Jan Akerman Lammy Part 2

I noticed this morning that someoone had highlighted my video, available here - Lammy Part 2 

The music is from Jan Akkerman's 1974 algum Tabernakel and for me is probably the most wonderful ever. I added pics interpreting the prompts given by Akkerman (Tabernakel, Last Will and Testament, Amen, etc)/ I write at Facebook

"I added those pictures about 16 yeara ago and I just rewatched. The music is superb and although the pics are done in a fairly amateurish way they do enhance the experience expecially if you know the story which is how Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness 40 years and died before entering the Promised Land. Moses and the Law will never get you into the Promised Land only Jesus can and here I start to preach - I am a preacher after all. Thanks again Jan."

Two LPs

My sister was going through her LP collection the other day and spotted these two albums (a pink one and a blue one) which she knew were mine. They are Thijs van Leer's unique 1975 solo album O my love! and the 1985 reunion album featuring van Leer and Jan Akkerman. The pictures of van Leer on the two albums tells a sad story of apparent physical decline. I hadn't really thought of O my love! in this way but with its gatefold sleeve and with Paul Buckmaster playing a role similar to that of George Flynn on Tabernakel, it can be seen as something of a reply to Akkerman's statement of the previous year. On both we have entirely solo efforts - Akkerman on Lute and van Leer on piano - as well as the expected group efforts with fine session musicians. Both albums were recorded in America - Akkerman's in New York on Atlantic and van Leer's in Los Angeles on Philips. They even both feature pictures of their wives of the time, Lammy and Roselie Peters. I love both albums but van Leer's is a rather curious one on the whole.

Blog of the week 4

TABERNAKEL

In 1974 Jan Akkerman released Tabernakel

And since 2011 that's what this blog has attempted to tackle

So if today you find this blog and are tempted to mock or cackle

I hope you desist and become a fan, even though it's all a bit ramshackle.

This blog is even more niche than any of the others. I began it in 2011. It can be found here. There are over a hundred posts there at present. I like the album, which contains music from Elizabethan lute through to modern rock, and wanted to know all I could about it. Hence the blog.

Most popular post on the blog, not sure why, is one on Thomas Morley who wrote a pavane that Jan Akkerman plays on lute on the album. You can find it here.

Retro album of the week 17 - Tabernakel

Perhaps my favourite album of all time this album first appeared in 1974. Recorded over a two week period in New York between Focus tours, it is a work of genius. Throughout Akkerman collaborates with the composer and musicologist George Flynn. For the aficionado of progressive rock it rarely gets as good as this. We begin with a beautiful arrangement of a John Dowland piece with lute, orchestra and rhythm section. This is followed by the first two of some six well delivered solo lute pieces that punctuate the album. Then it is back to the orchestra and rhythm section for a very fast version of the Focus hit House of the King. More lute follows broken up only by Javeh, a very carefully constructed dark mood piece featuring acoustic guitar and orchestra. The final lengthy piece, Lammy, is again carefully constructed. It is breathtakingly beautiful in places. It features orchestra, choir, bass and drum breaks, Akkerman on electric sitar and guitar and lute again (playing another Holborne piece). The whole ends with an incredibly satisfying Amen, way way over the top and yet full of integrity. The Tabernakel title refers, of course, to the House of God, hence some of the titles. The cover was the idea of the photographer and Akkerman regretted rather on reflection given the messianic way he is represented. One of my many blogs is devoted to this album. See here.