I've only just woken up after a late night, not answering dual-boot questions online, but being blown away by the unbelievable virtuosity of the world's best guitarist.
I spent a fantastic 2 hours, standing 5 feet from the legendary Jan Akkerman, watching with utter disbelief as his fingers flew effortlessly around the fingerboard of his black Gibson Les Paul Custom.
You're all probably far too young to have heard of him, but you've probably heard some of his music, as it's frequently used anonymously in the background of TV drama or documentary.
I've been a fan since hearing "Sylvia" his world-wide top-ten hit single with the band "Focus" in 1973, but although I have a large number of his albums in the original vinyl, I'd never seen him play live in all those 35 years.
Last night I made the pilgrimage home through the driving snow, as he played a gig in a small pub in the city of my birth at the beginning of a short UK tour and I was one of the privileged 100 able to see and hear his incredible musicianship (and that of his 3 much younger support musicians (bass, drums and keyboards)).
Do youself a favour today. Set aside 10 minutes, get yourself a coffee (or beverage of choice - see other thread), sit back, turn up your sound-card to 11, and click on his website.
http://www.janakkerman.com
There's a very generous sound sample of the opening number from the gig which plays in the background (the full track is there, and he comes from the era of prog-rock, where tracks were nearly always very long). It starts very mellow, (he's playing melodic chords, strummed with the thumb), but in the middle, the plectrum comes from between his lips to his fingers, and the notes begin to fly.
Listen in amazement. That really is just ONE guitar, playing live.
I spent a fantastic 2 hours, standing 5 feet from the legendary Jan Akkerman, watching with utter disbelief as his fingers flew effortlessly around the fingerboard of his black Gibson Les Paul Custom.
You're all probably far too young to have heard of him, but you've probably heard some of his music, as it's frequently used anonymously in the background of TV drama or documentary.
I've been a fan since hearing "Sylvia" his world-wide top-ten hit single with the band "Focus" in 1973, but although I have a large number of his albums in the original vinyl, I'd never seen him play live in all those 35 years.
Last night I made the pilgrimage home through the driving snow, as he played a gig in a small pub in the city of my birth at the beginning of a short UK tour and I was one of the privileged 100 able to see and hear his incredible musicianship (and that of his 3 much younger support musicians (bass, drums and keyboards)).
Do youself a favour today. Set aside 10 minutes, get yourself a coffee (or beverage of choice - see other thread), sit back, turn up your sound-card to 11, and click on his website.
http://www.janakkerman.com
There's a very generous sound sample of the opening number from the gig which plays in the background (the full track is there, and he comes from the era of prog-rock, where tracks were nearly always very long). It starts very mellow, (he's playing melodic chords, strummed with the thumb), but in the middle, the plectrum comes from between his lips to his fingers, and the notes begin to fly.
Listen in amazement. That really is just ONE guitar, playing live.
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