Jan Hammer - The First Seven Days (1975)

Artista: Jan Hammer

Álbum: The First Seven Days
Año: 1975
Género: Tecno ambiental / Jazz rock fusión
Duración: 40:16
Nacionalidad: Checoslovaquia

Lista de Temas:
1. La oscuridad/La tierra en búsqueda de un sol
2. Luz/Sol
3. Los acéanos y continentes
4. Cuarto día - plantas y árboles
5. Los animales
6. Sexto día- Las personas
7. Séptimo día

Alineación:
- Jan Hammer / piano, piano eléctrico, Moog, Oberheim, batería, percusión y sintetizador Freeman string, Mellotrom
- David Earle Johnson / congas y percusión
- Steven Kindler / violín

Otro disco que nos comparte Alberto, un álbum del músico jazzero Jan Hammer que se ha inspirado en la narración bíblica que nos cuenta de los siete días de la creación, relatada en el génesis con un perfecto uso de una gran variedad de sintetizadores, incluyendo secciones de guitarra, que también es sintetizada.
Hammer, quizás más conocido en el mundo de la música por haber compuesto la banda de sonido de la famosa serie de televisión "Miami Vice", pero además fue integrante de la banda de Mahavishnu Orchestra, trabajó con Jeff Beck, Al DiMeola, Eric Clapton, Jerry Goodman y otros.
Lo acabo de terminar de escuchar y les aseguro que es otra joya perdida de esas que acostumbramos a publicar por aquí, con la diferencia que las cosas que publicamos (ya las joyas perdidas) generalmente son latinoamericanas, también asiáticaso de cualquier paíz o región alejado de las zonas de protagonismo cultural.

The First Seven Days is an album recorded by jazz musician Jan Hammer in 1975. It features extensive use of synthesizers, including the synthesized "guitar" parts (as on his follow-up album, Oh Yeah?), with the record jacket stating, "For those concerned: there is no guitar on this album." it is considered one of the pioneering works of acid jazz. Other instruments used are grand piano, electric violin and percussion.
It is a musical telling of the Genesis creation story. The record jacket continues with "Assuming that each of these "days" lasted anywhere from one day to a hundred million years, the scientific and biblical views do meet in certain points. These points were the inspiration for this album, and, besides, the provided me with an excuse to write seven new pieces of music."

Wikipedia

Esto es lo que nos comenta el mismo Alberto sobre el disco:

Este disco fue considerado por la crítica mundial como el mejor editado en el año 1975, metido en el medio de esa parafernalia de grupos progresivos de ese entonces. Curiosamente un disco instrumental y conceptual inspirado en los siete dias de la creación, en particular la primera vez que lo escuche me produjo total asombro por cuanto venia escuchando a grupos como E.L.P. , Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, y este rompia un poco los moldes, me ocurrió lo mismo con "Spectrum" de Billy Cobham... para mi el mejor tema es el ultimo, el Seven Day, pero bueno es cosas de gustos.

Esencialmente, el disco es una combinación de sintetizadores ambientales analógicos, bastante tradición clásica y un toque suave de jazz-fusión, un estilo de fusión que creo que se adelantó a su tiempo y por ello no es una obra más conocida, el tipo muestra una notable maestría musical. Quizás sobra estilo y maestría y falta en términos de fuego y pasión, pero sin embargo, tomemos en cuenta que el ambient tecno es donde se mueve esta obra, y situándola en ese estilo, debemos decir que es una obra tremendamente sugestiva e impactante. Además de ser magistralmente interpretada. Este disco cae estilísticamente dentro de la categoría de "electrónica progresiva".

Pero no voy a opinar demasiado porque aún lo he escuchado muy poco, el disco me gusta mucho, y no voy a decir nada más. Vamos, para ello, con comentarios de terceros para que puedan imaginar lo que es este trabajo.

This is the first solo offering from the consummate Mahavishnu key master. "Seven Days" is an awesome musical accomplishment and was waaay ahead of it's time. This is the soundtrack for the genesis of Earth and life. An amalgamate of jazz, rock, ambient, and world music, Hammer's inspiration for this came from the confluence of certain biblical and scientific concepts regarding creation. Other than violin and some percussion, Hammer plays all instruments and demonstrates his ability to shine behind the drum kit on "Darkness/Earth in Search of a Sun". This is a fine album that any fan of jazz-fusion or prog rock would thoroughly enjoy.

ralphcat

Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboard ace Jan Hammer offers up quite a thorough study in synthesizer technology with his second solo release, titled The First Seven Days. With the liner notes declaring "for those concerned, that there is no guitar on this album," Hammer makes it a point to further blur the distinction between the genres of jazz, rock, and classical music. Wishing to portray the first seven "days" of earth's creation, Hammer states that "assuming that each of these days lasted anywhere from one day to 100 million years, the scientific and biblical views do meet in certain points. These points were the inspiration for this album." His incorporation of the piano, electric piano, Moog synthesizer, Oberheim synthesizer, Freeman string synthesizer, and Mellotron vividly evokes images of bubbling cesspools and budding birthrights as his inspired version of the physical world sonically takes shape. While The First Seven Days is atmospheric in nature, with no proper pop sensibilities, its thematic construction yields nothing short of a classic narrative.

