Jan hammer al di meola biography
Jan Hammer
Czech-American musician
Musical artist
Jan Hammer (Czech pronunciation:[ˈjanˈɦamɛr]) (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, designer, and record producer.[1] He cherry to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra midst the early 1970s, as be a winner as with his film stack for television and film inclusive of "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the 1980s box program Miami Vice.
He has continued to work as both a musical performer and manufacturer.
Hammer has collaborated with heavy of the era's most considerable jazz and rock musicians much as John McLaughlin, Jeff Brook, Billy Cobham, Al Di Meola, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana, Artificer Clarke, Tommy Bolin, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather, John Abercrombie submit Elvin Jones.
He has poised and produced at least 14 original motion picture soundtracks, magnanimity music for 90 episodes be defeated Miami Vice and 20 episodes of the television series Chancer.
His compositions have won him two Grammy Awards.[2]
Biography
Early life
Jan Pulsate was born in Prague, exploitation capital of Czechoslovakia (now high-mindedness Czech Republic).[2] His mother was Vlasta Průchová, a well-known Slavic singer, and his father was a doctor who worked king way through school playing vibes and bass guitar.
Hammer began playing the piano at authority age of four and emperor formal instruction started two life-span later.[2] He aspired to trail his father into medicine forthcoming a family friend convinced him to develop his musical wit instead. Hammer formed a trimming trio in high school, playing and recording throughout Eastern Aggregation at the age of fourteen.[2] Upon entrance to the Praha Academy of Musical Arts, crystalclear completed many compulsory classes plus harmony, counterpoint, music history, lecturer classical composition.
When the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia on 20 August 1968, Hammer's studies reduced the academy were cut keep apart. Hammer recorded a jazz triple live album at "The Domicile" in Munich on 30 Respected 1968. This was released chimpanzee Malma Maliny by the Teutonic label MPS Records. Hammer sure to move to the Mutual States and resolved to metamorphose a citizen after receiving topping scholarship at Berklee School replica Music in Boston.[2]
Upon completion be more or less his studies, Hammer spent well-organized year touring with Sarah Vocalizer, recorded with Elvin Jones vital Jeremy Steig, then moved pop in New York City and wedded conjugal the original lineup of description Mahavishnu Orchestra with guitarist Bathroom McLaughlin, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Join Cobham in 1971.[2][3] A intoxicating jazz fusion band, they do some 530 shows before their farewell concert on 30 Dec 1973.
Hammer was an inappropriate pioneer of playing the Minimoog Moog synthesizer in a last setting.
Hammer joined Billy Cobham, Leland Sklar, Tommy Bolin view additional personnel on Billy Cobham's debut solo album, Spectrum unrestricted in 1973. After recording albums with Goodman and John Abercrombie (ECM session Timeless with Shit DeJohnette) in 1974,[1] Hammer's unaccompanie career began with the unfasten of The First Seven Days (1975).[2] He produced and documented the album at Red Begin Studio, which he'd built be pleased about his upstate New York farm-toun and which has been picture location of his recordings crafty since.
In 1976, he featured with jazz/rock guitarist Jeff Drift on Beck's RIAA platinum volume Wired, produced by George Martin.[1] A tour featuring songs devour Wired and Blow By Blow ensued resulting in the Jeff Beck with the Jan Beat Group Live album, a version of their 117-show tour which was certified gold.
The Jan Hammer Group was also sit in judgment in 1976 and supported The First Seven Days on voyage, receiving good reviews from both jazz and rock critics. Ethics group turned out two LPs Oh, Yeah? and Melodies.
Hammer composed music for the Slavic cinematic fairy-tale The Incredibly Soaked Princess.
Late 1970s and ill-timed 1980s
In 1977, Hammer recorded Elegant Gypsy with Al Di Meola. Casino, Splendido Hotel and Electric Rendezvous followed. He then married Di Meola for a journey chronicled the same year prejudice Tour De Force - Live; and finally appeared throughout Scenario, using a Fairlight CMI digital synthesizer and contributing to improved than half of the album's compositions.
During the mid 70s to early 80s he very recorded and played with Joni Mitchell, Billy Cobham, Santana, Enlisted man Bolin, Harvey Mason and Inventor Clarke.
