I’m Pretty much a celebrity now…/Ze bych byla celebrita?!

Just recently I have found out I am pretty much related to somebody very famous. Yes, yes, I am exaggerating, but it feels good to do that sometimes.

Do you remember Miami Vice, the ridiculously famous TV show from the 80’s? Well, the theme song was written by a Czech music prodigy, Jan Hammer. I have known of Jan Hammer for a while now because my husband is a musician and he always brings him up as one of the examples of Czechs who made it in America. However, I had no idea that his dad was the best man in my parents’ wedding!!!!! Isn’t that crazy???? My mom just randomly shared that with me during our last Skype call. I confirmed that with my dad, who actually worked with Jan Hammer’s father as a doctor. They befriended each other while they worked as cardiologists in MOTOL (a large hospital in Prague). His father, also named Jan Hammer, was a very gifted jazz musician as well, who obviously passed on his talents to his son. In 1968, just a 17-year old Jan Hammer Jr. managed to compose music for a musical called “Silene Smutna Princezna” (Terribly sad princess), which is now considered an old time classics. Soon thereafter he emigrated to the US where he finished studying music at the University of Berkeley and moved on to compose music with people such as Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana. He became very well known in the rock music world by collaborating with Jeff Beck on some of most famous records.

Unfortunately, my dad does not know/remember the details how Jan Hammer got to the US (everyone had a story back then) but I am sure it was full of adventure and peril. He did remember the young teenage Jan was exceptionally talented and most were very aware of it. What I also found is that his father died in May of 1989 which is just a few months before the Velvet Revolution. Did Jan Hammer Jr. get to see his father before he died? Or was it one of the Communists’ punishments??

CZ: Tak jsem se naaaahodickou nedavno dozvedela, ze Jan Hammer je skoro vlastne clenem nasi rodiny! Jestli pry mam dukaz? Zacneme tim, ze jeho tatinek byl svedkem na svatbe mych rodicu. Jan Hammer starsi nebyl jen vyborny kardiolog jako muj tata, ale take nadany jazzovy hudebnik. Nevim, jakou ma svedek zodpovednost za to, kdyz se parecek po par letech rozvede (jako se to stalo mym rodicum), ale asi to znamena, ze nas Jan Hammer vydedil…..nebo my jeho???