Focus At The Rainbow 1973 - Jan Akkerman Lute Solo

[fabrikk60]

Something tells me that neither Howe, Hackett nor Fripp would be capable of playing this. If Akkerman had stayed in Focus and built them into a big-time prog institution, HE would be the one spoken of today as the top guitar god in prog-rock. But I guess he wanted to travel a different road, and I respect that. It just bugs me a bit that Jan is not much more famous; he certainly deserves to be.

[lamecasuelas2]

@fabrikk60 what a pitty,he is realy an underated player

[fabiokaragua1]

GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER!!!

[theonemodifier]

Pop music artists today just aren't as talented as before the awful 80's, and the all important eyes open visual in music.There's some great artists out there but producers don't want kids to hear it.The worse music is, the easier it is for them to train talent,they have auto fix now.As opposed to talent learning themselves and/or school.

[ReverseInfliction88]

haha boring

[Sofisdaddy]

FAN...FUCKIN...TASTIC!!!!!!

[anneboyd1]

The [****in'] bus'ness

[gmasterg13]

slash was born in england. american shit.we gave you our history of music you gave us yours.a good blend  you know what makes a great musician. not only can he or she play an instrument well and bring out emotions in people,but also to be humble. slash is a really nice dude. he plays pretty good. and he also respects the

old school masters. jan is wonderful. comparing everyone is silly. lets enjoy it all or not enjoy it. to each his own. mozart,miles hendrix, beck van halen. lane,govan

[beastmry]

@jodynh chillax mate ..... how about reading a bit ? though im not one for bashing any guitarist, and Slash is pretty amazing in his own way ....

[TheMiserablegit]

I was at this concert. This was one of the 5 (yes five) encores that the band did. It was almost as if he just didnt want to stop playing, and we loved it.

I was a couple of rows from the front and lost most of my hearing for 48 hours because of the bands' volume. Excellent.

[dotheevolution100]

this a infinitely more pleasant to listen to then miley cyrus

[SongSwan]

He played this on his solo album "Tabernakel" he addede drums and Bass to it as well.

[pelle750]

excellently

nobody can do this exept Jan

[kolaboy]

One of the very few guitarists who can move between genres (rock, fusion, jazz, classical), and has genuinely mastered them all.

[sonykroket]

Akkerman..........

One of the planets' finest...

Sheer class and skill.........rocks like EVH and honors ancient melodies....

[mbeachnw]

Yeah, the last passage he's totally absorbed. Intense performance, as he grabs his cigarette...

[RDBeatnik]

Epic lute solo!

[guitarwizard6]

@jazzernauts I was by no mean criticizing him--I always thought the guitar was his primary instrument, and I'm very impressed with his playing. I'm not that familiar with his background.

[nickbackslash]

Only a prog audience would let you do that in the middle of a rock concert! Great.

[VMGIAN]

he is great ......he plays equally vell with fingers and with a pick...nice

[guitarwizard6]

Wow...I forgot he played lute. That's a piece by renaissance composer John Dowland...it's very difficult to play, but he does a great job for someone who doesn't the lute exclusively.

[jazzernauts]

@guitarwizard6 You mean for someone who took Lute lessons in college? Anyway....too bad the engineers back then couldn't mic a lute to save the reps. Wow, feedback just waiting to happen again and again. But, enough about me...he plays this as well as anything he has written and almost as if he had written it.

[bruwa1963]

Jimmy page who?

[veegale]

@RTEcalcite01 I was at Focus concert in Dublin on the Thursday before the London concert. Jan did not play the Lute at that but he did break a string that night also. Sublime that group in their prime..

[lunchboxattacks1]

Jan's a great great guitar player but hey he can also play lute too. I know not enough of the lute to discern what a good lutist sounds like but I'm betting it sounds much like this. :)

[RTEcalcite01]

Focus appeared at the Rainbow on Friday 4th and Saturday 5 May 1973. Focus Live at the Rainbow was recorded on the Saturday night. I was there on the Friday night and saw the lute encore which I'm not sure happened on the Saturday so was not recorded. Another memory- Jan broke his bottom E string during one song and continued playing while tuning up the next string to get the high notes.

[speakwhnspkn2]

I think the only reason the lute isn't more popular today is because of the problems with the tuning devices on most of them. An old joke says that a lutenist that lives to be 80 will have spent 60 years tuning his lute. It is indeed a very beautiful sounding instrument and probably well worth the time it takes to tune it if you can achieve results like this. Jan Akkerman is incredible.

