New Jan Hammer Album 7/20/18!

[Dadrian]

7 minutes ago, Matt5 said:

Great info - thanks. 

Would you, and others, like pictures of the digipak quite nice item!

Sure! Is there any insight in the liner notes?

[Matt5]

5 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Sure! Is there any insight in the liner notes?

I’ll look and post mon amie

[jpaul1]

On 7/25/2018 at 11:53 PM, Daytona74 said:

Just drove through nightly downtown here with the top down and Miami Nights on the stereo (via youtube). Still 85 degrees here at 11:50 pm... 

Just sublime. So modern, and yet, so 30 years ago. Jan Hammer is still a master of synth music. Perfect track for this kind of thing.

This is what Miami Vice would sound like today if Jan Hammer had stayed on and we'd be in season 34 

I will definitely be buying the whole CD.

 

I will definit

excellent post. yeah coming back 30 years later, with all the Miami vice related pressure, and making such a clean album implies respect... definitely . it shows an audacious mind, and this is what we are waiting from artists actually

[Matt5]

21 hours ago, jpm1 said:

excellent post. yeah coming back 30 years later, with all the Miami vice related pressure, and making such a clean album implies respect... definitely . it shows an audacious mind, and this is what we are waiting from artists actually

Great post jpm1 - regards Jan Hammer.

[Matt5]

Here goes as promised. The Cd sounds fantastic on my sound system! Hoping for a vinyl release but no news yet... no linear notes but photos by Jan Hammer himself and album design by his wife! Enjoy!

[Matt5]

A great new half hour inferview by Jan Hammer for Music Connection. This is a really insightful interview referencing his new album “Seasons Pt.1”, his early days,  meeting Jeff Beck, the huge success of Miami Vice and writing/producing for Clarence Clemons. JH singled out the 1985 film “Secret Admirer” as the film score he is most proud of after Miami Vice.

https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Jan-HammerFrom-Mahavishnu-Orchestra-to-Miami-Vice-and-the-Moog

 

 

Edited August 4, 2018 by Matt5

[goozer]

On 8/3/2018 at 11:00 AM, Matt5 said:

Here goes as promised. The Cd sounds fantastic on my sound system! Hoping for a vinyl release but no news yet... no linear notes but photos by Jan Hammer himself and album design by his wife! Enjoy!

Is this an actual silver CD, or is it a professional CD-R? Having received several CD-Rs from both Amazon and CDBaby when I was expecting a factory-pressed CD, I would really like to know this before I order it. If you could provide a picture of the play side, with a closeup of the center spindle area, that would be very helpful.

[Dadrian]

Welcome to the site @goozer ! 

It’s been awhile. Do I remember you from Jan-Hammer.net?

I’m sure Matt will come through for you on the photo. 

Edited August 8, 2018 by Dadrian

[goozer]

3 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Welcome to the site @goozer ! 

It’s been awhile. Do I remember you from Jan-Hammer.net?

I’m sure Matt will come through for you on the photo. 

Actually, it's "welcome back!" I joined this site back in '08—I (obviously) just don't post all that much or often. I decided to "de-lurk" with the release of Jan's new offering.

Jan-Hammer.net...good times, good times.

I'm still looking forward to your "Diet Coke" versions of "The Hitter's Theme" and "Guzman's Vibe" hitting my inbox someday.

[Dadrian]

9 minutes ago, goozer said:

I'm still looking forward to your "Diet Coke" versions of "The Hitter's Theme" and "Guzman's Vibe" hitting my inbox someday. 

As you should be! All the ingredients for new covers are currently over a year in process. After the first video, subsequent covers should be more frequent, as I’ve been working on multiple covers over the last few months (not the two you mentioned, but thos are on my hit list ). 

You can catch up on the progress here, if you like, and/or you haven’t already:

http://miamiviceonline.com/index.php?/topic/13453-beginnings-for-my-new-youtube-channel/

[Matt5]

11 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Welcome to the site @goozer ! 

It’s been awhile. Do I remember you from Jan-Hammer.net?

I’m sure Matt will come through for you on the photo. 

