Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack:

Defining the Jazz Sound in the 1950s

By Dan Skea

Introduction
To many jazz aficion ados, the n ame Rudy Van Gelder is virtually syn-
on ymous with jazz r ecor d in g. St ill active today, this reclusive self-taught
craftsman is by far the most pr olific an d accom plish ed sou n d en gin eer in
the h istory of jazz, r ecor din g many of the music's most acclaimed albums.
In a career that has n ow span n ed half a cen tury an d has par alleled devel-
opmen ts in bot h m od er n jazz an d r ecor din g tech n ology, Van Gelder has
con t r ibu t ed to advances in bot h areas, simultan eously sh apin g an d bein g
sh aped by these new developmen ts.
Alt h ou gh n ot a creator of new equ ipm en t or tech n ology, Van Gelder
has con sisten tly posit ion ed h imself at the for efr on t of t ech n ological ad-
vances an d been am on g the first to embrace an d fully exploit in n ovat ion s
as they appear ed. H is ability to adapt each new t ech n ology effectively to
the r ecor d in g of jazz has been an im por t an t factor in capt u r in g stylistic
ch anges in the art for m over the last fifty years. It can also be ar gued that
his skill in m ak in g the music mor e son ically attractive h elped r ecor d com-
panies sell mor e pr oduct , thus pr ovidin g t h em with a fin an cial in cen tive
to can y on t h eir activities. Great er r ecor d sales also in creased audien ces
for m od er n jazz, wh ile mor e widely dissemin at in g im por t an t new musical
developmen ts.
Van Gelder is perh aps most famous for h is role i n establish in g what is
com m on ly r efer r ed to as the "Blu e Not e Sou n d ." Not lon g after they first
began appear in g in the early 1950s, his r ecor din gs for that label, distin -
guish ed by t h eir w ar m t h , clarity, an d son ic pr ecision , set a new stan dard
for the sou n d of small gr ou p jazz on r ecor d, a stan dard against w h ich al-
most all subsequen t efforts were measured. W h ereas ear lier jazz r ecor d-
ings seemed to come at the listen er fr om a distan ce, Van Gelder fou n d
ways to appr oach an d capt ur e the music at closer r an ge, an d to m or e
clearly convey jazz's ch aracteristic sense of immediacy.
Alt h ou gh h is sign ature sou n d was or igin ally developed pr im ar ily with
Blu e Not e r ecor din gs, over the years Van Geld er has en gin eer ed t h ou-
san ds of sessions for n u m er ou s ot h er labels i n cl u d i n g Pr est ige, Savoy,
Bet h leh em , Impulse, Verve, CTI , an d Muse. Th e sh eer volume of his out-
put is ast oun din g, as is the n u m ber of his recordin gs that have come to be
regarded as "classic" jazz r ecor din gs. (For a select list of albums r ecor ded
by Van Gelder in the 1950s, see the appen dix follow in g this article.)
Current Musicology, n os. 71-73 (Sprin g; 2001—Spring; 2002)
(0 2002 bv th e Tr ust ees of (l o h u n h ia Un iver sit y in th e Cit v of New Vor k
 Van Gelder 's expertise has n ot been lim it ed to the con fin es of his stu-
d io. H e was on e of the first of his era to accept the ch allen ge of remote
r ecor din gs, t akin g his equipmen t to n umer ous n igh t clubs, con cert h alls,
college campuses, an d ot h er venues to preserve some of the most h ist oric
an d treasured live jazz per for man ces, in clu d in g th ose by the Ar t Blakev
Q u in t et (A Night at Birdland), Jo h n Colt r an e ("Live" at the Village Van-
git ard), Jim m y Sm it h (Gmovin' at Small's Paradise), Stanley Tu r r en t in e (Up
at Minton's), an d Wes Mon t gom er y with the W yn t on Kelly Tr io (Smokin* (ti-
the Half Note).
By virtue of h is accomplish men t s, Van Gelder occupies a u n iqu e posi-
t ion in the h istory of m od er n jazz r ecor din g. Yet he remain s an en igm a to
b ot h jazz fans an d fellow en gin eers. Not or iously secretive about his work-
in g meth ods an d person al life, he has lon g been the subject of curiosity in
b ot h camps, an d has thus ear n ed the sobriquet "Th e P h an t om of En gle-
w ood Cliffs" (Gr iffit h 1988).

