When Jan Akkerman left Focus in 1976, after seven years with the band and achieving renown as a stellar guitarist (Melody Maker, in 1972, voted him the world’s best guitarist, ahead of both Page and Clapton) it was felt both the band and guitarist would fall by the wayside. Yet Focus remain a consistently popular draw on the prog live circuit, and Akkerman has gone on to achieve further renown as a solo artist, with a string of well received albums behind him.
While in Focus he played mainly rock, interspersed with a few classical pieces. As a solo act, Akkerman has never allowed his creative spirit to be constrained by musical boundaries. He incorporates jazz, blues, some prog touches and rock into his playing, which makes his performances all the more unpredictable. He’s gone his own way, refusing to ply his trade under the banner of “ex Focus.”
Despite this, seven of the eleven tracks on this album are direct Focus tracks or incorporate part of a Focus tune. The set begins with the jazz-inflected ‘Spiritual Privacy’, from his last studio album Close Beauty, which in parts brings Mahavishnu Orchestra to mind. This largely sets the pattern for the rest of the album, lots of very jazzy, very funky music, and it’s extremely well played. It all sounds so simple, but to play this music well you need to be good, and these guys are just that.
The next five pieces all hark back to Focus, starting with ‘Answers Questions, Questions Answers’ from Focus 3, followed by the gorgeous ‘Focus 2’ (though played on piano rather than organ) then ‘Focus 1’, which picks up after a quiet start and sees Jan engaging in some serious guitar shredding. Unlike other shredders, he’s not playing hundreds of notes per minute. This virtuosity is reprised in ‘Tommy’s Anniversary’, where he shows his rock chops. ‘Palace Of The King’ is Focus‘s ‘House Of The King’ slightly rearranged, before ‘Anonymous’ closes this section with short bass and drum solos.
The bluesy, jazzy ‘Pietons’, from 1983’s Can’t Stand Noise, is one of his older tracks before it segues into the opening riff of the iconic Focus classic ‘Hocus Pocus’. We’re teased with a short burst of it before the set closes with a rockier version of ‘Sylvia’.
There’s absolutely no doubting the quality of the musicianship on display. The virtuosity is undeniable, and it’s all extremely well performed. However, as a live album, this all comes across as rather soulless. There isn’t the feel of this being a live album, no interaction with the audience, no onstage banter. If you heard some of this music in a hotel lobby, you wouldn’t be surprised. A live album should be so much more than this.
