Akkerman talks about the album

David Bowie on the night in question

For the recently published Box Set of Akkerman albums Jan has commented on each of the albums for a booklet that accompanies the 26 discs. On Tabernakel he has written

This album proved a great opportunity. Producer Geoffrey Haslam introduced me to arranger George Flynn insisting "Jan, he's your man". Thanks to Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertugun, engineer Gene Les Paul (son of) and the New York Philharmonic came on board. We made the album in a week.(1)  From my perspective, new instruments such as Moog synthesizers (2) in the seventies marked a musical renaissance. I wanted to connect the modern with traditional lute music and that was the general philosophy behind Tabernakel. Once I'd discovered old Mediaeval lute material and Julian Bream's work (3), I immediately went to Cambridge University to make photocopies of the tablatures (4). I only found out later that I could have bought them at Schott's music on Great Marlborough Street in London! (5) At the time I couldn't incorporate any lute playing in Focus so I recorded it for my third solo record instead. To record the lute, Gene plastered the instrument with so many Barcus Berry pick-ups (6) (purchased at Mannys in NYC (7)) that consequently it looked like a hospital patient! I knew Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge (8) and they were great guys to record with and understood exactly how I wanted to do things.

House of the King was done on the Coral electric sitar, (9) an instrument I discovered in the States in early 1973, and I use a genuine sitar on the record

Javeh, (10) the Jewish name for the Lord, came to me while staring upon the wide landscape of Friesland where I was living at the time. The piece starts a little restlessly but turns into an impressionistic and calm piece. In February 1974, I wanted to perform Javeh at the prestigious Grand Gala du Disque (the Dutch equivalent of the grammys) (11) and invited George Flynn to assist the orchestra with the arrangements. The performance, which was performed live on television, didn't go to plan and I decided to play solo. After the first few bars, I felt uncomfortable and decided to walk away. This happened in front of David Bowie and other celebrities (12), but I've never regretted it for a moment.

(1) Sounds like a slight exaggeration but maybe not

(2) See Wikipedia article on the Moog here

(3) See Wikipedia on Julian Bream here

(4) These days the tablatures from Cambridge are online. See here.

(5) See here

(6) In 1963, experiments initiated by violinist John Berry and electronics visionary Les Barcus, gave birth to the first ever piezo crystal transducer for musical instruments. Many further innovations have been made since. For more, see here.

(7) There from 1935-2009. See this Wikipedia article here.

(8) See Wikipedia article here

(9) See an article on the Coral here

(10) See Wikipedia article here

(11) The event on Friday February 15 was the last time the event was televised. For details of the many others performing that day see here.

(12) David Bowie is not listed above but he is mentioned here on Wikipedia.

Javeh Video

Analysis 01

1. Britannia. What was originally the first side of Tabernakel begins with a Dowland track that at first features only solo lute. The lute is bright and brisk for a moment but then fairly sedate. It is supplemented firstly (from 00:48), under Flynn's baton, by flutes and strings. Then (at 01:18) a brisk beat is set up by Ray Lucas's drum kit (Akkerman also plays bass). At 01:46 Flynn brings in the horn section and we are soon in full concerto mode as the tune is explored by the various instruments. The contrast between horns and flutes is delightful. A brief ritartando brings us to a false ending at 03:16 and the briefest caesura before taking off again with a very jolly section that begins in “Camberwick Green” style but soars on horns before ending with the sonorous and satisfying twang of a deep bass lute string at 03:49 (the reverb taking us into 03:50).

2. Coranto for Mrs Murcott. Next come two solo tracks that feature only the 13 string lute Akkerman uses on the album. The first of these is by Francis Pilkington and is only 84 seconds long. It is played slowly and deliberately but very clearly. Mrs Murcott would be delighted.

3. The Earl of Derby, his galliard. Then comes a slightly longer Dowland track (01:50). This is the second track to feature only the lute. It starts quite slowly and with an air of mystery. The runs slowly pick up pace, however, and by the end there is some pace, the final one ending with some satisfying bass notes.

4. House of the King. We then have a contrast, with a fast and furious version of the first Focus hit. Appice's drums briefly introduce the piece (00:00-00:03) before the electric sitar Akkerman had recently discovered at this time takes up the lead (00:04-00:23). The orchestra then becomes more evident as does Akkerman's mad beating of a tambourine, which adds to the eastern feel of the piece. At 00:40 Flynn's strings become perhaps more lush before the sitar reasserts itself at 00:51. The middle eight (01:12-01:49) is ushered in and left behind with a gong and drums (01:08-01:11 and 01:50-01:53). The section itself makes full use of strings, flutes, guitars and some deft jazz drumming. The last 27 seconds whip through the sitar-led theme one final time before ending with a gloriously resounding gong.

5. A galliard by Anthony Holborne. After the excitement of House of the King we come back to earth with three more solo lute tracks. The first is by Holborne. Sedate and whistful, it is just over two minutes long and beautifully evokes a bygone age.

6. A galliard by John Dowland. The liveliest of the solo lute tracks comes next. Simply entitled A galliard here, Dowland wrote it for the Earl of Essex. It is only a shade longer than the second track. Basically brisk, it shows some variation in pace and volume with features akin to a sort of fanfare.

7. Pavan. The third lute track is a pavan by Thomas Morley. It is mostly very slow, slightly eastern, and, at just over three minutes, rather longer than the previous solo lute tracks. It takes us to a different place.
8. Javeh. Side one closes with the evocative Javeh, named for God, and co-written with George Flynn. Akkerman abandons his lute for a moment and takes up the Spanish guitar, which begins the track in rather eastern style (00:00-00:08) followed by a house of horrors interjection on the harpsichord by Flynn. The woodwind and strings then add to the mystery, the horns helping out too before drifting (at 00:45) into a paradisaical desert island theme produced by the guitar and orchestra that eventually becomes mournfully whistful, even nostalgic. A harp (01:23) and cymbals (01:31) can be heard as this theme is developed. At 02:01 the harpsichord draws us back in a more uncomfortable direction, the flamenco style guitar and orchestra continue to wrestle with the theme until a fairly satisfying resolution (via a glockenspiel trill and cymbals at 03:02-06) is reached at 03:20.

The Single