Focus – Dutch Dynamics

Published February 4, 2017 | By Shiloh Noone

The music media of the UK received a riveting reminder of their short sightedness when English guitar fans turned their sights away from Clapton and Beck and focussed on the virtuosi Jan Akkerman. Jan’s early days were honed in Johnny & the Cellar Rockers during the guitar instrumental era of 1962. Even at the promiscuous age of twelve Jan’s classical leanings were pulsing which gave rise to “Melody In F Rock” and film theme “Exodus”. Jan’s influences came from Tal Farlow, West Montgomery and Django Reinhardt. The prime core of Johnny & the Cellar Rockers was bassist Frank Noyas who introduced Jan to some of the more reputable jazz men on the scene.The Cellar Rockers were pretty active on the scene with regular excursions into Germany and a memorable outside broadcast with the newly arrived off – shore ‘Radio Veronica’. With the rise of blues / soul Jan and Sidney left to join up with bassist Ron Bijtelaar and guitarist Paul Hubert as the Hunters in 1965 who could hold up any R&B standard-. “Knock On Wood”, “Hold On I’m Coming”, plus a variety of instrumentals. At this stage Jan was slicing a Gibson Explorer which would eventually give way to a Gretsch White Falcon, Cordovox Leslie & self made amp that later ignited Focus at the Rainbow.The Hunters finally smashed the iron curtain in 1966 with the dervish guitar instrumental “The Russian Spy And I” / “Spring” that turbot charged Talent For Sale. After passing through The Friendships and Shakin’ Hearts, Jan formed the 1968 six-piece Brainbox featuring ex Mystics drummer Pierre Van Der Linden, ex Full House drummer Frans Smit., ex Screamers /Truth Kazimierz Lux vox, future Minisink House / Twelve O’ Clock bassist André Reynen, while guitars -ex Rob Hoeke John Schuursma & ex Dragonfly Rudy Dequeljoe.

Formidable renditions of Gerschwin’s “Summertime”, Martin Carthy’s“ Scarborough Fair” and Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe” were recorded. Akkerman’s songwriting skills were clearly evident on “Amsterdam, The First Days” while Kaz Lux’s octave engulfed “Down Man” and “Good Morning”. The 1970 cast of Brainbox had ex Rob Hoeke guitarist Schuursma ,ex Dragonfly guitarist Rudy de Queljoe and ex Big Wheel / September (later Cargo) Drummer Shel van Dijk, ex Amsterdam bassist Robert Verwey and ex Temple guitarist Ron Meyes.

‘Focus and Deliberation’

One of Jan’s ardent admirers was the classically trained keyboardist / flutist Thijs van Leer from The Shaffy Cabaret Group. The next manifestation took place in the icy winter of 69 when Thys put together a trio with drummer Hans Cleuver & bassist Martijn Dresden as The Thys Van Leer Trio who were earning guilder as session musicians.Thanks to jazz pianist Pim Jacobs and a lot of PR from Dutch celebrity Willem Duys, Thys was awarded a bursary from the ‘Amsterdam Conservatoire’. The trio already known as Focus – taken from the Sufi phrase ‘To Focus Upon ‘now received the dubious appointment of Jan Akkerman who had recently been given the marching orders from Brainbox. The final conglomeration was a debut gig as a pit band for the Dutch production of ‘Hair’. The group signed to ‘Bovema’ and released their debut as In and Out of Focus, in Holland as Focus Plays Focus until a litho dot cover reissue.The first official song to flow from Focus coffers was the lengthy instrumental “Focus 1”, partly stolen from Schubert. The debut shimmered with jazz leanings as in the acid tripping “Happy Nightmare”, an eerie insight into the mescaline textures. The bass thumping “Anonymous” would re-appear on Focus 111. (The rock tempo arrangement borrowed from a medieval theme entitled “Dit Le Bourgoigne” heard when Thys was 5 years of age?) “Anonymous” was really a show of musicianship with bassist Dresden coming out tops over the sporadic atom drumrolls of Hans Cleuver.

