At 72 years old, the supremely gifted guitarist Jan Akkerman will be releasing âClose Beautyâ, his first studio album in eight years on Friday 25th October, and a track from the album, 'Tommy's Anniversary', is today's Track Of The Day. Akkerman was a founding member of Focus from 1969 to 1976 where he recorded a number of breakout albums including âFocus II/Moving Wavesâ (1971), which spawned the mega-hit âHocus Pocusâ, plus âFocus 3â (1972) which featured another hit single âSylviaâ. That year Melody Maker declared him the âBest guitarist of the worldâ, above Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page! âClose Beautyâ is the return of the distinctive âAkkerman-soundâ, which runs like a thread through twelve compositions; acoustic, electric, solo performing and accompanied by his own band, Marijn van den Berg (drums), David de Marez Oyens (bass) and Coen Molenaar (keyboards).
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