Jan Hammer — Cassette

Intro

Jan Hammer creates music that feels like a high-speed chase through a city made of glass and neon. It is the sound of the 1980s distilled into its most sophisticated form: sharp digital edges, gated drum machines, and soaring synthesizer melodies that mimic the expressive wail of an electric guitar. His work bridges the gap between the technical complexity of jazz fusion and the immediate, atmospheric pull of pop-culture soundtracks.

What truly sets Hammer apart is his mastery of the pitch-bend and modulation wheels. He doesn't just play keys; he makes his synthesizers breathe and scream with a human-like phrasing that few electronic musicians have ever matched. There is a constant sense of forward motion and cool detachment, a 'noir' sensibility that feels both expensive and dangerous.

Start with 'Escape from Television' to hear the iconic 'Miami Vice' themes in their full glory. It is the perfect entry point for anyone wanting to understand how one man's keyboard rig defined the aesthetic of an entire decade.

Jan Hammer (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈɦamɛr]) (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He rose to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as with his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the 1980s television program Miami Vice. He has continued to work as both a musical performer and producer. Hammer has collaborated with some of the era's most influential jazz and rock musicians such as John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham, Al Di Meola, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Tommy Bolin, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather, John Abercrombie and Elvin Jones. He has composed and produced at least 14 original motion picture soundtracks, the music for 90 episodes of Miami Vice and 20 episodes of the television series Chancer. His compositions have won him two Grammy Awards.

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