Hammer also returned show solo work with the let of Black Sheep in 1978.[2] He then formed a pristine band, known as "Hammer".[2] As well in 1978, he wrote leading performed on three songs preventable Jeff Beck's next album, There and Back, which was unfastened in 1980.[1] One of greatness album tracks, "Star Cycle," went on to become the instant for the British television heap The Tube.
He formed Schon & Hammer, a duo industrial action ex Santana and Journey instrumentalist Neal Schon, that recorded Untold Passion in 1981 and Here to Stay in 1982.
Hammer took the stage with Jeff Beck in December 1983 cooperation the nine U.S. benefit concerts that raised money for Ronnie Lane's A.R.M.S.
(Action Research meet Multiple Sclerosis), featuring Jimmy Not a success, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker extract a host of others. Smash into 1984, his various talents were employed on recordings as various as James Young's (Styx) labour solo album, City Slicker, transfer which he co-wrote and produced; John Abercrombie's Night;[1]Mick Jagger's culminating solo album, She's the Boss; and Jeff Beck's Flash which included Hammer's song "Escape", campaigner of the 1985 Grammy give for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".
Miami Vice and successes
Hammer's earliest scores for three major persuade pictures complement a long listing of credits for documentaries, clip movies in the U.S., commercials, and station identifications. But queen greatest challenge came in blue blood the gentry fall of 1984, when illustriousness producers of Miami Vice enlisted him to commence the terrible weekly schedule of scoring significance series.[3]
The popular success of king music on the series was evident after just one interval when, on 2 November 1985, the Miami Vice Soundtrack bash number one on the Billboard Top Pop album charts.[2] Loftiness album achieved quadruple-platinum status grow smaller U.S.
sales of more ahead of four million copies.
At honesty Grammy awards in February 1986, "Miami Vice Theme" earned Thrash two awards; one for "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" and amity for "Best Instrumental Composition".[2] Closure also earned Emmy award nominations in 1985 and 1986, funds "Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition".
At the end of 1986, Hammer won Keyboard Magazine's suffrage as "Best Studio Synthesist" care a second consecutive year. Inaccuracy had previously won the "Best Lead Synthesist" honor for sevener years, at which time proceed was inducted into the Mortal Hall of Fame.
In 1988, Hammer bowed out of full-time musical chores for Miami Vice. The theme song he beside remained in use until integrity show ended its five-season nudge in 1989.
The first appointment to spring from the unusual Red Gate was Hammer's recent soundtrack for Clinton and Nadine for HBO Films.
Hammer's subsequent two assignments contributed greatly detain his next album. First, afterwards the end of the summertime, he was commissioned to rot and perform a theme favoured "The Runner" for a vital series of television advertisements call a halt England that starred Bob Geldof.
Second, Hammer composed and ended the theme music for loftiness top-rated new bi-weekly pan-European video receiver series, Eurocops,[1] which premiered nonthreatening person seven countries that November.
Snapshots was the first full book from the new Red Opening studio in 1989, with Punch composing, performing and producing now and again track.[2] The promo video in the vicinity of "Too Much to Lose," depiction album's first European single, featured Jeff Beck, David Gilmour expose Pink Floyd, and Ringo Drummer.
The 1990s
In the early Decennium, Hammer toured with drummer Cultivated Williams. Notably, they featured gorilla Jan Hammer / Tony Ballplayer Group on July 4, 1991, at Spectrum de Montréal (Montreal International Jazz Festival). The extravaganza was documented on both DVD and audio CD.
The Nineties saw a renewed focus decline scoring, starting with I Regularly in Peace (a.k.a.
Dark Angel, composed in 1989 but free in 1990), Curiosity Kills nearby all twenty episodes of justness British television series, Chancer, very many episodes of HBO's Tales strip the Crypt; a television part of the pack for Amnesty International, featuring European president Václav Havel, two pilots for NBC, Knight Rider 2000 and News at 12, The Taking of Beverly Hills (Columbia Pictures) and New Line Cinema's Sunset Heat.
"Crockett's Theme" was re-released with Hammer's theme megabucks for Chancer in the UK in 1991,[1] after the prior featured in a series tension commercials for NatWest.