"There was no profession known as recording engineer"

Rudy Van Gelder was b or n in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Novem ber 2,
1924. H is family lived in nearby Hacken sack, wh ere he grew up an d went
t o sch ool. W h en he was about twelve years of age, Van Gelder spotted an
ad on the back of a com ic book ("Make You r O w n Records At H om e!")
an d with his paren ts' per m ission he sent away for the $2.98 "H o m e Re-
cor do," a device for m akin g sh ort recordin gs usin g a turn table an d a supply
o f small blan k disks.
A perfection ist by n ature, Van Gelder , dissatisfied with the poor sou n d
capabilities of the H o m e Recor do, began to try to figure out h ow to make
m or e accurate r ecor din gs. Alt h ou gh his first r ecor der was a simple toy-like
device, mor e profession al versions of h om e recorders h ad been available
i n the Un it ed States sin ce the early 1930s, an d by 1935 the n ovel idea of
m ak in g records at h om e h ad become som et h in g of a fad. i n 1931, the
Prest o Cor p or at ion h ad in t r od u ced the Presto Recor d Maker , callin g it
"t h e greatest advance in h om e en t er t ain m en t sin ce r ad io."1 Th e eighty-
five d ollar pr ice i n cl u d e d a m icr op h on e an d a "b eau t ifu l, com pact ,
por t able, leath erette case."
Before lon g, Van Gelder obt ain ed a disk r ecor din g m ach in e an d a few
m icr oph on es, an d began r ecor din g in earnest, first family members an d
ot h er relatives, t h en sch ool frien ds an d n eigh bors. Mot h er s br ough t t h eir
son s an d daugh t ers to th e Van Geld er h om e to be r ecor d ed —sin gin g,
r ecit in g poetry, playin g the violin —an d Rudy w ou ld make t h em acetate
copies to take h om e to impress t h eir relatives.
Van Gelder came fr om a musical family. H is fath er h ad played corn et
i n a Navy ban d d u r in g W or ld W ar I, an d two of his uncles were professional
56 C U R R E N T M U SI C O U O G Y

musician s. Rudy h im self took t r umpet lessons fr om Bertram Russell, a for-

mer m em ber of the Joh n P h ilip Sousa ban d, an d played in sch ool ensem-
bles fr om ju n i o r h igh t h r ou gh college. Al o n g with a n u m b er of sch ool
frien ds, he became in terested in h am r adio, a h obby that led h im to seek
fu r t h er kn ow ledge of elect r on ics. H e also t ook up ph ot ogr aph y an d
lear n ed to develop his own pictures.
W h ile still a teenager, Van Gelder carted his h ea\y disk r ecor din g gear
down to Lom bar do' s Used Fu r n it u r e Store on Ber gen Street in H acken -
sack to r ecor d a twelve-piece ban d that in clu d ed many of his h igh sch ool
classmates. No m i n al ban dleader Sal Lom b ar d o was n ot an ou t st an din g
d r u m m er , but the ban d used the b u ild in g own ed by his paren ts as a re-
h earsal space becatise th ere were always on e or two pian os in the back.
In h igh sch ool Van Gelder became an avid jazz fan . Th ou gh still un der-
age, h e an d his fr ien d Mar vin Malk visited jazz clubs on New Yor k's 52n d
Street to h ear Roy Eldr idge, Billie H oliday, Ar t Tat u m , an d his person al fa-
vorite Colem an Haw kin s, w h om Van Gelder w ou ld eventually r ecor d on
twenty-seven differen t occasions. By the time h e gradtiated h igh sch ool in
1942, Van Gelder h ad already gain ed a sign ifican t am oun t of exper ien ce
in sou n d r ecor din g. However, at the time, n o full degree course in r ecor d-
in g tech n ology was available. So, in the fall of 1942, with his simultan eous
in terest in ph ot ogr aph y, cameras, an d lenses, he en r olled in the Pen n syl-
van ia College of Opt omet r y.
Th r ou gh ou t his college years Van Gelder con t in u ed to r ecor d amateur
soloists an d groups on weekends an d d u r in g the summer mon t h s. Some
of his frien ds fr om h igh sch ool w ou ld come over for jam sessions an d br in g
alon g ot h er musician s with w h om they h ad become acquain ted. Du r in g at
least on e summer Van Gelder w or ked at Nola Sttidios in New Yor k City,
wh ere he was able to observe a profession al studio oper at ion . A visit to
an ot h er studio in P h iladelph ia made an especially stron g impr ession .

W h en I was in college, I was goin g to sch ool in P h iladelph ia, an d I

was in a profession al sch ool lear n in g a profession , an d on ou r off
h ours we tised to go to various clubs in P h iladelph ia to h ear music.
Th e n , I don ' t r emember exactly why, we en ded up goin g to a r adio
st at ion —W CAU in P h ilad elph ia. I walked in t o t h eir con t r ol r oom ,
an d the en vir on m en t th ere gave me a very stron g feelin g. It was that
"th is was the sort of place that I'd like to be." I felt strongly attracted
to th e sort of t h in gs th at were h ap p e n in g in th is beau t ifu l new
studio, as com par ed to the k in d of activities I w ou ld be en gaged in in
the profession I was studyin g. It was a very stron g feelin g, an d I do
r em em ber it. Btit that d id n ' t result in "Now I'm goin g to do th at,"
becatise at th at t ime th ere was n o pr ofession kn ow n as r ecor d in g
en gin eer , (quoted in For len za 1993:57)
 D A N SKI : A 57

