#Jan Hammer

[jt1674]

[yodaprod]

Hey, I charged my old Ipod 30gb from 2005, still working with a full load of 80s...

[alverrann]

I'm freaking out rn, and I gotta put it somewhere. I was in the middle of watching Child's Play from Season 4, and almost 18 minutes in Sonny goes ballistic on those arms dealers and Rico calls him on it as they get into the caddy.

Now they have a little heart-to-heart, where Sonny apologizes and Rico tells him not to shut him out. Ofc I was already enjoying the scene, but then I started listening to the background music and I am screaming.

Jan Hammer, that absolute madlad, slipped in a soft rendition of Sonny's theme, but it's played by Rico's instrument. It's just too perfect - I haven't even finished the episode, haha, I'm too excited and I hadda come tell someone.

So for those who may not know, Sonny has a theme, aptly named Crockett's theme. It plays often in the background of different scenes, mostly because it's good and it always fits the mood because Jan Hammer is amazing. It has a melancholic feel to it that I quite enjoy, though it becomes more passionate when the electric guitar comes in (definitely my favorite part of the original track).

Now Rico also has a theme, called Rico's Blues. It's ... sultry? That's the best word I can think of to describe it, and it will also play at appropriate moments. There's a descending part of it that I particularly like (and am doing absolutely no justice to) that I've heard get mixed in with other tracks, since it's a little less "sultry" and still makes you think of Tubbs.

Anyway. Both of these tracks have "instruments" that play their respective themes, and even though most of it is synth, the message still gets across, and that's why I'm so excited. I have a Chill 80's Playlist that I listen to often, apparently so often that I was able to pick out Rico's instrument.

Now I feel like I gotta rewatch everything to see if it ever happens the other way around, or what else I've missed, but for now I'll just leave y'all with this while I go listen again, haha

[my-chaos-radio]

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Release: December 29, 1986

Songwriter: Jan Hammer

SongFacts:

👉📖

[coloursteelsexappeal]

Jan Hammer - Gina (1984)

[yodeleyewho]

Info about how Jan Hammer got involved with Miami Vice

He completed his first film soundtrack on ‘A Night in Heaven’ in 1983, and soon after that he met Michael Mann. “My friend Danny Goldberg said, ‘Let’s go see Michael.’” Jan played some of his recent music he’d brought along on a cassette, and Mann told him about his plans for Miami Vice. “Michael has an amazing way of communicating his visions and what he wants to hear. There’s no other filmmaker like him. I clicked instantly with the look and feel of the show.”

Mann has allowed him an unusual extent of freedom. He not only composed the music, but decides on the exact placement of it. “On most films, there’s a committee of producers loooking over your shoulder. It’s an unprecedented amount of freedom.” “I hardly eve touch Jan’s music,” says music editor Jerry Cohen. “It fits perfectly to the film when he sends it here.”

While his frequent change in musical styles has obscured his image, his diversity plays in his favor with Miami Vice. “I get to do everything I’ve done before and I can do it at the the same time. That’s what’s amazing.” He may shift in one episode from rock to reggae to jazz. There are driving guitars, pulsating Latin beats, mellifluous atmospherics. The unusual creative environment, coupled with skyrocketing popularity of the show and the VICE album, led him to reconsider his plans to leave Vice after two seasons. “I’ve grown to love the show very much. I would be hard-pressed to find another situation where the producers allow such freedom. I suspect I’ll be involved one way or another with Vice for the third season.”

Instead of reading the scripts, Hammer views a video cassette of each episode as they arrive by courier at his 150-year-old home near Brewster, in upstate New York. “It works best for that way,” he says in his slight Czech accent. “It keeps me excited about the story if I haven’t read it. Much of the music comes from just responding to the theme of the episode. The whole idea to writing a dramatic story is to be caught up in it emotionally.” He usually works five days on a show. “The first couple of days I jot down notes and play with ideas.” He may write “dreamy”, “ominous”, or “trouble” to describe a scene. During the week, he receives updated versions of the episode, and by the last three days, he’s feverishly composing and producing his music.

[rodpower78]

Backstage with The Mahavishnu Orchestra. From left; Rick Laird, John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer and Billy Cobham.

[ominous-synths-records]

Highway Made Of Glass - Hammer

Listen to more by this artist

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[vinyl-connection]

TIMELESS

Cascading keyboard notes and flurries of guitar; soon they are dancing through a frenetic dialogue as dextrous as it is energising. Welcome to “Lungs”, the unexpectedly manic opening to Timeless, the entrancing 1975 album by John Abercrombie. “Lungs” was composed by the keyboard player Jan Hammer, he of Mahavishnu Orchestra fame. In group leader Abercrombie, Hammer found a six-string foil fully…

[flaggermuser]

This song got me into Miami Vice

[ourladyofomega]

[jt1674]

[bondshotel]

That is an awesome album, really unique.

[jedivoodoochile]

Jan Hammer - Beyond The Mind's Eye (Complete Film) [OFFICIAL]

[cbjustmusic]

A post in remembrance of guitarist and two time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Beck who died on Tuesday from bacterial meningitis. Here is a 2016 performance of “Star Cycle”, a song from his 1980 album There and Back. This performance is with keyboardist Jan Hammer who wrote this song. __________________ Star Cycle Songwriter: Jan Hammer

[coloursteelsexappeal]

Jan Hammer Group - Don't You Know (1977)