The debut’s “Black Beauty” and Castro ripping “Sugar Island Cuba” were far from commercial. Thys’s early classical leanings are strongly reflected in the entirety of the album with no extended complexities. The first to glide from Out of Focus was the flute shuffling “House Of The King” which ‘Blue Horizon’ released in the UK. (English convinced it was Jethro Tull) Thys had this uncanny ability to take you into the courts of the ‘House of Orange’, spin you with a Dervish jig and then caste you into the melting pot of jazz. (“House Of The King” pick of the week -‘Radio Veronica’) Jan wrote “House Of The King” after a disappointing Spanish gig spurred on by his love for an air hostess. It was also a reactionary assault on the Majorca talent concert where the judges told Jan to shorten his 14 min “Concerto Aranjuez”, Jan trashed the dressing room while Thys led a procession protest in Pied Piper fashion through the Concert Hall. “House Of The King” resurfaced on Akkerman’s 1973 Tabernakel supported by bassist Tim Bogert & drummer Carmine Appice -Vanilla Fudge. Tabernakel set the course for Jan’s acoustic embrace (lute). ‘Sire Records’ signed up Focus primarily on their live ability.

Oct 1971 the world discovered the dynamics of Akkerman & Van Leer with the release of their conceptual Moving Waves. Ex Tee Set Pierre Van Der Linden & Cyril Havermans drove drums and bass respectively.Holland received it as Focus 11 that opened with the 6 min power driving “Hocus Pocus” complete with scat yodel, lead and flute solo, a style unheard of in the UK.The “Hocus Pocus” riff had churned out the same charismata as Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” or Purple’s “Smoke On The Water”. The second side of Moving Waves improvised with the 23-min Prog epic “Eruption”, inspired by Bela Bartok’s ‘Concerto For Orchestra’. Jan featured on most of the bass parts and two exquisite acoustic instrumentals “Janis” and the mellotron shifting “Le Clochard”. Cyril’s contribution was songwriting and scat classical vox. Later a shortened “Hocus Pocus” charted UK #20. Moving Waves also conceived the guitar reverberating “Tommy”, a riveting instrumental signature tune later covered by the Dutch Solution. In 1972 a more mature single release of “Tommy” and the quasi Bond – “Focus II” displayed the instrumental finesse of Akkerman. Van der Linden was an incredible drummer who could slither with jazz snares and then the next instance pound through rock rhythms, an ability thoroughly applied to “Focus 11”. ‘Melody Maker’ voted the group ‘Brightest Hope’ / NME gave them ‘Best New Talent.’ The real reason for their break into the UK was a pre-recorded transmission of their gripping performance on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ just ( “Hocus Pocus”) where Jack Bruce joined the group on stage. By Sept 1973 Moving Waves and the “Hocus” single had each sold a million and my little shop in South Africa can account for 140.

The summer of 1972 saw the release of Focus III now featuring the reverbing bass of ex Full House Bert Ruiter, a man who could thunder more heavily than a KLM Airbus.The flute furnaced Thys strongly aided by Jan’s fretwork eventually switches to organ allowing Bert to thunder like Zeus. Bert’s bass runs are horrendously expounded on “Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!“ where Akkerman reaches into a lengthy blitz with radiant harmonics and startling hesitations that only thicken the intensity. The 27min tour de force “Anonymous 11”,every member charging up heavily. The album also spearheaded the guitar shaping “Sylvia” backed up by a re-release of “House Of The King” (B-side).“Sylvia” (singer in Ramses Schaffy’s cabaret group) (lyrics-Linda Van Dyke) Focus III personified Van Leer’s majestic Bach flavoured “Love Remembered” and Akkerman’s lute medieval “Elspeth of Nottingham”. Although individuals were starting to collide, Focus shimmered at the ‘Rainbow Theatre’ in Finsbury Park. Live at the Rainbow proved to the English that Moving Waves could be done live, playing the entire “Eruption” plus “Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!” The spellbound audience were dazzled by the riveting solos that Akkerman applied with relative ease which also magnified the distinctive jazz drumming of Pierre Van Der Linden, later replaced by ex-Stone the Crows Colin Allen for their ensuing 1974 Hamburger Concerto.

On the strength of “Hocus Pocus” Chick Corea contacted Thys on the lookout for a support group. Focus were called to do a US tour, followed by the neo classical rock format of Hamburger Concerto, strongly influenced by Joe Walsh. Even though the album lacked the improvised jazz strains of former, it was their most actualized creation wrenched between the guitar scrambling “Harem Scarem” and ethereal “La Cathedrale De Strasbourg”, inspired by camping around the Strasbourg Cathedral. Akkerman’s major contribution was the breathtaking “Birth” simmering with harpsicord motif. Focus also recorded sessions for the ‘BBC Radio I ‘program ‘Sequence’ 30th Jan 1973. (Two years later Jan re-appeared with his Focus worn ebony Les Paul to promote the Hendrix assaulting Profile. The Focus swansong Mother Focus with Colin Allen & David Kemper and ex Brainbox bassist Bert Ruiter slammed optimistically through the retarded “I Need A Bathroom”. Akkerman’s lute addiction would allow for ex-Jean Luc Ponty/ Pork Pie guitarist Philip Catherine & ex Fringe drummer Steve Smith to fill the gaps, later to make it big with Foreigner.