Robert Gabriel

This is a concept album, the subject matter being obvious and is instrumental. I'm pleased to say that Hammer is not being a creationist here, he refers to the concept as being valid whether a day is 24 hours or a hundred million years, I go for the latter!
Almost all the instruments are played by Hammer, with exception of violin from another ex-Mahavishnu, Steve Kindler and congas. It is evokative and beautiful, full of lovely melodies.
Even though the abum had a major label backing, it sank, from memory, without a trace. pity as it deserves recognition. Just listen to the sample, a good guide to the album as a whole.
Hammer went on to write music for crap TV programmes before dropping out of the music industry completely some years ago.
I recommend this album as a forgotten jewel.

micaus

Here's one of those rare albums that not only sounds just as good as it did in 1975, but has actually improved with age. The first solo project by the keyboard ace of the original MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA was (by Prog standards) only a modest instrumental concept album at the time, which might be one reason why it plays so well over 30 years later.
Maybe there were just too many keyboard virtuosos strutting their stuff in the mid 1970s, and an undemonstrative artist like Hammer was simply lost behind the glare of all those sequined capes. And maybe a little time and distance were needed to best appreciate the seamless blend here of so many different influences: prog rock, jazz-rock fusion, world music, middle-European folk songs (Hammer was a native Czech), the Western classical- orchestral tradition, and of course all the emerging trends of late 20th century electronica.
Or maybe, in retrospect, it's simply the glorious sound of all those vintage analog keyboards. The sonorous mini-moog and mellotron intro to "Darkness/Earth in Search of a Sun" has to be one of the more dramatic album openers in modern rock, and when the sequencers rev into action and the drums (played by Hammer himself) kick in, it's hard not to experience a twin shiver of nostalgia and exhilaration.
The album is loosely drawn around the biblical myth of Genesis, with each of the seven tracks representing another day of creation. But don't worry, there's no religious agenda behind it: Hammer admits in his liner notes he was only looking for an excuse to record an LP's worth of music, and besides (he adds), each metaphorical day might have actually lasted several million years. After all, wasn't the sun itself supposedly made on the third day?
The music itself might be said to be its own eloquent act of creation. It helped to jump-start what continues to be an incredibly prolific career: check out the dizzying list of Hammer projects, both solo and in collaboration, on his pages here at Prog Archives. It's an impressive résu

Michael Neumann

First post-MO album from Hammer, and a bit of a surprise move, away from the usual JR/F that we expect from him. While there are jazzy touches on TF7D, this is definitely more of an electronic music album, probably the one that gave him his electronic wizard reputation. Coming with an acclaimed artwork (although I find it completely average and even borderline overly naïve), this is a concept album (Jan disclaims it, but it's tough not thinking of it as such) that relates the Christian genesis of our world, without the religious content. This was his first shot at producing an album, and he did so in his brand new studio at home, somewhere in upstate New York and he plays every instruments on it, which means a wide array of keyboards and drums/percussions.
The album starts on some strong mini-moog, mellotron-filled track In Search Of A Sun, but the following Sun/Light is less enthralling, with the Sun part an unconvincing piano piece, while the Light sounds like it comes from rejected Tomita tapes, although this is not as violent a criticism you would believe (early Tomita s extraordinary stuff). Similarly to Sun, I find Oceans And Continents boring repetitive piano pieces, sometimes interrupted by a clumsy Wakeman or Emerson personification on synths over a bunch of synth layers. Plants and Trees sound like a Debussy piano piece (although Hammer was probably thinking more of Dvorak when writing it).
The flipside starts on the third day and Animals. The anachronic jungle beats might induce you to hear wild animals, but normally there is no humans yet to make these drum beats yet. I find this piece quite clumsy and dated, no matter my previous remark. The People has Jan playing some violin (real? 'cos the guitars on the second track was fake), while Seventh Day returns to the uneventful Sunday of a certain creator already bored of his new toy. Maybe Jan was bored as well.
While I've always respected Hammer's career and achievements, I've often been irritated at how some people make him out to be such a wizard of electronic music and especially at calling this album a masterpiece to be filed among the best. It would be easy to say that somehow Hammer missed the nail with this album, but it's more complex than that!! While TF7D is a good album, we're far away from the Germans, or Isao Tomita, etc. let alone some of the more adventurous Hancock in terms of electronics: Hancock's electronics in Mwandishi and much later with Rock It is certainly a worthy answer to Hammer's Miami Vice (BTW: I find both pieces atrocious piece of 80's crap). While usually hailed as a masterpiece by many, I beg to differ about this album, but I'm one in a small minority... But don't say I didn't warn you.

