Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Jan Akkerman in an English Country Garden

I’ve been off the air because me and Mrs.H. took a trip down south to Sussex to spend the weekend with friends. They had decided to hold a charity concert in their back garden – it turned out to be a fabulous affair. Through Jane and Tony Robinson's generosity they managed to raise a good deal of money for the Dreams Come True charity who help terminally ill children. There were three bands that played including the headline act Jan Akkerman. For those who are unfamiliar with the name he was the guitarist with Dutch band Focus in the Seventies – and a brilliant one at that. House of the King, Sylvia, Hocus Pocus and Moving Waves are some of the tracks you might recall.

These days Jan plays a mixture of jazz and rock that is fused together with a dash of classical music. His band, keyboards, bass amd drums were all excellent and those who were there who hadn’t heard him before went away, I’m sure, vowing to get some of his music. Amongst the highlights of his show was a stunning version of Paul Weller’s ‘You do something to me’ and ‘Slow man’. He started the set with some Focus classics, “Just to remind you of where come from.” The picture s from the afternoon sound check.

You can find Jan’s excellent album ’10,000 Clowns on a rainy day' which is WELL worth checking out.

5 comments:

Ian russell said...

I remember them! while a schoolboy, I went all the way across to Dagenham Roundhouse to see them with my best mate - we got lost and had to walk miles! The organist yodeled a lot and the support band (can't recall who) played films of the Magic Roundabout at the back of the stage. It was a good gig.

r morris said...

Welcome back, Richard.
Sounds like a fun trip.

Anonymous said...

Sussex is lovely, I'm glad you had a great time for such a worthwhile cause. I'm a Paul Weller fan too.

James Higham said...

It was a pity he and Thijs van Leer had a rivalry because individually they were not quite as good. There was a magic to that group.

Richard Havers said...

It has a lot to do with the fact that Van Leer wrote the better songs and Jan A executed them superbly. Having said that his guitar playing is actually better than it's ever been.