Remembering Legendary Jazz Engineer Rudy Van Gelder


Legendary jazz recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who helped shape the sound of jazz music in the 1950s, 60s, and beyond, died Thursday at 91, according to the New York Times. His career spanned decades, from original recording sessions in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, to an ambitious CD reissue project in the late 90s. Speaking with the New York Times in a 1988 interview, he said “I think I’ve been associated with more records, technically, than anybody else in the history of the record business.”

In a 2004 interview with Tape Op magazine, Rudy Van Gelder recounted his early start. Technology is what drew him in.

“I was interested in music, but parallel to that when I was a young teenager I was also interested in ham radio. The technical part of that is building transmitters, receivers and audio amplifiers. It was my interest in music, as well as the technical aspects of radio, which brought me to sound recording… One friend of mine started to work with bands and he had friends who were musicians, jazz musicians too, and they would come over to my parents’ house and have sessions, jam a little bit and I would try to record it.”

When his parents moved and built a house in Hackensack, New Jersey, they added a recording studio control room as part of the home’s design, a unique gift for their son. Years later, Rudy Van Gelder expressed his amazement and thanks in Tape Op.

“…the control room was incorporated into the design of the house. They knew how involved [in recording music] I was and incorporated that into the home they designed… I still think it’s incredible. They were very tolerant and understanding.”

As a recording engineer, Rudy Van Gelder’s job was not to pick songs or give artistic direction to musicians. He was there to make sure the final product – the records – sounded as good as they possibly could. He involved himself in every step of the recording process he could, from the first recording sessions, to mixing and mastering the final record for vinyl (and later CD). “I always wanted to be in control of the entire recording chain,” he is quoted in the New York Times. “Why not? It had my name on it.”

There is no doubt that he succeeded, as his renowned status among jazz fans can attest to. It is often difficult to describe sound in prose. However, two words come to mind when attempting to describe Rudy Van Gelder’s sound: clarity and presence. Each individual soloist and their instrument stands out in sharp relief to the accompaniment; every sound feels like you are in a room surrounded by the musicians. Perhaps not quite a true to life representation of how you would perceive musicians on stage, but perhaps even better. A more intimate sound than can even be achieved in a quiet nightclub, and Gelder, quoted here in the New York Times, seemed to aim for this sense of realism.

“When people talk about my albums, they often say the music has ‘space.’ I tried to reproduce a sense of space in the overall sound picture… I used specific microphones located in places that allowed the musicians to sound as though they were playing from different locations in the room, which in reality they were. This created a sensation of dimension and depth.”

Rudy Van Gelder is being remembered by jazz fans worldwide. A tribute to him is being broadcast on New York City radio station WKCR FM all day Friday.

In case you miss that, here are some classic recordings engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.

“Walkin’ ” by Miles Davis (Recorded 1954)

By the early 1950s, Rudy Van Gelder began to work for major jazz labels like Blue Note, Savoy, and Prestige. Many classic records were released by these companies, and many were engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. This record was a hit release from Prestige, recorded in the Hackensack studio.

“A Love Supreme Part 1: Acknowledgement” by John Coltrane (Recorded 1964)

By 1959, Rudy Van Gelder was successful enough to leave the Hackensack home studio and set up a fully dedicated studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. This soulful, spiritual jazz classic was recorded there in December of 1964.

“Mister Magic” by Grover Washington Jr. (Recorded 1974)

A decade later, Rudy Van Gelder was still going strong. He was working for Creed Taylor’s CTI records, one of the most successful jazz labels of the 1970s, often featuring a jazz/funk fusion sound that can be seen as an early forerunner of what would later become smooth jazz. “Mister Magic” was a chart-topper, reaching number one in the Billboard Jazz charts and number ten on their Pop charts in 1975.

Birth Of The Cool (compilation album, originally released 1957, remastered 1998)

The late 1990s saw the “Rudy Van Gelder Edition” series of CD remasters released. All kinds of classic jazz albums, even ones he had little to do with originally, were given a brand new sonic sheen.

Here is a playlist of even more recordings engineered by Rudy Van Gelder to dive into.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL250D9E79725887EC

[Image via NAMM]

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