Sean Trane

I wasn't expecting this when I picked this up. The former keyboardist for MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA has created an album here that is almost the polar oposite to what his former band used to release. Maybe that isn't too surprising since they didn't breakup in exactly the best of terms as it seemed to be a McLaughlin versus the rest of the band attitude before they folded the tent. So yeah none of that high energy, intense fusion that we were used to hearing. I always think of this guy that came in my store a few years ago and we got talking about music and MAHAVISHNU ORHESTRA came up and he related how he couldn't listen to "Birds Of Fire" all the way through because it just too much for him. I was grinning when he told me that. It was just too overwelming for him. He should listen to "The First Seven Days" because this is about as laid back as your going to get. In fact I kept thinking of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays' "When Witchita Falls..." album. This was the first record Jan produced for himself in his newly built studio in his home in upstate New York.This is all about Hammer and the variety of keyboards he employed including piano, Fender Rhodes, electric piano, moog, sequencers, synths, string synths and mellotron. While I wouldn't call this a mellotron album it is on all but one track but it's used in the background usually. I do like when the mellotron choirs come to the fore though.There is a guest percussionist and violinist helping out as well.
"Darkness / Earth In Search Of Sun" opens with a spacey atmosphere including mellotron.The synths start to kick in before 2 1/2 minutes followed by drums as the atmosphere disappears.Great sound ! Jan describes this song as feeling like your lost groping in the dark when suddenly this gigantic globe which is slowly spinning reveals itself. "Light / Sun" opens with piano then it turns spacey before 2 minutes as the piano stops.The tempo picks up 4 minutes in then back to that spacey sound after 5 1/2 minutes.
"Oceans And Continents" is as Jan describes "Probably the most visual piece on the whole album, this goes back to Van Gogh, painting vast brush strokes from left to right and as far as the eye can see, a landscape painting". Piano to start then these intricate sounds come in after 2 minutes. "Fourth Day-Plants And Trees" is a short, laid back piece that reminds Jan of his homeland. "The Animals" is percussion and synths led early on. Cool sound. A change 4 minutes in as it becomes a little more aggressive.
"Sixth Day- The People" is as Jan describes it "turning from pure acoustic into a much more lush electric thing, the entrance of people, humans". Mellotron ends this one in style. "The Seventh Day" is Jan's ode to joy so he says. Piano to start then it becomes fuller a minute in. Nice. Even fuller 5 1/2 minutes in.
A good album that i have to be in the right mood for. A low 4 stars but this one is an interesting and laid back listen.

John Davie

Wonderful album, one of the all-time greats in progressive music (at least in this jazz-rock oriented sub-genre) and, in my opinion, highly underestimated. It would be, however, classified predominantly as progressive-electronic because the presence of fusion and jazz elements is more difficult to observe than in other Jan Hammer's albums (most significantly audible in "Plant and Trees" and "Animals"). Fortunately, Jan Hammer decided to resign here from the exploration of funky-territory and soul-like vocals like on albums "Like Children" and "Oh-Yeah!". "First Seven Days" is archetypical concept-album, where the myth of world creation from Holy Bible's Genesis is illustrated by seven tracks (days), different in terms of moods and styles. All tracks are clear-instrumental, full of strong melodies and complex rhythms. Opening ("Darkness") and final ("The Seventh Day") are exceptionally beautiful and emotional. Sound landscapes and sonoric detailsare highly refined as for 1975. Masterpiece, five stars.

Pawel Koperski

Fresh from working with the much lauded John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the time was right for Hammer to explore the limits of the new fusion of jazz, rock, and world music (before it even had name) on his own. The album and song titles are simply chosen to stimulate the imagination, and they really do. Not a single note is wasted, nor is any track given over to self-indulgence; each track is measured out to just the right length. Themes are often led by piano movements, but Hammer makes judicious use of percussion and violin as well as sequencer-driven rhythm tracks. A master at the synthesizer and keyboard, "The First Seven Days" showcases his skills and imagination, e.g., his use of portamento in simulating electric guitar solos. To sum up, Hammer really makes this fusion master piece musically infectious; he as produced an ageless eclectic mix of nearly all that the progressive music movement seeks to accomplish. Absolutely essential.