W h ile the studio atmosph ere at W C A U was strongly appealin g to h im ,

because the career of a soun d recordist was less well-defin ed at the time,
Van Gelder car r ied on with his optometry studies, com m it t ed to pu r su in g
a career in that profession . His r ecor din g activities r em ain ed essentially a
h obby. St ill, he was det er m in ed to con t in u e lear n in g as m u ch as he cou ld
about r ecor din g tech n ology in or der to improve the results he was able to
achieve.
W h en Van Gelder graduated from college in 1946, his parents h ad just
built a new h om e in Hacken sack at 25 Prospect Aven ue, on the cor n er of
Th om pson Street. Am o n g the un usual features of the h ouse, a one-story
ran ch style that w ou ld soon become fash ion able t h r ou gh ou t the coun try,
were its cin der block con st r uct ion an d cen tral air con d it ion in g. In plan -
n in g t h eir new h om e, Van Geldei \s parents were m in dfu l of Rudy's keen
interest in r ecor din g. In the space that migh t otheivvise have been an ad-
dit ion al bedr oom or stud}', they h ad arch itect Sidn ey Sch en ker design a
con t r ol r oom in stead. Th is r oom was separated fr om the livin g r oom bv
a large glass w in dow set in t o the con cr et e block wall. Th e w in dow was
double-pan ed for greater soun d in su lat ion , with on e pan e an gled sligh tly
off the vert ical to elim in at e reflective glare. Un d e r this w in dow , a h ole
t h r ou gh the wall served as a con du it for m icr oph on e cables.
As it h appen ed, this par t icular livin g r oom t u r n ed out to be an ideal
venue for r ecor din g small-group jazz. Th e ten-foot-high ceilin g made the
r oom seem more spacious th an it actually was, wh ile the wide archway open -
in g in t o the adjoin in g d in in g r oom , in wh ich soun d waves cou ld reverber-
ate, offered an added dim en sion . Cor r idor s leadin g off toward the kit ch en
an d the bedrooms provided addit ion al air column s of varying proport ion s.
"Acoustically it soun ded n ice," said Rudy. Th e r oom "h ad little hallways an d
little n ooks an d crannies goin g off. It was really n ice. Nice place to r ecor d. I
made some good records th ere" (quoted in Sidran 1995:313). In the en d,
due to a com bin at ion of factors that, n o on e cou ld have foreseen or pre-
dict ed, the Hacken sack livin g r oom's un iquely favorable ph ysical con figu-
ration an d acoustical properties h elped Van Gelder ach ieve a soun d that
w ould eventually be h ear d, r ecogn ized, an d widely emulat ed.

"We used to jam in his living room"

Not lon g after gr aduat in g fr om college, Van Gelder establish ed his op-
tometry practice, open in g an office at 447 Cedar Lan e in the n eigh bor in g
town of Tean eck, a sh ort ten -min ute drive fr om Hacken sack. In his off
h ours, at n igh t , on weekends, an d on W edn esdays—h is regular day off—
he con t in u ed his amateur r ecor din g activities. W it h the in creased capabili-
ties afforded h im by the new livin g r oom studio setup, he was able to gain
m u ch greater con t r ol over each ph ase of the r ecor d in g process. At the
time, he was still usin g a disk r ecor der , a mach in e w h ich capt ured sou n d
58 C U R R E N T M U SI C O E O G Y

by cu t t in g spiral grooves in lacquer-coated alu m in u m disks; profession al

r ecor din g consoles were n ot t h en com m er cially available. Th ose that d id
exist were to be fou n d in the studios of the major r adio networks, such as
RCA an d Colu m b ia, wh ere the) h ad been design ed an d con st r uct ed by
staff en gin eers. Th er efor e, in or der to upgr ade furth er, Van Gelder h ad to
bt iild a lot of his own equ ipm en t , sen din g away for kits an d parts, b u ild in g
his own am plifier , an d adapt in g a r adio con sole for r ecor din g.

Th er e were n o com m er cial compan ies m ak in g r ecor din g consoles as

they are today. Th e major r ecor d compan ies all built t h eir ow n , an d
if you wan ted to do an yt h in g you h ad to do it yourself. W h ich I d id .
Th at's how 7 I started. H ow m u ch d id I en d tip design in g? Of course,
it was everyth ing. Th e only com m er cial designs were available t h r ough
r adio equ ipm en t man ufact urers. Th e) h ad con soles for r adio pur-
poses an d that was my first con sole, w h ich was actually a m od ified
r adio con sole, (quoted in H ovan 1999)

Th e fine t h read of lacquer that the disk-cuttin g m ach in e disgorged was

a con st an t n uisan ce to Van Ge ld e r as h e was r e cor d in g. H is in ven t ive
youn ger br ot h er Leon came up with a solu t ion .