Sorry I cant help.

[Matt5]

11 hours ago, goozer said:

Is this an actual silver CD, or is it a professional CD-R? Having received several CD-Rs from both Amazon and CDBaby when I was expecting a factory-pressed CD, I would really like to know this before I order it. If you could provide a picture of the play side, with a closeup of the center spindle area, that would be very helpful.

Sorry man - I cant help you, you are just 24 hours too late! I left to go to the South of France till the end of August.  The Cd was silver, the front a purple/blue as seen on the photo. The Cd sounds great and will tide me over before a vinyl release!

[Ferrariman]

Let me start by saying that Jan Hammer is one of those artists that I buy right away, no questions asked because he always delivers.    Well, I finally listened to the entire album and I have to say I'm not thrilled.  My first thought was "I waited 10 years for this?"  Yes it's good. Well it's Jan Hammer, why wouldn't it be!  Right?!  Yes there are some recognizable  "Vice" like cues here and there and "April" is a variation of the main cue in "Baby Blues"  Aside from that some of the tunes almost put me to sleep. It just doesn't have the kick ass tunes like his album "Drive"   I honestly don't know if I'll ever listen to it again.  I can only hope that part 2 is better. (assuming there will be a part 2)

[Matt5]

On 8/16/2018 at 3:20 PM, Ferrariman said:

Let me start by saying that Jan Hammer is one of those artists that I buy right away, no questions asked because he always delivers.    Well, I finally listened to the entire album and I have to say I'm not thrilled.  My first thought was "I waited 10 years for this?"  Yes it's good. Well it's Jan Hammer, why wouldn't it be!  Right?!  Yes there are some recognizable  "Vice" like cues here and there and "April" is a variation of the main cue in "Baby Blues"  Aside from that some of the tunes almost put me to sleep. It just doesn't have the kick ass tunes like his album "Drive"   I honestly don't know if I'll ever listen to it again.  I can only hope that part 2 is better. (assuming there will be a part 2)

Thankyou Lou for your opinion here. 

[Matt5]

@Dadrian You mentioned you hadn’t heard the 1989 “Big Blue” track by Clarence Clemons and written, performed and produced by JH- did you get the “Good Collar” JH vibe through it?

[Dadrian]

42 minutes ago, Matt5 said:

@Dadrian You mentioned you hadn’t heard the 1989 “Big Blue” track by Clarence Clemons and written, performed and produced by JH- did you get the “Good Collar” JH vibe through it?

Not that I remember. It was more like Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” for me. 

[Matt5]

10 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Not that I remember. It was more like Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” for me. 

Yes definately - but the beginning minute or so very like JHs “Good Collar” score from 1986 ramped up.

[Daytona74]

I have to say I am mainly a big fan of Jan Hammer's Vice related and Vice sounding stuff. And of that, I am a HUGE fan, and will never get enough of it.

His works have spanned many different styles and he can do a track that sounds like "Miami Vice 2018" just the same way as he can come up with something entirely different that is nothing like that at all. That definitely speaks to his versatility as an artist.

What I love about his new "Miami Night" track/single is that it is so spot on in conjuring up the old Miami Vice feel. He has copied himself without copying himself. If that makes any sense. I have been listening to it up and down for the past few weeks, and it has definitely kind of become part of my soundtrack to this summer.

But now that I have listened a bit more to his other tracks on "Seasons", I have to say a lot of it just doesn't speak to me in that same way. They are all brilliantly crafted tracks, but something is missing. Again, maybe it's because I got into Jan Hammer in the first place coming from being a huge Vice fan and then starting to like his music as well.  In that sense, I consider myself a loyal fan. But I'm just not sure yet what to make of the rest of his new album. Maybe I need to listen to it some more to fully appreciate it.

 

[Dadrian]

The hardest part about listening to the new album in entirety is there isn’t much continuity to it. It’s admittedly kind of all over the place—a collection of sketches over the years all put into a grab bag. 

