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A keyboard titan,
Jan Hammer is best known for his work scoring the stylish '80s cop series Miami Vice, as well as for being a charter member of
John McLaughlin's legendary fusion group
Mahavishnu Orchestra. A classically trained performer,
Hammer first emerged in the 1970s appearing with
Mahavishnu before issuing his own synth-based albums like 1975's
The First Seven Days and 1979's rock-oriented
Black Sheep. He has also collaborated with a bevy of name performers including
Jeff Beck,
Al Di Meola,
Neal Schon, and many more. Following his break-out success with the sleek Miami Vice soundtrack, for which he earned two Grammy Awards, he moved further into varied soundtrack work, including issuing 1992's computer-generated video project Beyond the Mind's Eye. Though primarily focused on studio work for others, he occasionally returns to his own studio projects and in 2018 issued the atmospheric
Seasons, Pt. 1.
A native of Prague, in what was then Czechoslovakia,
Hammer was born into a musical family on April 17, 1948 and began studying piano at age four. By age 14, he was working with a touring and recording jazz ensemble that also included future
Weather Report member
Miroslav Vitous.
Hammer studied theory and composition at the Prague Academy of Muse Arts, but when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, he emigrated to the U.S. After attending the Berklee School of Music, he landed a year-long touring engagement with
Sarah Vaughan as both keyboardist and conductor. In 1970,
Hammer settled in Manhattan and recorded as a sideman with
Elvin Jones and
Jeremy Steig. The following year, he joined
the Mahavishnu Orchestra, appearing on landmark fusion albums like
The Inner Mounting Flame and
Birds of Fire.
After the group broke up at the end of 1973,
Hammer reunited with
Mahavishnu violinist
Jerry Goodman for the album
Like Children (1974).
Hammer released
The First Seven Days himself in 1975, and he assembled a backing unit called the Jan Hammer Group for the supporting tour. The Jan Hammer Group recorded prolifically over the next two years, including collaborations with guitarist
Jeff Beck, and their brand of fusion shifted towards R&B-styled grooves. Following 1978's
Melodies,
Hammer disbanded the group and recorded a true solo album,
Black Sheep, playing all the instruments himself. In short order, though, he formed another backing band, this one called simply
Hammer. The early '80s found
Hammer working with, among others,
Al Di Meola (
Electric Rendezvous) and
Journey guitarist
Neal Schon (Untold Passions and Here to Stay), as well as supporting
Jeff Beck in the studio.
Also in the '80s,
Hammer was becoming increasingly involved in pop/rock session collaborations, and by 1984, he had already moved into composition for television and film as well, debuting as a soundtrack composer with the film A Night in Heaven. His big break in this arena came when the producers of a new MTV-style police series called Miami Vice tapped him as weekly score composer. When a soundtrack album was released in 1985, including several
Hammer compositions as well as rock songs featured in the series,
Hammer's driving opening theme music hit number one on the pop singles charts, the first TV theme to do so since 1976. The album was a worldwide success, and "Miami Vice Theme" won
Hammer two Grammys (Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Instrumental Composition).
Hammer remained involved with Miami Vice until 1988, when he retired to upstate New York to construct a home studio and return to solo recording. The first result was
Snapshots, issued in 1989, another true solo album on which
Hammer performed every note himself. Subsequently, he rededicated himself to soundtrack composition, including 1992's acclaimed computer-animation project Beyond the Mind's Eye. 1994's
Drive became
Hammer's first non-soundtrack recording in five years; for the remainder of the decade,
Hammer continued his profitable work for TV, film, commercials, and even video games.
In 2006,
Hammer supplied the score for the documentary film Cocaine Cowboys, about the Miami drug trade in the '80s. Also in 2006, he paired with rapper
TQ for a reworking of the Miami Vice song "Crockett's Theme." Turtles, an archival live recording featuring
Hammer in concert at Munich's The Domicile in 1968 alongside saxophonist
Olaf Kübler, bassist
George Mraz, and drummer
Cees See, arrived the following year. He then joined longtime friend
Jeff Beck in concert for the guitarist's 2017 album
Live at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2018,
Hammer issued
Seasons, Pt. 1, his first studio album of original material in over a decade. ~ Steve Huey