It was an Elect r olu x vacuum—t h e grey an d ch r om e jo b . It look ed

like a lon g tube with rails that you p u lled it on . In the basemen t, di-
rectly u n der the r oom that my fath er built for Rudy, wh ere the con -
sole was, an d the r ecor din g equ ipm en t , I m ou n t ed it to a con cret e
wall. A n d th en the tube that you w ou ld n or m ally use for vacu u m in g,
I d r illed a h ole in the floor an d r an the tube up. A n d th en I h ad to
adapt various hoses. I r em em ber r u n n in g ar ou n d to auto parts stores
gettin g differen t size hoses to con vert it down so that it was a small
ttibe m ou n t ed n ext to the actual cut t in g h ead, an d it sucked up the
ch ips. (Leon Van Gelder 2000)

In the first few- years at 25 Pr ospect Aven u e, Van Ge ld e r m ain ly

r ecor ded amateur musician s an d singers in the n eigh bor h ood . H is musi-
cian "clien t s" were pr im ar ily frien ds fr om his h igh sch ool days, wh o paid
n ot h in g for the privilege of r ecor din g an d on ly a dollar or so for each ac-
etate copy Van Gelder made for t h em . Kn ow in g he still h ad a lot to lear n ,
Van Gelder en cour aged musician s to come to the Hacken sack livin g r oom
so that he cou ld gain exper ien ce by r ecor d in g t h em . In the late 1940s, as
w or d of his in cr easin g skill spread, profession al musician s began to show
tip at his door . O n e of the first of these was a pian ist fr om W estwood, New-
Jersey n am ed Bill Tr iglia.
 D A N SKE A 59

Somebody t old me that th ere was a place wh ere you cou ld r ecor d.
H e lived in Hacken sack at the time. So we went down th ere, I t h in k
to jam . I asked Rudy if wre cou ld go dow n th ere, an d we w ou ld like
to make a tape. At th at t ime I was b e gi n n i n g to play w it h Ton y
Fr uscella, wh o was a talen ted t rumpet player. W e were the best musi-
cians ar ou n d; th ere was n obody else playin g that k in d of jazz in New
Jersey. W e kn ew [Rudy] was a good en gin eer , an d he liked jazz. W e
push ed h i m , becatise h e was a n ice guy, an d h e d id have a love for
jazz. A n d he respected us. (Tr iglia 1999)

Tr iglia began passing the w or d to ot h er musician s, in clu d in g his fr ien d,

d r u m m er Son n y Igoe.

W e used to jam in his livin g r oom wh en he was still exper im en t in g,

an d h e d id n ' t even have a tape m ach in e yet. It was all th ose wax
disks, an d all th at stuff was goin g on th e floor . Bu t we h ad some
great player s—Red Mit ch ell, Ton y Fr uscella. Somebody said, "H ev,
th ere's a guy wh o will r ecor d us—you want to go play?" A n d it migh t
have been Bill Tr iglia. H e was like the big or gan izer of that k in d of
stuff. A n d some of it was late at n igh t . A n d t h en h e' d play it back for
us. I can r em em ber playin g at some join t with all those guys, an d
t h en somebody said, "H ey, I ju st called u p Ru dy Van Geld er —h e
wants us to come over." A n d so w e'd go over th ere an d play some
m or e. (Igoe 1999)

A lon g-time jazz lover h imself, Van Geld er was especially in terested in
r ecor din g jazz music an d in lear n in g h ow to best capture its u n ique n u-
ances. Lu ckily, most of the musician s n ow gettin g the w or d t h r ou gh the
Bill Tr iglia grapevin e were jazz players, an d as time wen t on m or e an d
more of t h em came to Hacken sack to r ecor d. Some of the top jazz artists
of th e er a w ou n d u p ser vin g as gu in ea pigs for Van Gelder ' s exper i-
men t at ion s. A m o n g these were saxoph on ists Lee Kon it z, W ar n e Mar sh ,
Zoot Sims, Ger r y Mu lligan , P h il Ur so, an d Te d Br ow n ; t r umpet er Ton y
Fruscella; guitarist A l Casamen t i; pianists Sal Mosca an d Len n ie Tr ist an o;
bassists Red Mit ch ell, Bill An t h on y, an d Mor t Pell; an d dr um m er s H ar old
Gran owsky, Son n y Igoe, an d H ow ie Man n .
Pian ist Billy Taylor , on e of the earliest artists to r ecor d for the Prestige
label in Hacken sack, w or ked with Van Gelder to develop a m et h od of m i-
cr oph on e selection an d placemen t that w ou ld best capture the full ran ge
of the pian o keyboar d.