[sjeffh]

What makes you think he is self taught?

[FBrasz]

@sjeffh last year I attended an Jan Akkerman (solo) concert and he also played his lute. The one you see in this video actually. He told the audience that he had learned it by himself and that he got the sheet music from an English University (I believe he said Oxford). In the back of a plane, flying to Japan, he studied this instrument. And the reason why he learned it? He said that he, at that (Focus) time, didn't like to be seen as a pure rock guitar player.

[moregreatmusic]

Nice, please check out my performance of de Visee for a slightly different atmosphere.

[atman5150]

Jan is by far one my favorite guitar player....but his lute playing: Watch out! Damn fine example of a multitalented musician.

[fisiorobot]

Gran maestro...VIRTUOSO!!!

[PhotoBartVersteeg]

thanks for posting, never saw this vid....... GREAT!!!!

[blackandgold77]

what an amazing guitarist

[peithkichard]

the one and onely jan!! salute!! i follow him since 1973. defenitelty jan!!

[royalsteven]

I agree man, just like a Jimmy Page, Jan played different styles. Classical, rock, blues, fast, slow, solos, he could do it all but never got the recognition A Page or Jimi got.

[nebster86]

What is this piece called?

[peithkichard]

@nebster86 A Galliard by John Dowland on the album Jan Akkerman - Tabernakel 1974

[martinjp1958]

Anyone remember him doing this - and another lute piece on the Whistle test circa June 73? A life changing moment [for me].

[ArkRaider188]

Respect

[locomotive1804]

This is the one I wanted to hear.

[sjirk]

zonde dat dit niet niet op het live album is gekomen, heb dit ook nog nooit gezien..... erg mooi!

[colpadrian]

I remember Jan was on Dutch TV in a show by a guy named Willem Duys in the early 70's. In the middle of his performance on the lute he got up and walked off stage. In those days everything was live and Duys was stunned. Jan later said that people were talking during his performance and he did not want to put up with that bullshit :)

[peithkichard]

@colpadrian no, don't blame the audience. it were some bozo's from the "classic" orchestra below, who made the phrase : "he can't tell pop from classic" and "oooh, there he goes again" haha.

[colpadrian]

@peithkichard

Thank's, I never knew that.

Jan is god ;))

[Noizyneighbour]

It most certainly IS Jan Akkerman.

Look at the footage on Youtube of the rest of the Rainbow concert.

The piece he is playing is by John Dowland.

[MAGXX]

Je hebt gelijk hoor, volgens mij is het Geert Wilders in ze jonge dagen.....tjongejonge.....

[AssimilateThis85]

It looks more like Freddy Mercury...but it's certainly Akkerman. He sports this look in several videos on youtube.

[macht7]

Quint555 is not a person of music it is obvious... Probably a jankee who has no original ideas... Sorry if I´m wrong...

[quint555]

? What makes you think that

[macht7]

I´m just damn bloody wrong!! Sorry. The lute is one of my favourite musical instruments and I felt threatend for a moment... :)

[jayah2007]

Eat your heart out Sting!

[quint555]

I don't think anybody else than Jan Akkerman ever made that much people scream and applaud by playing the lute!

[cyberswaggie]

Leonardo da Vinci, the inventor of heavy metal music, might disagree he made a metal lute in the shape of a skull and ripped on it.

[joergen100]

I am wondering why Hendrix is unfortunate enough to get mixed up in this string. What on earth has he got to do with Akkerman (who is an OK classical player but JUST OK - nothing more!)

What is going on guys.

Akkerman on the electric, well, that is a different story, that is quite clearly his medium but he is nowhere near the greatest guitar player on either instrument

[HHDuke]

He is much better than Hendrix - so many different styles - but Hendrix Is an Icon and we should leave him there - Jan,when he started was a total different future in guitar music - love Jan !!!!!

[nightruler]

While there may exist players who possess skills or knowledge superior to Hendrix, None are "better than Hendrix"...

Or Les Paul for that matter: He invented the electric guitar, and Jimi RE-INVENTED it as the modern instrument we all know and love.

[dorlandosonic]

nightruler,

Jimi wasn't the only one who, in your words, 're-invented' it. I mean, why leave out Van Halen?

