Search - AKKERMAN, JAN - LIVE on DVD

I've waited a long time for this...

Benjamin J. Neiman | Phila., Pa. United States | 09/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Herein find a fantastic live dvd performance of Jan Akkerman and his talented young band in two separate concert segments filmed in Germany, one acoustic(ish) one electric. The master plays very well, only wish the Bachian "WildFlower" had been included. There are several blues inc. "Pietons", and of course, "Tommy" and(sort of)"Hocus Pocus". Anyone into Rock/Jazz guitar will love this. The interview is notable for the short segment of Jan jamming with Paco De Lucia, and he describes the experience as "being run over by a jet plane!" Oh yes, there is an Easter Egg bonus, click onto Jan's hat for a neat extra. Jan is still easily one of the greatest guitarists out there."

Great performance of one of the greatest, on a poorly-edited

Ziyon | Israel | 01/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Akkerman has always been considered as a "Guitartist's guitarist", getting most of his appreciation from the professional musical community and less from the commercial public. His technique is really unique and he's one of the chosen few great guitarists that can play classical pieces on a lute, improvise on a jazz guitar and rock you in a heavy-metal like piece (Steve Howe is about the only additional one I can think of). This DVD has two parts - electric and acoustic which might be misleading since the acoustic guitar is amplified in a way that the sound resembles electric jazz guitar on high pitches and on the other hand on the 'electric' part there are some softer pieces. Jan's technique is always amazing, his band (same in both concerts) is very good and he connects well with the audience. Also the sound quality is great, and only drawbacks for which I gave this 4 starts rather than 5 are:

a) Songs selection is good but for a relatively short DVD the fact that there are 2 duplications (same 2 pieces in both concerts) that do not vary much in arrangement is an overlooking of the editor.
b) There are some editing mistakes, wrong title names for songs, not very professional editing
c) The interview, for which I had high expectation (including pieces of Jan playing with Paco de Lucia) is long and tiring, most questions hence answers are trivial - again an editing issue.

Bottom line - any serious guitar player should own this, the few drawbacks cannot spoil a great performance by a genius musician.
"

Jan the man

Ian W. Lehmann | South Australia | 10/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This guy deserves more credit in the guitar world. He has matured into a very tasty player. He is supported on this live DVD by an excellent band. The music mostly has fairly laid back grooves. Jan's tone is to die for. I want one of those Gibson L5s. Should be a part of any musos DVD collection."