[goozer]

Well, after rolling the dice and ordering the CD from Amazon/CD Baby (which, thankfully, turned out to be a glass master pressed CD), I've had a few weeks to digest the first full album offering of new* tunes from Jan Hammer in 24 years. As others have commented, it's a (re*)mixed bag—offering several flashes of his signature Vice style with a minimum of contemporary sheen, which are curiously juxtaposed with other tunes that abruptly shift the tone/mood. It all leaves me feeling that it really needed someone to step in and decide on a single thematic style, or at the very least perhaps reshuffle the song order. But since the title of the disc is Seasons, after all, in that regard I suppose it does have an overarching 'theme.'

Here a just a few brief comments about the tunes:

“Miami: Night”, “68 Reasons”, and “Cyclone” sound like they were intended for the Cocaine Cowboys score (which is still screaming for a proper FULL release!), or at least recorded contemporaneously. They are the tracks (along with *“April”) that I’m sure most fans have on repeat, since they all have that hint of pastel and neon.

“Ocean Drive” and “New World II” sound like Beyond the Mind’s Eye outtakes, which is not a bad thing.

“Seasons”, “Winter Solstice”, “Sanctuary”, and “It’s Time” round out the brand new material, and are all quite nice examples of Jan’s fusion of Classical, Jazz, and Rock that is unmistakably his.

Now, about that asterisk…

As has been pointed out from the moment the preview first hit, *”April” is a reworked version of one of the themes from the Miami Vice episode “Baby Blues,” which in this version I think was used in one of the films he did, but I’m not sure.

*”Causeway Bridge” is just a re-titled “(Theme from In The) Kingdom of the Blind”, which was one of the tracks that was featured on the Film Music page from Jan’s official website

The two “Suites,” *“Suite European” and *“Suite Latin” are concatenations of several of the tracks that were also featured on the Film Music page: ”Suite European” is a concatenation of “Sam Shot”/“Interlude”/“Warsaw Ghetto”/“Shutters”;  ”Suite Latin” is a concatenation of “España”/“Costa Rica”/“España”/“Dance of the Dust”.

All source tracks used in the above Suites, as well as “Kingdom of the Blind”, have been removed from the Film Music page, and replaced with 6 new tracks: “Chamber Music”, “Chancer Love Theme”, “Gratitude”, “Road Story, “Tall Ships”, and “Waltz at 12.” A little foreshadowing, perhaps?

As an aside, I added “Little Havana” and *“The Kick” (aka Theme from Secret Agent Club) to this album in my iTunes library, which makes a whole lot more sense than their addition to the Miami Vice Special Edition.

All that being said, I am still delighted that we have been blessed with more new music from Jan. And I think we have a little insight as to what we may expect from Seasons—Pt. 2. But, please—let's not have another 24-year pause!

Edited August 31, 2018 by goozer

[Matt5]

On 8/28/2018 at 5:35 AM, goozer said:

Well, after rolling the dice and ordering the CD from Amazon/CD Baby (which, thankfully, turned out to be a glass master pressed CD), I've had a few weeks to digest the first full album offering of new* tunes from Jan Hammer in 24 years. As others have commented, it's a (re*)mixed bag—offering several flashes of his signature Vice style with a minimum of contemporary sheen, which are curiously juxtaposed with other tunes that abruptly shift the tone/mood. It all leaves me feeling that it really needed someone to step in and decide on a single thematic style, or at the very least perhaps reshuffle the song order. But since the title of the disc is Seasons, after all, in that regard I suppose it does have an overarching 'theme.'

Here a just a few brief comments about the tunes:

“Miami: Night”, “68 Reasons”, and “Cyclone” sound like they were intended for the Cocaine Cowboys score (which is still screaming for a proper FULL release!), or at least recorded contemporaneously. They are the tracks (along with *“April”) that I’m sure most fans have on repeat, since they all have that hint of pastel and neon.

“Ocean Drive” and “New World II” sound like Beyond the Mind’s Eye outtakes, which is not a bad thing.

“Seasons”, “Winter Solstice”, “Sanctuary”, and “It’s Time” round out the brand new material, and are all quite nice examples of Jan’s fusion of Classical, Jazz, and Rock that is unmistakably his.