And to be honest, I respect Hendrix, but I have less respect for all these wankers who keep imitating him. At least Jan brings something else to the table.

[Gemjack]

Best guitar player except Hendix, Jan where are you now !!!!!

[Ajuinvaliid]

I almost agree

[hulldanfan]

Jan is 63 and still touring UK and Holland every year electric and acoustic. Still an awesome performer with wonderful band. Many wonderful solo albums

[mauvezonemagick]

beautiful!!!!!!!

[tedchirvasiu]

beautiful!!!!!!!

[mentalmusician]

beautiful!!!!!!!

[lekezenman]

The Medieval Quietness of John Dowland in this superficial oversexd and over-al-imained-death-crisised­-down-world of today!

What a fresh and welcome breeze of outstanding QUALITY!

Bernard

[wish4rain]

its called "oud" and its an arabic instrument

[1rscott]

The instruments are called "Lute" and "Oud" both are built the same and look exact .There are in some diff in the sound hole but in fact the only way you can tell an Oud from a lute is the way it's tuned and each can be tuned to the other so a lute can be a oud and a oud a lute.

the music played by the instrument is:style:baroque:tuning:Lute

if it were a dif peace for oud it would be

.style:Turkish:tuning:Oud or style:Greek:tuning:oud

the music is baroque Oud tuned and played as lute no dif

[dmoserUWYO]

The lute grew out of the Oud ... they are different instruments, the most glaring difference being that the lute is FRETTED and the Oud is never fretted ... they are not tuned the same at all ... go do your research before you post this kind of nonsense

[PutItAway101]

You can easily tell a lute from an oud because an oud is fretless...

[1rscott]

Yeah I'm a dumb ass when it comes to these types of things telling the diff between lute and oud,I don't really know but I do know a guy that plays a lute like and oud and a oud like a lute and you can't tell what the fuck he's doing.sounds pretty stupid to me but hey he's the pro not me.....I just appreciate the muse in my small pathetic way B#.............C?

[Zoloft61]

the piece he plays is a Fantasia by John Dowland

[perothing]

how come this instrument sounds so warm and silky?

Is it the shape,the strings or the wood?

[mauvezonemagick]

both. And Jans' hands also.

[aapenhoofd1]

Slash=Best

[Stratman549]

What are you talking about? Slash is absolutely nothing on this guy.

[aapenhoofd1]

Jan comes from the netherlands i too i know that jan rocks but slash syle is played whit emotion you cant say who is better its is every ones own meaning and i like slash more thats why i am saying he is best;)

[Stratman549]

Ok fair enough!

[indivum]

Slash plays with emotion? You're trying to say that Slash puts more feeling into his play than Akkerman? You're truly a monkeyhead/aapenhoofd1 met 2 a's. LOL

[aapenhoofd1]

no you are a pussy to say such things on youtube and they play diffrent styles you cant compare you now nothing so do something usefull

[thecaptainmarko]

Just ask slash who he been influenced by

[stoofbuis]

sure,akkerman is an incredible guitarplayer,but i wish i could play like slash already.

[kinksbeatlesstones]

Why compare Jan to Slash? better compare him to Steve Howe of Yes who also plays wonderful acoustic toons

[argusgr]

Who is Slash ????????

[luthierjustin1]

Saul Hudson

[57anthony]

Wow thanks a lot for this clip. Didn't know it existed. The Rainbow concert of one of my all time favorites. Such a shame they didn't put this recording on the album. Glad I could watch it!!

[antiabe]

if anyone ever compare Slash to Jan Akkerman, the person must have an IQ under 4!...

[gareththefireman]

Slash? even the perpetual cigarette isn't real. Its all a fuckin illusion. Smoke, hair, top hats and mirrors. American shit

[3984ja]

@gareththefireman agreed 101%

[jodynh]

@gareththefireman

American shit??? Jan Akkerman is Dutch! And it's not "a fuckin illusion". I have to agree with the person who said that yours is one of the most moronic comments on Youtube. If you can't watch someone play an instrument and see that he's actually doing it, you're an idiot.

[Dealwithitbaby]

@jodynh

Read his comments again mate..... he's not talking about Jan

[NSBMwotanskrieger]

@gareththefireman True!

[Zoso709]

@gareththefireman

Hatred is such a terrible thing to have.

[GranSiete]

I understand why my guitar teacher admired Akkermann's works. He is amaizing!

