Un chitarist care scrie istorie, Jan Akkerman - Interviu

1. First of all hello from Romania! How do you feel about performing in our country?

J.A: It,s thrill to be performing there ,I love the south specially the Balkans ,I feel a connection here and warmth.

2. This is a curiosity of mine, is there any connection between your name and the fortress that is located near the Black Sea?

J.A: It,s even crazier then that, the whole area is named Akkerman in that part of the world which is actually byzantium or old Greece.Family of mine was professor sociology and his wife was scientific aid and into genaeology.They found out that there was a trade route from the south of the Ukraine to north of Frysland until the 17th century,where my ancestry from dad,s side came from and migrated to Frysland from the Ukraine. The name "Akkerman"comes from Turkmenic and means "White fortress" or "White stone" so no farmer or man from the land etc. My mum is half French/Dutch and born in Belgium "Gent". So I,m a sort of melting pot btween cultures and people.

3. You are one known to have influenced hundreds of guitarists over the years, but who influenced you back then, when you started playing the guitar?

J. A: I started out as an accordeon player at the tender age of 5 and was heavily infuenced by classical music like "Cavaleria Rusticana" or the Verdi choirs in "Nabucco".I was in an accordeon orchestra and felt embraced by the music but also by the Christian Hymne taught at grammarschool which was very handy in later live playing melody Gtar in Focus and made blues out of neo classical music.But the love for Gtar started with Django Rheinhardt at the Gypsy camp near Amsterdam where I had accordeon lessons but when I heard the Gtar from Django I was sold....period!I took my own way into the music and started playing R&B and Rock which was for me the way to express myself.

4. What bands or artists do you listen to in your spare time?

J.A: I still listen to Django and discover new things in his playing.And for the rest I like to listen to every Gtar player that,s good.I,ve no particular favorite.

5. Talking about artists, whats your opinion on nowadays music?

J.A: Well sometimes it makes you feel like that it,s more "Sick then Mu" But thank the Lord there,s still a lot of great music outside the "scene" i.o.w "In is out"

6. What about nowadays guitar players? Is there anyone who truly caught your attention?

J.A: I like authentic players,mainly blues or Jazz oriented players,the rest I find pretty boring.I mean I don,t care if you can type very fast on a typewriter but the book that comes out of that is already old news. When I listened to some of those guys, I get the impression they run around a table so fast that they can look into their own ass....excusez le mot.

8. Is there any chance to see you perform with Focus again?

J.A: I am Focus.

9. What can you tell us about future musical plans?

J.A: At the moment I,m working on filmscores which is the most interesting music nowadays or let,s say the last 75 years.It,s very rewarding to work in the limelight and take the musical freedom and let it flow in any direction.But I,m also working on serious bluesdriving stuff for "My Brainbox" A band I started in the ,68. It was famous for it,s improvisational talents.I want to take it to soul and powerfull event with the skills we have nowadays. My Brainbox "Coen Molenaar - Marijn van der Berg-David de Marez Oyens- and Last but not least a great singer from "Van den Berg" with a fantastic voice. His name is "Bert Heerink".

10. What should you expect from your show at Hard Rock Cafe?

J.A: I expect a fantastic audience and ambiance to play in and give our best doing some old Focus pieces but mainly my own compositions old and new ones.

11. One final thought for our readers and your Romanian fans?

J.A: It feels good to reconnect and experience a great time&music together "You can,t fake a good time"CU-yall there!

Yours sincerly

(sir) Jan Akkerman