Convocation

First a note of thanks - it was only through recommendations on this site that I heard of this album.
Labels can be unfair - there's really only two kinds of music, good or bad - but if we are attaching labels then this album strictly falls under the category of symphonic rather than jazz/fusion. A carefully constructed series of pieces that on first listening owe little to either the Mahavishnu Orchestra or "Miami Vice" , Jan Hammer's first solo album is a set of compositions that represent, as you would expect, the first seven days of creation. Hammer concentrates on composition and creating moods, rather than showing off his technique, though this comes across too. To give a crude description - it's more laid back than say Six Wives of Henry VIII, but more involving than Jean Michel Jarre's sometimes soporific work. "Oceans and Continents" is the piece that stays most in the mind, with its haunting melody laid over piano. For the "Sixth Day- People" Hammer makes clever use of violin, to represent the sophistication of the human spirit.
Highly recommended - the CBS re-master is excellent quality. Small warning - the CD is typical length for the time, i.e. around 40 miniutes, and there's no bonus tracks, but the quality of the music hopefully means you won't feel cheated.

Phil L.

This guy can literally turn a big chunk of blockbuster-esque sci-fi and cliched spiritual story about earth into a nugget of gold with his exceptional skills and thoughtful keyboard extravaganza. Some may find the texture a little bit too squashy but that's where the unique ambiental quality is brought into the technicolor yet serene jazz fusion formula. And yeah, I've never known Jan is a terrific drummer too!
Don't ever dare proclaiming yourself as a keyboard wizard if you've never produced anything that easily top this.

potatahtapapoh

Keyboardist Jan Hammer recorded an album in 1975 called The First Seven Days (Columbia/Legacy). Like Duke Ellington's sacred concerts and John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, it was musician as preacher or philosopher. The First Seven Days has been lying dormant in Columbia's vaults for almost 30 years waiting to be reissued in whole (some parts have been released on other Hammer albums).
Hammer, most famous for his soundtrack to the television show Miami Vice, doesn't exactly write spiritual compositions … la Trane and Duke. Hammer even admits in the liner notes that for him the first seven days are "scientific" and "biblical" and that the two "do meet in certain points." With Hammer, duality is inherent: His music is dominated by his mastery of piano and keyboards that became in vogue during the rise of fusion (electric piano, Moog synthesizer, etc.). It makes it hard to label his music just spiritual. However, by the "Fourth Day-Plants and Trees," Hammer is in gear with his version of God's handiwork. This is the Old Testament fusion. It only sets up the best portion of the album-"The Animals," "Sixth Day-The People" and "The Seventh Day"-where he returns to mostly familiar sounds, linear music patterns and highly emotional content. Violinist Steve Kindler and percussionist David Earle Johnson join Hammer as the action on Earth gets real-and aesthetically gorgeous. Kindler's violin interspersed with Hammer's piano work on "Sixth Day" is perfect for the communication of these moods. Hammer is not overbearing either. Like "The Creation" itself, The First Seven Days is essential stuff.

Brian Gilmore

Today we take audio technology for granted. If we wanted, we could all have a virtual orchestra in our computer and make any type of music we wanted. But as we should also know, a computer is only as good as the people who program it, and our music would only be as good as we could play it. The same was true when it came to the wondrous sounds on Jan Hammer's The First Seven Days. He was doing things with keyboards and synthesizers and using recording methods that nobody else was at the time. And programming? What programming? To put together this 1975 project it took an incredible knowledge of the new and unwieldy world of synthesis technology. Hammer was a pioneer. I know from a good source that it was not unusual for Hammer to open up the guts of these synthesizers and tinker with or rewire them so they would do what he wanted. And of course his electrical engineering skills were only a third of the equation. His musical imagination was another third and his great chops were the final third.
"Oceans and Continents" was just one of 7 cuts on The First Seven Days that displayed Hammer's magnificent reach. Brilliantly constructed, "Oceans and Continents" is played by Hammer as a one-man band. If you had no knowledge of the recording methods required, the difficult instrumentation or the technical skill it took Hammer just to record the song, you would still be blown away by his compelling performance. It is a tour-de-force keyboard presentation heard as if played through an emotional prism.

Walter Kolosky

Un trabajo serio, basado en una variedad de sonido del teclado (moog, mellotron, piano eléctrico, sintetizadores, etc.) que combina de manera maravillosa su trama conceptual basada en textos bíblicos, desarrollando un alcance épico, con momentos psicodélicos, toques clásicos durante todo el trabajo, arreglos de etno-fusión, y así sucesivamente se va formando un disco de música que magistralmente nos deja un intrigante misterio.
No se pierdan este disco, no se consigue y además es un discazo!

www.janhammer.com