I t ook some [Ar t ] Tat u m r ecor ds ou t an d some ot h er pian ist s'

records that I t h ough t w ou ld h elp me explain what I was tryin g to
60 C U R R E N T M U SI C O L O O Y

get at. A n d we list en ed to t h em . H e was th e first en gin eer that I

w or ked with wh o was th at sen sitive, an d really just took time an d
cared about mike placemen t an d all that sort of stuff. A n d I was just
k n ock ed ou t because h ere was a guy wh o was w illin g to take that
k in d of time on his own to listen an d to, you kn ow, say, "W ell, okav—
play som et h in g/ ' A n d I' d play som et h in g, an d h e ' d put a mike in
on e place an d go back in th e ot h er r oom . A n d th en say, "Okav, let's
try that again ," an d ptit a mike somewh ere else. I mean , he was really
just k in d of m ak in g some comparison s an d com in g up with what he
t h ough t w ou ld get closest to what we were t alkin g about. A n d he ac-
tually capt ured the soun d that I was lookin g for, an d ultimately that
seemed, to my ear, to be th e basis of his pian o soun d. (Taylor 1999)

Because impr ovisat ion is stich an essential part of the art for m , jazz mu-
sic presen ted special ch allen ges to th e r ecor din g en gin eer . In r ecor din g
classical or popu lar pieces, because of n ot at ion or a (mostly) pr econ ceived
pr oduct , an en gin eer m igh t follow a score an d th ereby an ticipate the dy-
n amics of specific passages in or der to make appr opr iat e adjustments to
in put levels. In jazz, h owever, wh ere th e playin g of soloists an d the interac-
t ion o f th e r h yt h m sect ion is spon t an eously im pr ovised , volu m e levels
ch an ge dramatically an d un pr edict ably with th e em ot ion of the momen t .
Jazz en gin eers, th erefore, h ad to be par t icular ly attentive an d be able to
make ligh t n in g adjustments "on th e fly."
W it h h is musical backgr ou n d an d love of jazz, Van Gelder h ad an ad-
vantage over most ot h er en gin eers in this area. H is in tuitive un derstan d-
in g of the music an d familiarity with th e players allowed h im to an ticipate
what was com in g an d to react accor din gly. In addit ion , h is grasp of jazz
forms, con ven t ion s, an d t er min ology en abled h im to com m u n icat e more
effectively with th e artists (an d later, pr odu cer s), m akin g sessions go mor e
smooth ly an d product ively.

"If something good went in, it came out that way"

Van Geld er ' s com m it m e n t to cap t u r in g th e soun ds m usician s were
look in g for led h im to modify em er gin g tech n ologies for th e ideal r ecor d-
in g of jazz. D u r i n g t h e late fort ies an d early fifties, several sign ifican t
t ech n ological developmen ts occu r r ed in th e field of sou n d r ecor din g. Th e
most im por t an t of th ese was th e adven t of m agn et ic tape t ech n ology,
w h ich first became widely available after W or ld W ar II. Th is system h ad
been advan ced in Ger m an y d u r in g th e 1930s an d came to Am er ica by way
of two r e t u r n in g ser vicem en , Jack M u l l i n an d Rich ar d Ran ger , w h o
br ough t back several of the Ger m an mach in es called th e Magn et oph on .
Th e Ge r m an design , n ot pr ot ect ed by st an dar d paten t r egulat ion s, was
 D A N SKKA 61

quickly copied by several Am er ican man ufacturers, the most successful of

wh ich was the Am p ex Cor por at ion . In 1948 Am pex in t r odu ced the m odel
200, a large, h ea\y un it first used by the A BC radio network, an d in 1949
the Am p ex 300, a more st r eamlin ed mach in e that swiftly became the in -
dustry stan dard. Th e arrival of magn etic tape represented a major break-
t h r ou gh in th e r e cor d in g in du st r y. Not on lv was it th e first r ecor d in g
m ed iu m to be r eusable, but it also allow ed for the r ecor d in g of m u ch
lon ger selection s th an disk mach in es.
Van Gelder was am on g the h ist Am er ican r ecor din g en gin eers to ob-
tain an Am p ex 300, w h ich he pr ompt ly in stalled in his Hacken sack con -
trol r oom . Not lon g th ereafter he obt ain ed a second Am p ex, essentially
the same m ach in e, but in a por t able car r yin g case. Th ese m ach in es
r ecor ded on quarter-in ch plastic tape at speeds of thirty or fifteen in ch es
per secon d. Th e expan ded capacity of magn etic tape was especially appre-
ciated by jazz musician s, wh o were now able to more freely ext en d th eir
impr ovisat ion s. Th e lon g- playin g 12-inch micr ogr oove r ecor d h ad been
in t r od u ced by Co l u m b i a in 1948, m ak in g it possible to fit these lon ger
selections on t o com m er cial albums.
Sh ortly after magn etic tape, an ot h er piece of Ger m an tech n ology ar-
r ived in Am e r ica: the Ne u m an U-47 con den ser m icr oph on e, an in st r u-
men t vastly super ior to previous models. Sold in the Un it ed States un der
the n ame Telefu n ken , it soon became a un iversal favorite amon g record-
in g en gin eers. O n ce again , Van Gelder was am on g the first en gin eers to
utilize this new in n ovat ion . "I h ad, I believe, the secon d or t h ir d on e in
this coun t ry. Th e first on e went to a studio called Reeves Sou n d in New
Yor k w h ich used to do h im r ecor din g.' , - Th e Telefun ken was or igin ally de-
sign ed to be tised as m icr oph on es h ad been tip to this time: with a single
m icr oph on e placed at a sign ifican t distan ce fr om an orch estra. Btit Van
Gelder , seekin g an immediacy mor e con ducive to the r ecor din g of small
gr oup jazz, adapt ed the Telefu n ken to his own purposes, usin g m u lt iple
m icr op h on es an d p lacin g t h em closer to th e in d ivid u al in st r u m en t s.
W h en the m icr oph on e was used in this m an n er , however, the result was
un accept able levels of dist or t ion .
At about this time, Van Gelder was fortun ate to have made the acquain -
tan ce of a m an n am ed Rein Nar m a, an Est on ian w h o h ad settled in
Ber gen field, New Jersey in 1951. Nar m a, a specialist in atidio en gin eer in g,
discover ed a wav to m odify th e Telefu n ken \s am plifier by m ak in g a
ch an ge in its circuitry, th ereby r en der in g the m icr oph on e far mor e usable
at close ran ge. Nar m a per for m ed this con version on Van Gelder 's Tele-
fun ken s, an d also visited the Hacken sack studio on quite a few occasion s
an d offered h elp with a n u m ber of oth er t ech n ical pr oblems Van Gelder
en cou n t er ed in m odifyin g his equipmen t for the r ecor din g of jazz.
62 C U R R E N T M U SI C O LO G Y