----------------

Laverdad me admiro de los guitarristas de rock de antes, que de verdad sabían tocar y tenían estudio. Hoy es una rareza encontrar un guitarrista tan preparado como Akkermann.

Saludos a todos.

[flaviolima91]

fuckin cool instrument damn

[pj232pj]

Fantastic

[kinksbeatlesstones]

I wore out a cassette copy of Tabernacle over ten years during the seventies. It still sounds so fresh today and takes my mind off the deepening world crisis

[Andresrunner]

Pure quality... El que sabe, sabe... La prueba la da el silencio absoluto del auditorio.

[jOntzohr]

nice1 =) Akkerman is one of the best guitar-players ever!

[JohnPatatino]

I don't remember if it's name is "britannia", but this is Dowland's lute fancy n° 7 in emajor.

[666Ytreggiomen666]

Idiot!! Slash is one of the most overrated guitarists of all time! Slash doesn't even know what a lute is

[woefbeer]

Agreed! Slash is a dumb asshole, not even capable of seeing his guitar hangin' 'round his neck. I wonder if he actually knows which instrument he's playing. His only way with a guitar is by using a lot of noise by way of using a lot of fuzz on it! Pure fake and pure shit!! Typical for every poor guitarplayer! Yes, yes, sure overrated!!

[sephy12sephiroth]

slash is much better than this

[hulldanfan]

Ive seen some moronic comments on Youtube, but this is up there with the best - Idiot !!

[coeji]

slash better hahaah slash is good butt doesnt even get close to the master jan akkerman is the best of the world pronounced in 1983 and still is check out hocus pocus from focus that solo is one slash can only dream of

[mentalsum]

This is Britannia by John Dowland and appeared on Akkermans album Tabernakel in 1974.The album also contains two other Dowland compositions and never got the publicity that ''Sting''is currently riding on.

[sylvanvs]

The world of lute playing since then has made vast and critical strides in scholarship regarding correct hand positioning and technique (as opposed to the modern technique above). Thank goodness for those old treatises left by our Renaissance players and composers. Mr. Hopkinson Smith, and Paul O'Dette are just one of many musician scholars today, who have done just that to a grand extant.

[guyperry]

errrr...right !

[tom36450]

who fucking cares lute is dead areshole arse

[focusfan1207]

tom36450 the reason you don't care is because you have shit for brains, where there's no sense there's no feeling :-)

[SxxVIII]

Simplesmente espectacular

[nordwind4]

Hi FChopin....

he is playing 'A Fantasie' by John Dowland

[FChopin]

Whats the name of this piece?

It was written by Dowland?

[sacrecoure]

I feel myself like Shakespeare's heros.Real great music in his category.

[che21chango07]

ES un ARTE de un rango superior el de Akkerman Un musico sutil y refinado ,un Maestro de otro tiempo...lo mejor.

[Pyromanen01]

Amazing!!

[jangoud]

als jan dit ooit leest... je bent een fantastisch en veelzijdig gitarist. ik heb je dvd, in de bijlage zie je de luit in je huis hangen..gebruik je hem tegenwoordig ook nog ?

[mitchmitchell68]

ja tuurlijk jong, op koude dagen om de haard aan te maken..

[gmlch]

thanks !

[gontren]

C'est si beau que j'en pleur à chaque fois!

Tant d'émotion et de beauté!

Je vois tout une histoire qui défille dans ma tête. Une magifique histoire très émouvante de laquel je ne voit pas de personnages ou de lieux. Ce n'est que de fabuleuse émotion que me font pleurer.

Jan Akkerman a ici interpréter, à mes yeux, la plus belle ensemble de son du monde modern!

[ZIPPTPH77]

I feel like putting on my Robin Hood outfit..... It's a little tight in some areas!

[Fabritis]

E ae rapasiada

Agora ao vivo e a cores, muito bom mesmo

vai ter show do Jan akkerman no auditorio ibirapuera dias 23,24 de novembro !

Valeu pessoal espero vocês por la

[Fabritis]

O cara toca muito !

Galera show do Jan Akkerman no auditorio ibirapuera dias23,24 da uma olhada no site do auditorio

Abraços Fabricio

[fingerlicks]

(jt123Egypte)What????

[maxvolwassen]

He is playing 'A Fantasie' by John Dowland.

