# Rudy Van Gelder Edition for Blue Note, Prestige, etc. jazz albums



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I admire Rudy Van Gelder a lot... his sonic engineering was flawless. Keep things simple in the recording studio and captured many of the classic jazz album sounds. Kudos to him!

He did around 167 albums total for his mastering. One of my all time favorite sonic engineers. Even better than a lot of the classical music albums of that time frame.

http://www.amazon.com/Rudy-Gelder-Editions-Complete-Collection/dp/B000F8MI02

and a list of everything he did:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/966101


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

I have a ton of these albums but the more I listen to them, the more I am annoyed by the soft piano and bass.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

Yeah, I agree Piwikiwi. Van Gelder's recordings tend to emphasize horns to the detriment of the piano.

Compare Van Gelder's piano recordings with Roy DuNann's for Contemporary. No contest.

That said, I wouldn't give up those BN Herbie Hancock and Andrew Hill records for all the tea in China.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Actually, Charles Mingus didn't like RVG's approach at all so he avoided his recording studio for his albums. Said that he altered the "sound" of the players.

RVG used two mikes in general and probably was trying to emphasize the soloists to the detriment of the sidemen here.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Albert7, just a glance at that amazon list tells me that it's incomplete. Glaringly absent are the several albums he engineered from about 1963-1967 by John Coltrane's classic quartet. Among them are _Transition _and the last recording session that Coltrane did (the March 17, 1967 session that initially yielded _Expression_, then other cuts that were discovered later and released).

I agree that he did seem to muffle the piano much of the time, but he really got the other three instruments in Coltrane's band right.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Bluecrab said:


> Albert7, just a glance at that amazon list tells me that it's incomplete. Glaringly absent are the several albums he engineered from about 1963-1967 by John Coltrane's classic quartet. Among them are _Transition _and the last recording session that Coltrane did (the March 17, 1967 session that initially yielded _Expression_, then other cuts that were discovered later and released).
> 
> I agree that he did seem to muffle the piano much of the time, but he really got the other three instruments in Coltrane's band right.


Looks like the amazon list is restricted to the Blue Note label stuff that he mastered here.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Piwikiwi said:


> I have a ton of these albums but the more I listen to them, the more I am annoyed by the soft piano and bass.


Bingo! Van Gelder's recordings are far from flawless. He never came close to capturing the live sound of a piano. In fact, the anemic piano sound is what tells me it's a Van Gelder recording. And Jace is right. Contemporary made much better recordings. And they were recording in stereo as early as '56.


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

starthrower said:


> Bingo! Van Gelder's recordings are far from flawless. He never came close to capturing the live sound of a piano. In fact, the anemic piano sound is what tells me it's a Van Gelder recording. And Jace is right. Contemporary made much better recordings. And they were recording in stereo as early as '56.


I like thhe columbia recordings myself but they had a lot more money than blue note.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I agree with you guys that Van Gelder's balance of sound isn't the best but for me, I really enjoy its unique fingerprint... But there are some albums like Art Pepper's Contemporary recordings which sound better. Still one has to admire Van Gelder's input and secret sauce for the albums that he worked on.


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Albert7 said:


> I agree with you guys that Van Gelder's balance of sound isn't the best but for me, I really enjoy its unique fingerprint... But there are some albums like Art Pepper's Contemporary recordings which sound better. Still one has to admire Van Gelder's input and secret sauce for the albums that he worked on.


I like most Blue Notes album recorded by Van Gelder, the horns and drums sound great.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Piwikiwi said:


> I like most Blue Notes album recorded by Van Gelder, the horns and drums sound great.


Yes, the highlights for me are the Kenny Dorham/Joe Henderson sessions which I think are some of the most unique and brilliantly played jams ever.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I am compiling a list of the RVG albums on Blue Note (perhaps Prestige too) for my summer listening when I shift my attention to jazz music. It will be a fascinating transition and I look forward to meeting some new friends (albums) this year.


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Albert7 said:


> Yes, the highlights for me are the Kenny Dorham/Joe Henderson sessions which I think are some of the most unique and brilliantly played jams ever.


Joe Henderson is one of my favourite Saxophone players and those albums are indeed amazing.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Piwikiwi said:


> Joe Henderson is one of my favourite Saxophone players and those albums are indeed amazing.


Indeed, so far I have heard Page One and it was just awesome. I think that was Henderson first outing as the album leader too.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Okay this project is forthcoming for this autumn.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Great label at a time when musicians worked hard, gained inspiration and produced fantastic results - give me this rather than push-button go-through-the-motions hip-hop S..T any day.


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