Dutch American Van Gelder selected for Bird Award

Major U.S. recording engineer

THE HAGUE- Organizers of the annual North Sea Jazz Festival have selected Dutch American pioneer Rudy van Gelder as recipient for this year’s Bird Award Special Appreciation. Van Gelder is regarded as the best recording engineer in the history of jazz.

The son of Dutch immigrants, Van Gelder almost on his own is responsible for all jazz recordings of the famed Blue Note Records label between 1953 and 1967. Many of the best records ever, including ones by Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Hancock, date from that era.

Van Gelder began engineering sessions for Blue Note Records in 1953 at his home in Hackensack, New Jersey. In 1959, when he left his optometrist profession to become a full-time engineer, he moved his studio to Englewood Cliffs. In addition to his work for Blue Note, he also has engineered dozens of hard bop and jazz classics for other labels.

Blue Note has been re-issuing these recordings. The Rudy Van Gelder (RVG) Series consists of well over 120 classic Blue Note albums that have been remastered in 24-bit by him with state of the art equipment. These audiophile releases contain bonus tracks and session photos.