Customer Reviews

Drive

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First things first: the initial scan of the cd shown with the listing is the BACK insert of the cd. You have to look at the second customer image to see the front cover art. Now, down to brass tacks: you want to know whether this cd is worth buying, and what's it all about . . . This is melodic fusion keyboard jazz at it's supreme finest. You will probably best remember Jan Hammer from his incredible background music he wrote for the TV series: "Miami Vice." His style is best represented by a comparison to Jeff Beck, the guitarist extraordinaire. What Beck accomplishes by bending time and phrasing with multiple chords seemingly played simultaneously, Hammer can duplicate with a keyboard. Both have an intense solo style, often couched around a more mellow base melody. In short, they both are more interesting in `style' than in melody.

In this unique cd, Hammer displays both harmonious melodies with improvisational licks that will keep the traditional jazz enthusiasts happy. The overall mood of the music is upbeat, and is not a somber keyboard jazz piece like McCoy Tyner often exhibits. Instead, the fusion brainset of both Jeff Beck and Hammer combine on this cd to blend two superior playing abilities into a cohesive group effort. To top it all off, the horn section is courtesy of Michael Brecker. This is a great introduction to Jan Hammer, although it was one of his later cds and easily available at a decent price under $5.

well....what are you waiting for?

Jeff Feezle of Macafeez

For those of you familiar with Jan Hammer, then you are accustomed to his trade mark "sound" like a Mellotron zoned-out on Somas (using the slider lever to slide between the notes) Well, he uses HIS sound on this album but not to the point of "Enough Already" as with some of his earlier solo releases. Really, he doesn't use "his sound" until the 9th track!

"Drive" has the energy of Miami Vice, the maturity of his years of experience and the jazz influences on the first three songs to really sound as if they came right off the original Miami Vice score, which of course they didn't as they hadn't been penned.

The second track may sound familiar as it was used in the television airing of (Knight Rider 2000) for KIT 2000. The forth track (Island Dreamer) slows to a comfortable stroll on a quiet beach. Synth - marimba, steel drums and acoustic guitars add nicely to the island experience.

The title track has a more traditional Hammer sound with the all electronic music-scape punctuated with his drum machine and electronic bass lines while Hammer plays the lead on his synth guitar (a black & white photo of it is shown inside the front cover booklet which opens to four pages. - The front and back images are shown above.)

All in all, from start to finish, I find Drive to be a very nice way to pass 45 minutes with a comfortable mixture of jazz/rock/fusion. Oddly, it doesn't sound very dated which comes from Jan's selection of instruments, I believe. I give this CD 4 and a half stars. One half star off because the songs start to have a sameness and predictability to them after the seventh track. But for true Hammer Heads... this is what he does! Musically, much, much better than Beyond The Minds Eye. As always, Jan Hammer continues to provide me with entertainment and a difficult time in attempting to critique him. This is one CD any Hammer fan should have in their collection... especially if they like the light jazz sound that he has strongly embraced in the release.

I really like Jan Hammer's work. I like his stuff with John McLaughlin, Al Dimeola, Neal Schon, and Jeff Beck. I like his solo stuff such as his music for Miami Vice and Beyond the Mind's Eye. But I could not stand this CD. I do not know what he was thinking when he wrote this music. I was so disappointed I sold the album - there was not a single song I liked to justify keeping it.

Drive represents Jan Hammer in the mid-90s after having focused for years creating a variety of instrumental soundtrack music. As such, the album features a more mellow approach than his earlier solo efforts prior to Miami Vice and the soundtracks.
It contains some updated versions of some of Jan's older tunes and yes, these new versions feature a more mellow approach than the original incarnations, but the quality of the songs are not diminished in the least. It just shows how good songs can have several valid versions, not just the first one that brands one's memory. For those who want 'blaze', the album includes a very nice uptempo track that features guest star Jeff Beck. It's not scortching in the rock distortion sense - it's much more subtle than that and the interplay between Jeff & Jan is wonderful as the drum track provides a complex bed for the players to cook against. The disc may seem smooth but it delivers a well sequenced collection of tracks from a modern fusion master.

I'm a long-time fan of Jan Hammer, from Mahavishnu through all of his solo career and all of the collaborations in between and this is one of my favorite recordings by him. It's the one that I think to share first with anyone who says, "Jan who?". Top-notch from front-to-back.

Jan Hammer - Drive. The best smooth jazz for cruisin' on an open road or anywhere, never cease to amaze me.

Renowned and distinctive keyboardist Jan Hammer spent much of the 1980's composing and performing the musical score for the TV show Miami Vice (1984-89 Television Series). In the meantime an excellent body of solo work from the 70's went somewhat forgotton as a result. Despite a couple of albums,again mostly relating to television scoring during the late 80's and yet another CGI animation soundtrack Beyond the Mind's Eye in 1992,it wasn't until two years after that that this came along:Hammer's first non soundtrack recording since........who can really say. Playing most of the instrumental parts himself on his custom "keytar" (he and George Duke,with his clavitar seem to be the so well known for that same thing) two old musicians friends Jeff Beck and Michael Brecker also so up. The production on this album on the other hand is a lot different then you'd expect from music of this period. This came along at the height of Weather Channel style "smooth jazz",a music based very strongly in clishes. In terms of the sound of this there are similarities but when you listen further you actually find that this is very much just a modernized extention of what Hammer had done previously,along with some very pleasant surprises.Obviously his 1977 album Melodies is something both Hammer and myself consider one of his greatest high water marks because he re-makes two songs from that album here as instrumental,starting with the opening "Peaceful Sundown".While Brecker's sax solo is nice and melodic......the absense of Tony Smith's mellow lead and Fernando Saunders soulful backup vocal is a big hole.It's not a bias,it's a face.As for "Don't You Know",well it has the same modern touch but the fact the lead melody is played by Jan on synthesizer with heavy cinematic improvisation really transforms the original into something different.It's not particularlyy abstract or unique compared to his music of that time but it's definately the more distinct of the two. The title track is also a highlight,kind of funky and bluesy in a way but it's hard to play the blues amid such slickness.Beck's guitar solo really brings this out the same as it does on the somewhat mellower but still grooving "Underground".Somehow they works though and gets a nice groove out them.Many of the songs have some downright fascinating musical concepts really,especially towards the latter half."Up And Down" is a very spare number featuring primarily a piano solo by Hammer showcasing his great strengh as a composer,notably in the jazz world.Across "Coming Back Home" and "Capital News" there are strong echoes of the Mahavisnu Orchestra or some of the material from the mid 70's release Oh Yeah?;that jazz rock fusion style that made Hammer and the genre itself famous."Nightglow" is a very nice Sade style number,again done up very spare for maximum effect. So in the end is this glossy album essential to understand Jan Hammer's music?I would'nt say that.But if you are looking for his most recent non-soundtrack studio work,of which there isn't much this is the best example I can come up with.

I'm a Jan Hammer fan, and this CD is a very good reason why I like him. In "Drive" he mixes different styles, and have added extra flavour in his tunes by having special appearances by the likes of Jeff Beck (Guitar), Michael Brecker( Saxophone ) and Stan Harrison (saxophone ) on some of the songs. The best songs are the calypso influensed "Island Dreamer" and Smooth jazz oriented "Lucky Jane". I'd give this CD 5 stars if the lead motive "Drive" was a little bit better..but you can't have it all :)

An excellent CD. I got hooked on Jan Hammer's music from the video "Beyond the Mind's Eye". I bought this CD when it first came out. I was not disappointed and it still sounds good. A timeless piece of work.