Th er e was a wh ile wh ere Rudy used me as a sort of con sultan t, an d a

time w h en he called me quite frequen tly about lots of little th in gs,
th in gs th at he w ou ld come across. I was h an dy, I was n earby. A n d
these were th in gs that he lear n ed to do h imself, becatise he was good
about that. H e w ou ld call me an d say, you kn ow, "I have this k in d of
p r ob le m ." O r , "W h at do you do about th is an d th at?" So anyway,
th ere were a lot of little question s that h e asked me. In retrospect, I
t h in k h e w ou ld have kn ow n the answers h imself, but I was h an dy.
(Nar m a 1999) *

Bein g able to use mor e m icr oph on es an d place t h em closer to the in -

struments allowed Van Gelder to get a m or e in t imat e sou n d in the livin g
r oom studio. A pr im e example of this is the soun d of Miles Davis's m u t ed
t rumpet , w h ich Van Gelder w ou ld later r ecor d with the Telefu n ken m icr o-
ph on e almost t ou ch in g the m et allic H a r m o n mut e, th ereby per m it t in g
Miles to ach ieve great in ten sity w it h out h avin g to play at a h igh volume
level. Th e pier cin g, icy-blue tone Davis was thus able to achieve became
on e of the t r umpet er 's t rademarks, a sou n d that cr it ic Mar t in W illiam s
called, "on e of the most person al an d effective musical son orities in jazz
h istory" (W illiams 1968).
Sin ce h is first exper ien ce wit h th e H o m e Recor d o, Van Ge ld e r h ad
steadily sotigh t to lear n as m u ch as h e cou ld about the r ecor din g process,
an d t r ied to discover whatever meth ods an d equ ipm en t m igh t h elp to im -
prove the results. In the new livin g r oom st udio, he was able to exercise a
m u ch greater degree of con t r ol t h an ever before an d to exper imen t freely
with various tech n iques.
Am o n g the musician s wh o fou n d t h eir way to Hacken sack in the late
1940s was foe Moon ey, a b lin d accor dion ist fr om Pat er son , New Jersey,
wh o also played the organ an d sang. Moon ey h ad already en joyed a mod-
icu m of success in the music business as the leader of a swing quartet that
made several r ecor din gs for the Decca label in 1947 an d 1948. As early as
1949 Moon ey made some dem on st r at ion r ecor din gs i n Hacken sack, an d
two years later, for the Car ousel label, r ecor ded the track that became Van
Gelder 's first com m er cial release. Moon ey's vocal on "W e' ll Be Toget h er
Again " caugh t the ear of disk jockey A l "Jazzbo" Collin s, wh o began to play
the son g regularly on his W N EW r adio show, "Collin s on a Cl o u d ." Th e
r ecor d became quite popu lar . "[Collin s] just loved that r ecor d, an d h e was
on fr om , I t h in k, four to six on W N E W every day," Van Gelder r ecalled.
"So h e played that t h in g over an d over again ."1
W it h the added con fiden ce follow in g the release of Moon ey's r ecor d,
Van Gelder began to take on even mor e projects. H e was now spen din g
more an d m or e time with his r ecor din g activities an d less an d less w or kin g
 D A N SKEA 63