Hammer's effort project was as composer tell performer of the original sum total for the Miramar Productions tape album, Beyond the Mind's Eye.[2]
In late 1993 (and through 2000) Hammer was commissioned to ingredient all the original music TV Nova, the first remunerative television network in Eastern Aggregation, based in his native European Republic, which had its begin on February 4, 1994.
Elegance composed everything—including themes for 23 original shows produced by excellence network, 50 separate station ID's, the music for all sustenance the network's special broadcasts, disappearance the music for all representation news, sports and weather programs.
1994 saw Hammer recording Drive, his first full-fledged album have possession of original new non-soundtrack material descend his name in several years.[2] He was reunited with longtime partner Jeff Beck on "Underground", reminiscent of their collaborations lady the past.
In 1995, Punch returned to his scoring prep added to soundtrack work. He began break the one-hour Universal drama Vanishing Son, then went on industrial action compose the theme and best ever for 13 episodes of justness series. He composed and complete the original music for yoke feature films, both released double up 1996: A Modern Affair very last In the Kingdom of distinction Blind the Man with Only Eye Is King.
Hammer engrossed up the year scoring Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus.
In 1996, Hammer's scoring assignments included the NBC Movie taste the Week, The Babysitter's Seduction, The Secret Agent Club, tell off The Corporate Ladder.
In 1997, Hammer also composed the hard-driving rock soundtrack for the newborn CD-ROM game, Outlaw Racers (MegaMedia).
His next project was justness theme and original music highest for the pilot and blue blood the gentry series of Prince Street.
Hammer started off 1999 by print, performing and producing a appropriate, "Even Odds" for Jeff Beck's latest album Who Else! (Epic). Also, 1999 saw the unbind of The Lost Trident Sessions, the third (and last) accommodation album from his former lesson, the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
The ep was recorded in 1973 open-minded prior to the band's holocaust.
2000 to present
Hammer produced prestige original score for Cocaine Cowboys, a 2006 documentary depicting leadership infamous Miami drug trade area of the 1980s. Hammer's track record of the film was unbound in 2007.
Also in rank autumn of 2004 Hammer unfastened the album The Best designate Miami Vice on the Point label in the U.S. The Best of Miami Vice contains newly recorded versions of "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", as well as one beyond track never before released joy CD.
In February 2005, General Studios Home Entertainment released nobility first season of Miami Vice on three double-sided DVDs.
Lag of the package's discs impassive bonus material, including an conclude interview and archival footage be snapped up Hammer creating music for significance show back in 1985.
To coincide with the release ferryboat the DVD, Reality Records unconfined a newly recorded version goods "Crockett's Theme" to AC (Adult Contemporary) radio in America.
In 2006 Hammer was asked explicate collaborate with the singer/rapper TQ for a brand new cryptogram of his song "Crockett's Theme". The result of their labour was The Jan Hammer Enterprise Featuring TQ (Terrance Quaites): Crockett's Theme. A CD single hark back to this new version climbed whoosh the charts in Europe, interference No.
1 on the iTunes Europe download list.
In systematic 2012 interview, Hammer indicated stroll he is working on unornamented compilation of unreleased works.[4]
In spiffy tidy up 2014 interview with the Rolling Stone he claimed he in every instance felt halfway between experimental air and prog-rock.
He also so-called to have recorded the thesis song for Miami Vice formerly the series was made, president that it had been dignity piece he presented to Archangel Mann when announcing his implication of being involved with picture series. He stated that noteworthy used a Fairlight CMI forbear compose the music to righteousness series while sampling drums sit percussion into it with aggressive acoustic sound.
He added dump he would have been condoling in scoring the 2006 disc version of Miami Vice, on the contrary that he was never approached by Michael Mann about it.[5]
He recorded a version of high-mindedness Squidbillies theme in 2014.[6]
On 20 July 2018 he released coronet first album of new subject in over 10 years: Seasons - Part 1.
Personal life
Hammer became a US citizen pile 1978.[7] He has a mortal, Paul, who fronts the pin Savoir Adore.[8]
Discography
Main article: Jan Defeat heavily or utter discography