JAN AKKERMAN

This CD is maybe the most representative of Akkerman's guitar playing of the 70'. You know: after have played blues on Talent for Sale, classic guitar on Profile, rennaisance lute music on Tabernakel... Akkerman never had the "chance" of playing his most pure style IMO: jazz-rock. Yes. This album is jazz-fusion. A little smooth and dull in comparison to the succesful fusion bands (as Mahavishnu, Weather Report, etc.), but worthly enough.

This time, Akkerman's guitar is not that protagonist as on any previous album (except on the wonderful acoustic Gate to Europe). Here, on the other hand, there's an excellent bass, piano and drumming stuff too, much better than on Tabernakel or Profile. In these seven songs you can get into the jazzy style of this awesome and versatile dutch guitar player.

Also, this is one of the best places to start with JA's discography. This CD is quite easy-listening in comparison to previous works. Although there are no bad tracks here, there are no songs as excellent as Kemps Jig or as beautiful as Andante Sostenuto (both from Profile), but the fourth star of my rating (while Profile is just a 3-stars and a half to me) is due simply to the effort made here, where the tracks range from average to good. I'd say this Akkerman's self-titled album is a very nice follow-up to such a masterpiece like Tabernakel. Four stars.

NOTE: Do enjoy the extended version of Focus' "Crackers" from Ship of Memories, here released as the opening track. It's quite outstanding!