Every jazz lover has encountered the name Rudy Van Gelder at least once in their life, if not a hundred times... He left this world on the 25th of August 2016 in his home in New Jersey at the ripe age of 91 as one of the greatest sound engineers of the 20th century—sound engineer, not 'producer', as he would constantly clarify for those around him. More than 2000 jazz albums have passed through his expert hands and ears, notably works of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver, and pretty much the rest of the jazzosphere. Even longer is the list of artists and musicians that made use of his famous Englewood Cliffs studio in New Jersey, across from Manhattan. Van Gelder is associated in one way or another with the majority of albums released by Blue Note, during the label's golden age. He also worked extensively for other record houses, including Prestige, Savoy, Impulse! and even CTI - Creed Taylor most delectable label. As he would confess to The New York Times in 1988, “I think I’ve been associated with more records, technically, than anybody else in the history of the record business”.
Create a free account to keep reading
