Вначале группу составили довольно известные в голландских роковых кругах басист Мартийн Дрезден и ударник Ханс Клеувер. Третьим членом команды стал вокалист, флейтист и клавишник Тийс Ван Леер (р. 31 марта 1948), бывший студент амстердамской консерватории, набравшийся опыта в любительских джазовых группах. Трио сопровождало постановку на голландской сцене мюзикла "Hairs", а затем для записи дебютного альбома пригласило гитарного виртуоза Яна Аккермана (р. 24 декабря 1946), который до прихода в "Focus" играл в группах "The Hunters" и "Brainbox". C его появлением композиции усложнились, а блестящие гитарные импровизации и необычные органные и флейтовые вставки стали основой музыки "Focus". На ранней стадии для разработки своих концепций музыканты широко использовали фламандские народные мелодии. Несмотря на эти достоинства, диск "In and Out of Focus" оказался довольно бледным, за исключением новаторских композиций, темы которых стали проходными для ансамбля - "House of the King" и "Anonymus".
После года умеренного успеха Аккерман ушел и образовал команду с Ван Дер Линденом. Затем дуэт пригласил присоединиться Ван Леера и басиста Сирила Хаверманса. В этом составе группа записала альбом "Moving Waves", который продемонстрировал ее устремленность к переработке классических тем в роковом контексте. В сентябре 1971 года ушел Хаверманс. На замену ему был принят коллега Аккермана по "Brainbox" Берт Рюитер.
Ансамбль предпринял интенсивное турне по Англии, мгновенно достигнув статуса хедлайнеров. Успеху "Focus" способствовало издание в Англии хитовых синглов "Hocus Pocus" из второго альбома и "Sylvia" из третьего, причем позже оба этих альбома попали в чарты. По результатам анкеты "Melody Maker" ансамбль был объявлен "великой надеждой" интернациональной поп-музыки, а газета "Guardian" назвала "Focus" чрезвычайно влиятельным коллективом. В конце того же года четверка отправилась в Штаты и добилась успеха, беспрецедентного для европейской команды. Все три выпущенных группой альбома, равно как и два сингла, повторили в США британский успех. Особенно высоко ценился двойной концептуальный альбом "Focus 3" - чудесное техническое достижение, выдержанное как по композиции, так и в импровизациях. "Focus" не скрывали своего пристрастия к Баху, Бартоку и таким джазовым музыкантам, как Майлз Дэвис, Джон Колтрейн, Эрик Долфи и Чик Кориа. Но, несмотря на то, что главным очарованием их музыки являлись разнообразные импровизации, сами музыканты никогда не считали себя джазовой командой. Альбом "Focus at the Rainbow" был записан во время концерта в Лондоне в 1973 году и включал в себя материал второго и третьего дисков.
Аккерман выпустил сольный альбом, гибрид стилей "Brainbox" и "Focus", а в конце 1974 года записал еще один сольник, более амбициозный, в соавторстве с Джорджем Флиппом. Ван Леер записал альбом "Introspection", включивший в себя роковое исполнение музыки Баха и других классических композиторов. Затем состав начало лихорадить. Зимой 1973 года ушел Ван Дер Линден, которого заменил бывший ударник английской группы "Stone the Crows" Колин Оллен, а в середине 1975 года уже Ван Дер Линден был призван на короткое время заменить ушедшего Оллена. Затем в группе появился американец Дэвид Кэмпер.
На диске "Mother Focus" стиль группы заметно изменился - от грандиозных инструментальных композиций музыканты переориентировались на простую музыку для прослушивания. В начале 1976 года во время очередного тура группу внезапно покинул Аккерман, уставший от постоянных гастролей. В середине 1977 года в "Focus" пришел вокалист Проуби, гремевший на британской роковой сцене в прошедшем десятилетии. Несмотря на общепринятое мнение, что с 1973-74 годов группа много потеряла в своем творческом импульсе, она еще долго была способна возглавлять концерты с самым высоким статусом участвующих команд. Сильное влияние на их будущее оказала потеря Аккермана, хотя пришедший ему на замену талантливый Филип Катерин вряд ли обладал меньшими техническими достоинствами. Однако музыка ансамбля приобрела более коммерческое звучание, и продолжавшиеся частые изменения в составе привели к распаду группы в 1979 году.
В 1985 году Аккерман и Ван Леер сделали попытку объединиться и записали неплохой студийный альбом "Focus - Jan Akkerman and Thijs van Leer" , но тяга к сольному творчеству оказалась сильнее. В 1990-м группа ненадолго возрождалась в составе: Аккерман, Ван Дер Линден, Рюитер, Ван Леер. Очередная реинкарнация "Focus" во главе с Тийсом Ван Леером состоялась в 2002 году, когда был выпущен альбом "8".
Состав
Jan Dumee - гитара
Thijs Van Leer - клавишные, флейта, вокал
Bert Smaak - ударные
Bobby Jacobs - бас
Дискография
In And Out Of Focus - 1970
Moving Waves - 1971
Focus 3 - 1972
Focus At The Rainbow - 1973
Hamburger Concerto - 1974
Mother Focus - 1975
Ship Of Memories - 1976
Focus & P.J. Proby - 1978
Focus - Jan Akkerman And Thijs Van Leer - 1985
Focus 8 - 2002
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