Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Jan has better albums out, January 10, 2005
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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Little Traveling Music: Maestro, August 29, 2007
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
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated release by Hammer, May 14, 2007
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.
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