Now, about that asterisk…

As has been pointed out from the moment the preview first hit, *”April” is a reworked version of one of the themes from the Miami Vice episode “Baby Blues,” which in this version I think was used in one of the films he did, but I’m not sure.

*”Causeway Bridge” is just a re-titled “(Theme from In The) Kingdom of the Blind”, which was one of the tracks that was featured on the Film Music page from Jan’s official website

The two “Suites,” *“Suite European” and *“Suite Latin” are concatenations of several of the tracks that were also featured on the Film Music page: ”Suite European” is a concatenation of “Sam Shot”/“Interlude”/“Warsaw Ghetto”/“Shutters”;  ”Suite Latin” is a concatenation of “España”/“Costa Rica”/“España”/“Dance of the Dust”.

All source tracks used in the above Suites, as well as “Kingdom of the Blind”, have been removed from the Film Music page, and replaced with 6 new tracks: “Chamber Music”, “Chancer Love Theme”, “Gratitude”, “Road Story, “Tall Ships”, and “Waltz at 12.” A little foreshadowing, perhaps?

As an aside, I added “Little Havana” and *“The Kick” (aka Theme from Secret Agent Club) to this album in my iTunes library, which makes a whole lot more sense than their addition to the Miami Vice Special Edition.

All that being said, I am still delighted that we have been blessed with more new music from Jan. And I think we have a little insight as to what we may expect from Seasons—Pt. 2. But, please—let's not have another 24-year pause!

What a fantastic read and review. Thankyou.

[Matt5]

“Ocean Drive” from Jan Hammer’s new album drops 9/21 as a single on iTunes interestingly.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Matt5

[Den Taylor]

Am 23.7.2018 um 22:01 schrieb jpm1:

CD are subject to decay. best is mp3, or if you can wav or flac, and back them up. mp3 is better if you want to read them on smartphone.

Ah yes, but mp3s are subject to compression and thus there is always a bit of sound and feeling that is being lost. Same goes for the vinyl vs CD thing. Notice as technology advances from analog to digital how "fullness" and even "soulness" (as I like to call it) gets more and more lost? Quite a shame actually. Sure the technology has its advantages and many listeners probably don't hear much difference anyway....but there is. That's why the 80s had such a special feeling to them that you just can't find anymore in today's music! Even in Jan's new album....as Dadrian kinda pointed out and why you have members on this baord saying in their reviews  that something is "missing". Of course it still beats tons of other contemporary stuff. ;-)

Daytona74, wrote:

Zitat

This is what Miami Vice would sound like today if Jan Hammer had stayed on and we'd be in season 34 

Or if they had actually let him do the soundtrack for the MV movie. *roll eyes*
But yeah haha, that would have been cool Miami Vice beating the Simpsons. ;-)


Dadrian wrote:

Zitat

As you should be! All the ingredients for new covers are currently over a year in process. After the first video, subsequent covers should be more frequent, as I’ve been working on multiple covers over the last few months (not the two you mentioned, but thos are on my hit list ). 

You know, life is amazing!! Here I am, having been away from the forum for many months and after coming back here I not only find out that Jan Hammer has released a new album (with somewhat vice-ish tunes!), but also that Dadrian is going to release some new covers as well! How much sweeter can it get?? And next year (hopefully early) I'm going to add my own spice to this with the release of my own vice-ish album! Progress is going well (albeit slow) and I'm planning on making a post about that soon too. All in all, life is good! 

[Matt5]

Released as single on iTunes today, 9/21, from the new album.

Edited September 21, 2018 by Matt5

[Matt5]

With 2 new Jan Hammer albums so close together in July 2018 (Seasons, Pt 1) and March 2020 (Sketches in Jazz),and a number of singles released on iTunes in 2020 and 2021 from these albums -  I emailed Elliot Sears, Jan’s  long term Manager, ref a new album this was his reply Today after only a few days I sent an email to Mr Sears-

 

Hi Matt,

Jan is in fact preparing a new album which will most likely be titled SEASONS PT. 2. There is no definitive release date but hopefully it will be by year's end.

 

Best,

 

ES

Edited September 19, 2021 by Matt5