By 1977 hindsight tension caused Thys to put out Focus Con Proby, exalted by a mighty vox lathering by P.J Proby on the spattering “Wingless”. The Con Proby highlight was an uncanny dip into flower philosophy on Thys’ & Rosalie’s pensive “Brother” borrowed from Brahms’ String Sextet Op. 18 First Movement, also for “Tokyo Rose”. Highlights include the flute fiery “Sneezing Bull” with Thys on a Spanish bullrun and Catherine’s Gibson galactic drone on the cosmic instrumental “Orion”, in contrast to his dizzy spells on “Night Flight”, a return to the Mahavishnu flight. Focus will long be remembered for instrumentals “Janis”, “Tommy”, “Focus III” and 9-min “Focus” while Jan remains one of the few guitarists to execute the riffs for the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The bottled-up PJ Proby would depart from the music scene with the deplorable Three Week Hero, backed by Tornados drummer Clem Cattini, Alan Parker (guitar) & entire future Zeppelin. The rolling “It’s So Hard To Be A Nigger” / “Jim’s Blues – George Wallace Is Rollin’ In This Mornin’” -(unofficial Zeppelin debut) Sadly Focus Con Proby was compared too closely to Focus who legally ended in 1979 with Thys releasing a number of fine Bach albums, Introspection 1, 2 & 3.

Jan’s retiring live set marketed on the internet as Live At The Priory remains his most actualised projection. During the enduring eighties Jan contributed to Ray Fenwick’s Forcefield 11 alongside Big Bertha drummer Cozy Powell. Ex Syndicats / Tee Set Ray Fenwick was a member of Spencer Davis when they supported Focus on their 1974 US tour. Fenwick now returned to the Set boiling as the Prog After Tea, while Akkerman provided gaps for the sultry Cats and Solution’s It’s Only Just Begun. Akkerman was clearly balancing between the medieval spirit of his forefathers and the swivelling bridges erected by Miles Davis. Jan’s solace Tabernakel relished in Dowland’s “Brittannia” & “The Earl Of Derby”, further excelling in Galliard’s and a Pavan by Thomas Morley. Uncharacteristically ex King Curtis drummer Ray Lucas brushed skins during the lute applications. Jan reaches epitaph on “A Fantasy” by Laurencini Of Rome before scathing the depths of Mordor on his 14min “Lammy” (name of wife), backed by George Flynn’s harpsichord, Waitzman’s flute and piledriving bass. “Lammy” plays like an aural tragedy with lavish string/ Sitar arrangements. Jan’s electric guitar spat out some of the most jugular solos todate. (“Lammy”- mini epic)

The A -side included a speedy version of “House Of The King”, scintillating in guitar tuned sitar. Jan & Anthonie Holborne composed the concise “I Am – Asleep, Half Asleep, Awake – Amen”, while the highlight was definitively the mini concerto for guitar & orchestra -“Javeh”, ably constructed by Flynn. Jan again touched dimensions with the ghostly apparitions of “Eli” ejaculating sporadically with his 12- string black Framus that shivered around the staggering vox of ex Brainbox Kaz Lux. Ex Trace Van Der Linden renders exeptional dexterity to Jan’s complex jazz signatures on the string arrangement “Wings Of Strings” comprising ex Hunter Richard DeBois drums, ex Pork Pie Jasper Van ‘tHof keys & Warwick Reading bass. Jan also glides into a raging version of “Angel Wings” and the squelching “Tranquilizer” while the ultimate Eli seduction trembles through the provocative “Naked Actress”, a sci-fi jazz washing between Kaz’ emotive vox and Jan’s blitz breaks.The projectiles of “Guardian Angel” rupture like mercury bullets.

Added: February 15th 2011
Reviewer: shiloh noone | See all reviews by shiloh noone
Category: Music
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Related Link: Seekers Guide To The Rhythm Of Yesteryear

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