Jan Hammer facts for kids

Jan Hammer (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He became famous in the early 1970s playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a popular jazz fusion band. He is also well-known for creating music for TV shows and movies, especially the famous "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme" from the 1980s TV series Miami Vice. Jan Hammer continues to make and produce music today.

He has worked with many important jazz and rock musicians like John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham, Al Di Meola, Mick Jagger, and Carlos Santana. He has composed music for at least 14 movies, 90 episodes of Miami Vice, and 20 episodes of the TV show Chancer. His music has won him two Grammy Awards.

Biography

Early life and musical journey

Jan Hammer was born in Prague, which was then the capital of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). His mother, Vlasta Průchová, was a famous Czech singer. His father was a doctor who also played the vibraphone and bass guitar to help pay for his studies.

Jan started playing the piano when he was just four years old. He began formal music lessons two years later. For a while, he thought about becoming a doctor like his father. However, a family friend encouraged him to focus on his amazing musical talent instead.

When he was 14, Jan formed a jazz trio in high school. They performed and recorded music all over Eastern Europe. He later joined the Prague Academy of Musical Arts. There, he took many important classes, including harmony, counterpoint, music history, and classical composition.

Moving to America and joining Mahavishnu Orchestra

Jan's studies at the Academy ended suddenly on 20 August 1968. This was when soldiers from other countries, part of the Warsaw Pact, entered Czechoslovakia. After this, Jan decided to move to the United States. He wanted to become an American citizen. He received a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

After finishing his studies, Jan Hammer toured with famous singer Sarah Vaughan for a year. He also recorded music with Elvin Jones and Jeremy Steig. Then, he moved to New York City. In 1971, he joined the first lineup of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. This band included guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a very successful jazz fusion band. They played about 530 concerts before their last show on 30 December 1973. Jan Hammer was one of the first musicians to use the Minimoog Moog synthesizer in live performances.

Solo career and collaborations

After leaving Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jan recorded albums with Jerry Goodman and John Abercrombie. In 1975, he started his solo career with the album The First Seven Days. He recorded this album at Red Gate Studio, which he built in his farmhouse in upstate New York. This studio has been where he records his music ever since.

In 1976, Jan formed the Jan Hammer Group. They toured to support The First Seven Days and received great reviews from music critics. The group released three albums the next year. These included their own album Oh, Yeah? and two albums with rock guitarist Jeff Beck. One of these, Wired, sold over a million copies. The other, Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live, showed their live performances together and also sold very well. The Jan Hammer Group released one more album, Melodies, in 1977.

Jan also composed music for the Czech fairy-tale movie The Incredibly Sad Princess.

Music in the late 1970s and early 1980s

In 1977, Jan Hammer recorded Elegant Gypsy with Al Di Meola. They made more albums together like Casino and Electric Rendezvous. Jan then toured with Di Meola, and this tour was recorded on the album Tour De Force - Live.

Jan returned to his solo work with the album Black Sheep in 1978. He then formed a new band called "Hammer." Also in 1978, he wrote and played on three songs for Jeff Beck's album There and Back, released in 1980. One of these songs, "Star Cycle," became the theme music for the British TV show The Tube.

He also formed a duo called Schon & Hammer with guitarist Neal Schon, who played with Santana and Journey. They released two albums: Untold Passion in 1981 and Here to Stay in 1982.

In December 1983, Jan Hammer performed with Jeff Beck in nine benefit concerts in the U.S. These concerts raised money for Ronnie Lane's A.R.M.S. charity. Many other famous musicians like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton also played. In 1984, Jan worked on albums for other artists, including Mick Jagger's first solo album, She's the Boss. He also contributed to Jeff Beck's album Flash. Jan's song "Escape" from Flash won a Grammy Award in 1985 for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

Miami Vice and big success

Jan Hammer created original music for many movies, TV shows, and commercials. But his biggest challenge came in 1984. The creators of the TV show Miami Vice asked him to compose music for the series every week.

His music for Miami Vice became incredibly popular. On 2 November 1985, the Miami Vice Soundtrack album reached number one on the Billboard Top Pop album charts. The album sold over four million copies in the U.S.

At the Grammy Awards in February 1986, "Miami Vice Theme" won Jan Hammer two awards. He won for "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" and "Best Instrumental Composition". He was also nominated for Emmy awards in 1985 and 1986 for his excellent music composition. In 1986, Keyboard Magazine voted Jan Hammer "Best Studio Synthesist" for the second year in a row. He had previously won "Best Lead Synthesist" for seven years and was inducted into the Keyboard Hall of Fame.

In 1988, Jan Hammer stopped working full-time on Miami Vice. However, the famous theme song he composed was still used until the show ended in 1989.

After Miami Vice, Jan created music for Clinton and Nadine for HBO Films. He also composed "The Runner" for TV commercials in England and the theme music for the European TV series Eurocops.

In 1989, Jan released Snapshots, his first full album from his new Red Gate studio. He composed, performed, and produced every song. The music video for "Too Much to Lose" featured famous musicians like Jeff Beck, David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, and Ringo Starr.

The 1990s and beyond

In the early 1990s, Jan Hammer toured with drummer Tony Williams. They performed as the Jan Hammer / Tony Williams Group at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 1991.

The 1990s saw Jan focus more on scoring music for films and TV shows. He worked on movies like I Come in Peace and The Taking of Beverly Hills. He also composed music for all twenty episodes of the British TV series Chancer and several episodes of HBO's Tales from the Crypt.

"Crockett's Theme" was re-released in the UK in 1991. This happened after it was used in a series of commercials. Jan also composed all the original music for TV Nova, the first commercial TV network in his home country, the Czech Republic. This included themes for 23 shows, 50 station ID's, and music for news, sports, and weather programs.

In 1994, Jan released Drive, his first album of new, non-soundtrack music in several years. He worked with his longtime friend Jeff Beck on the song "Underground."

Jan continued his scoring work in 1995. He composed music for the Universal drama Vanishing Son and two feature films released in 1996: A Modern Affair and In the Kingdom of the Blind the Man with One Eye Is King. He also scored Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus. In 1997, he created the soundtrack for the CD-ROM game Outlaw Racers.

In 1999, Jan Hammer wrote, performed, and produced the song "Even Odds" for Jeff Beck's album Who Else!. Also in 1999, The Lost Trident Sessions was released. This was the third and final studio album from his old band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, recorded in 1973 before they broke up.

2000 to present

In 2004, Jan Hammer released The Best of Miami Vice album. It included newly recorded versions of "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme," plus a bonus track.

In 2005, when the first season of Miami Vice was released on DVD, it included an interview with Jan Hammer and old footage of him creating music for the show. To go along with the DVD release, a new version of "Crockett's Theme" was sent to radio stations.

In 2006, Jan Hammer worked with singer/rapper TQ on a new version of "Crockett's Theme." This new song, called The Jan Hammer Project Featuring TQ: Crockett's Theme, became very popular in Europe. It reached number one on the iTunes Europe download list.

In 2012, Jan mentioned he was working on a collection of unreleased music. In a 2014 interview, he said he always felt like he was between experimental music and prog-rock. He also shared that he had recorded the Miami Vice theme song before the show was even made. He used a Fairlight CMI digital synthesizer to compose the music for the series.

In 2014, he recorded a version of the Squidbillies theme song. On 20 July 2018, he released his first album of new music in over 10 years, called Seasons - Part 1.

Personal life

Jan Hammer became a U.S. citizen in 1978. He has a son named Paul, who is the leader of the band Savoir Adore.

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Jan Hammer para niños