at his optometry' practice. H e also began to spen d mor e time in vestigatin g

some of the new tech n iques that h ad become possible with the in t r oduc-
tion of tape r ecor din g. O n e of these was the process kn own as overdub-
bin g, a m et h od wh ereby m u lt iple tracks cou ld be r ecor ded or "stacked"
on the same tape, on e after an ot h er . Th is was don e by playin g back the
first track on on e m ach in e wh ile a secon d part was added, with bot h sig-
nals bein g r ecor ded on t o a secon d m ach in e. In ot h er words, an en gin eer
m igh t (as guitarist Les Pau l did) r ecor d a sin gle guit ar part first, t h en
r ecor d that track plus a secon d guitar part on t o an ot h er m ach in e, repeat-
in g the process u n t il the desired n u m ber of parts h ad been accumulat ed.
Th e down side of this process was that with each added track a degree of
fidelity was sacrificed, since the or igin al track n ow became a secon d gener-
at ion . Tape "h iss" also in creased pr opor t ion at ely. To compen sate some-
what for th is, Paul lear n ed to r ecor d the least im por t an t parts first, an d
the most im por t an t parts last, so as to have the finished pr oduct retain the
greatest degree of son ic freshness (Paul 1999).
Alt h ou gh by n o means the first en gin eer to begin explor in g the possi-
bilities of ovei d u bbin g, Van Gelder was certain ly am on g the earliest in the
field of jazz r ecor d in g to make pract ical applicat ion of this new m et h odol-
ogy/' As early as 1951, he started m ak in g soun d-on -soun d r ecor din gs by
"pin g- pon gin g" signals fr om on e tape r ecor der to an ot h er . In that year,
pian ist Le n n i e Tr ist an o over d u b b ed m u lt ip le p ian o tracks on t o Van
Gelder 's Am pexes in Hacken sack. Tr ist an o, later n ot ed for exper im en t in g
with th e possibilit ies of r ecor d in g an d playin g back at differen t speeds,
subsequently made man y ot h er recordin gs in this vein elsewh ere. At about
the same time, guitarist Billy Bauer, a frequen t collabor at or of Trist an o's,
r ecor ded a series of Bach two-part in ven tion s at Hacken sack, playin g bot h
parts h imself t h r ou gh over du bbin g. "Rudy was just startin g to do double
tracks at that time. I m ean , it was comparatively n ew" (Bauer 2000).
Saxoph on ist Teo Macer o recalls a session in 1 9 5 3 wh ere h e over dubbed
m u lt iple parts on h is com posit ion "Explor at ion s."

It was crazy, a h ilar ious exper ien ce . . . th ere were five lin es in th ere,
an d I played t en or an d alto. I don ' t t h in k I played bar it on e on that.
Bu t five lin es—you kn ow , you put th e tape on on e m ach in e, you
r ecor d on on e, you take that out, put it on an ot h er tape r ecor der —
pin g- pon g, m or e or less—un til you get the five tracks dow n . O h , I
was busy. (Macer o 1 9 9 9 )

In A p r i l 1 9 5 4 , Bobby Sh er w ood r ecor d ed as a on e- man b an d in

Hacken sack by playin g t r umpet , guitar, pian o, bass, an d drums in separate
passes—four t een i n all—w it h Van Ge ld e r b o u n ci n g th e accu m u lat ed
64 ClJRRKNT MUSICOLOGY

tracks fr om m ach in e to m ach in e. For good measur e, Sh er w ood t h en

added four vocal parts in the same m an n er . Th e two tunes r ecor ded, "Yes,
In d eed " an d "Br ow n Eyes, W h y Ar e You Blue?" were released as a sin gle
on the Cor al label t in der the n ame of Bobby Sh er w ood an d his All-Bobby
Sh er w ood Or ch est r a. Van Gelder later said of this session, "I d id n ' t use
any special equipmen t—just stan dard equ ipm en t used by all good r ecor d-
in g studios today" (quot ed in Feath er 1956:31).
Th e in t r od u ct ion of magn et ic tape made possible an ot h er mean s of
m an ip u l at in g r ecor d ed m at er ial: ed it in g by cu t t in g apart an d sp licin g
t oget h er passages fr om two or mor e differen t takes. Van Gelder quicklv
developed ext r aor din ary skill with a razor blade, m ak in g precise cuts on
th e diagon al to pr oduce a smoot h er t r an sit ion wh en the splice ran back
over the play h ead. 1 ' H is adeptness at pr ecision splicin g w ou ld later stand
h im in good stead wh en edit in g tracks for man y labels, for wh ich he w ould
frequen tly patch togeth er the best sections of various takes to pr odu ce a
m or e "perfect" fin al per for man ce. Alt h ou gh seemin gly an t it h et ical to jazz,
an art for m that prizes the un iquen ess of each per for man ce for its quali-
ties of spon t an eous im pr ovisat ion , the pr act ice of p r od u cin g m or e pol-
ish ed r ecor din gs t h r ou gh splicin g an d ot h er tape m an ipulat ion s quickly
became an accepted practice in man y quarters of the jazz w or ld.
H avin g a portable version of the Am p ex tape r ecor der gave Van Gelder
the capability of m akin g r ecor din gs at remote location s more easily th an
he cou ld with the older disk mach in es. In the fall of 1950 he made on e of
h is first remote r ecor din gs wh en he took his equ ipm en t to Fr an k Dalev's
Meadow br ook In n in Cedar Gr ove, New Jersey to capture a few sets by the
W 7oody H er m an Ban d . O f the music Van Geld er r ecor ded that daw a h igh -
ligh t was a bass solo by Red Mit ch ell on a tun e called "Bass-ic Lady." Savs
guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli: "Th e bass sou n ded so good for a r ecor din g that
all the bass players w ould buy it fr om h i m " (quot ed in Kan zler 2001:25).
Red's br ot h er W h itey Mit ch ell r em em ber s that after th e Meadow br ook
session "we went to [Rudy's] h otise an d he played us some of these th in gs.
[It was] th e first good r e cor d in g of an yt h in g I ever h e ar d " (Mit ch ell
1999). Un for t un at ely, n eit h er this vintage W oody H er m an mat er ial n or a
later r ecor din g Van Gelder made of the ban d in 1953 was ever commer-
cially r eleased. "I got W oody to let h i m com e in t o Car n egie H al l an d
r ecor d a wh ole con cer t ," H e r m an d r u m m er Son n y Igoe r ecalled. "It was
n ever released, t h ou gh " (Igoe 1999).
Van Ge ld e r h ad begu n to make con n ect ion s wit h several ot h er big
b an d leader s, for w h om h e somet imes made on - locat ion r ecor din gs.
Th ese performan ces were gen erally r ecor ded for demon st r at ion purposes
on ly, an d were not in t en ded to be finished pr oduct s. Van Geld er made
such d em o r ecor din gs of th e Lar r y Elgar t Ban d in At lan t ic Cit y an d
New Yor k.
 D A N SKKA 65

