THE FIRST SEVEN DAYS

Labels can be unfair - there's really only two kinds of music, good or bad - but if we are attaching labels then this album strictly falls under the category of symphonic rather than jazz/fusion. A carefully constructed series of pieces that on first listening owe little to either the Mahavishnu Orchestra or "Miami Vice" , Jan Hammer's first solo album is a set of compositions that represent, as you would expect, the first seven days of creation. Hammer concentrates on composition and creating moods, rather than showing off his technique, though this comes across too. To give a crude description - it's more laid back than say Six Wives of Henry VIII, but more involving than Jean Michel Jarre's sometimes soporific work. "Oceans and Continents" is the piece that stays most in the mind, with its haunting melody laid over piano. For the "Sixth Day- People" Hammer makes clever use of violin, to represent the sophistication of the human spirit.

Highly recommended - the CBS re-master is excellent quality. Small warning - the CD is typical length for the time, i.e. around 40 miniutes, and there's no bonus tracks, but the quality of the music hopefully means you won't feel cheated.

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