new album

Source: Big Hassle

Gary Husband's new record Dirty & Beautiful Volume One features Mahavishnu Orchestra's John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer—it's the first time they've performed on the same project since the Mahavishnu days. Allan Holdworth, Steve Hackett, Robin Trower and others are on it, too. It's as heavy as a jazz/rock record can get. Over the course of a remarkable, still-unfolding career, Gary Husband has defined himself as the ultimate musician's musician: a fiery, perceptive presence who elevates every scenario—from the ...

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Radio

Bloomberg Radio with Jan Hammer, Billy Cobham and Mahavishnu Book Author Walter Kolosky

Bloomberg Radio with Jan Hammer, Billy Cobham and Mahavishnu Book Author Walter Kolosky

Source: Abstract Logix

Cary, NC -- Music greats Jan Hammer, Billy Cobham and book author Walter Kolosky will discuss the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra on the Bloomberg Network this Sunday (Feb 11) on WBBR Am 1130 (in New York City) and on the Sirius Bloomberg channel @ 8am, 1pm, 6pm and 11pm. During the program Bloomberg Muse there will be two segments about the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the book which chronicles its history and influence, Power, Passion and Beauty.

Listen live on the Internet ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Seasons Pt. 2

Red Gate Records
2022

buy

Sketches in Jazz

Red Gate Records
2020

buy

Seasons: Pt. 1

Red Gate Records
2018

buy

Stanley Clarke: The...

Legacy Recordings
2012

buy

Maliny Maliny

Promising Music/MPS
2009

buy

The Early Years

Nemperor
1992

buy

Videos

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