Although he's technically good I miss the 'emotion' you need when playing the lute. I myself play it too and when you're a little adept at playing the guitar lute is easy. The REAL difficulty is putting your soul into your music.

Although I consider Akkerman to be the coolest guitarist ever!

[jt123egypte]

Ofcourse... Jan Akkerman is modest and turned down offers from Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley too because he did like their haircut! Wake up man!! Akkerman is 'famous' in Hilversum but that's all. He is not of any importance. Important modern guitarplayers were Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley and Jimmy Hendrikx and not this Akkermancreature.

[eibraate]

You appear to know Jan, more than most of us.

- For us, who don't know him personally, the memories from the recordings 1971-1980 (???) is warm and good. And I am still playing the black Gibson Les Paul Custom through a LAB 5 series amp because of him.

[jt123egypte]

George de Fretes was an important musician!His heritage you can find on about 80 (!) albums and he was burried besides Sol Hoopii.If this Akkerman was as important as he claims he would be playing with all the important singers of the world and own a castle in France and a appartment in Monaco. Modesty would suits Jan Akkerman

[gollup99]

He doesn't want to. He turned down an offer to play in Sting's band for example.

[alanmorri]

Saying Akkerman is crap is SO uncool!

[243765]

jan has embraced convincingly a wide range of musical styles over many years and his technical ability is , as yet, unsurpassed. A modest ,self effacing genius

[hankdendrijver]

Modest!? Lol. I know the guy. He is all but modest. He feels underrated, bad habit for old musicians...

[jt123egypte]

Akkerman is crap.The only masterguitar player in the Netherlands is Andy Tielman of the Tielmanbrothers!

[can0mark]

Get out.

[MiklPorter]

This is a nice solo version of John Dowland's "Britannia" (take that, Sting) which Jan performed orchestrated on his 70s solo album "Tabernakel". The album has other great lute pieces, and is available on CD.

[quarktron]

Jan Akkerman is full of surprises! I listened to Focus as a kid in the 70s and never knew that he could play that instrument!

[nordwind3]

best wishes to d...., great song jan akkerman..........

[witboek]

and do you know Ralph Towner 5 hear this

[spinozacelt]

I dont think it's relevant that Jan was "ahead of his time" in any way-just that the guy was a great player and musician.The song remains the same.....:-)

[Pauly1313]

I also was at this concert...I was in London to have a song recorded by a Dutch band called Titanic and got free tickets to se this amazing concert...I still have the ticket stubs! That's how moved I was by this band and Jan Akkerman.

[menrathu]

Are you really sure that TITANIC was another Dutch band? As I recall, they were from Norway, but had a British singer...

[Pauly1313]

You're probably right...it's been so many years; oddly enough, I've never known anyone who even heard of Titanic. But I got to sing background vocals and contributed half a tune to the one album. Akkerman flat out is a wonderful guitarist. I just wish he had gotten a dayjob and pursued a serious composition career...unless he has one that I am unaware of, but my ode to Focus was to cover "Sylvia"

in a pop band I was in '85-'87...

[HelgeKS]

Well, Titanic (Norwegian) were classic one hit wonders - which is possibly why few have heard of them. Had some good stuff though.

But back to Akkerman - he is probably the best guitarist in the world! (until his untimely death, Rory Gallagher imo shared the honours)

[alimacdee]

brilliant what a musician! never new he could play like this, revalation, boy sting is crap!

[mopartec]

another under rated and forgoten guitar player.

[ralphstott57]

I was at this concert. It was amazing! Had no idea any footage existed. Love the Anonymus Two clip. The album cover says that Jan played the bass solo. Burt Reuter clearly does which has answered this very long standing query! Thank you for the download!

[creamofcardstv]

Your video clip is great and I've rated it as awesome. Please check out mine on some 1920's trading cards of musical instruments, including the Lute.

[ianstronach]

listen to Jan´s solo albums (eg:PROFILE). He really shows his versatility & virtuosity. He´s classiclly trained. Monster player, way ahead of his time. At that time the only other players who could touch him were people like John McLaughlin, Steve Howe & Larry Coryell.

[ralphstott57]

Yes excellent album. Jan and focus got me into jazz. I must check out another live date! 34 years is too long!

[Rooster456]

Wow... Amazing.

[vboy13]

thanks for posting that was incredible

i had no idea he could do that

[philmeissner]

I love Dowland!!!