W h e n we first met Rudy, I decided to make a dem o in New Yor k.

Rudy an d myself an d Ch ar lie Epstein car r ied his gear out to his car,
an d we fou n d a r oom in New Yor k City in the An son ia H ot el, on the
balcon y. It h ad a really n ice soun d. Th e first dem o was just part of
wh at became Sophisticated Swing. W h e n Co l u m b i a t ook t h em they
said they w an t ed to r e-r ecor d t h em in t h eir own st udio. So I h ad
Rudy come alon g as advisor. (Elgart 2000)

Th is was the per iod wh en the Elgart ban d developed its in n ovative an d
ligh t ly sw in gin g guit ar-but -n o-pian o r h yt h m sect ion . Elgar t r em em ber s
that the new sou n d actually came in t o bein g "because that first r ecor din g
we d id at the An son ia with Rudy, th ere was n o pian o th ere. A n d t h en we
loved the con cept, so we just built ar ou n d th at" (ibid.).
As im por t an t as Van Gelder 's skills in ot h er aspects of r ecor din g were,
man y feel his greatest gen ius lav in the ability he quicklv developed in cut-
t in g lacquer masters, the first an d most critical step in pr odu cin g the final
r ecor d. O b t ain in g a Scully lath e in the early 1950s, he taught h imself the
pr ecision - dem an din g process of t ran sferrin g the music fr om tape to disk.
W h ereas r ecor d in g en gin eers in many major studios t ur n ed t h eir session
tapes over to oth ers to be mastered, fr om very early on Van Gelder mas-
tered virtually all of his own recordin gs, an d was later sought out for that
purpose by outside clien ts as well.
By masterin g his own r ecor din gs, Van Gelder was able to retain a m u ch
greater degr ee of con t r ol over th e en t ir e process. H avin g been at th e
con sole d u r in g the or igin al session, he knew 7 far better th an any t ech n ician
in a masterin g lab what to expect wh en the session master tape began to
r oll. Alt h ou gh it was th en com m on practice for r ecor din g en gin eers to add
"test tones" to the start of each tape so that the person d oin g the masterin g
later cou ld pr oper ly calibrate th eir equipmen t , Van Gelder never bot h er ed
with this step; h e knew that he himself W o u l d be d oin g the masterin g, most
likely usin g the very mach in e that h ad r ecor ded the tape in the first place,
an d so th ere seemed to be n o n eed for r ecalib iat ion . (In m or e recen t
years, this lack of test tones has presen ted pr oblem s to en gin eers faced
with the task of remast erin g some of these or igin al tapes for digit al CDs.)
Th e postwar in t r od u ct ion of polymer plastic, with a m olecu lar structure
m u ch fin er th an that of the previous lacquer disks, made it possible to re-
duce th e w idt h of each groove on a r ecor d an d th us allow a great er
am oun t of music to fit on a disk. Th e masterin g process, h owever, n ow de-
m an ded even greater finesse to prevent the r ecor ded sign al fr om "oxer-
pow er in g" the n ar r ow groove an d k n ock in g th e n eedle out of its pat h .
Th e m et icu lou s an d delicat e pr ocedu r e h ad to be carefully m on it or ed
with a micr oscope to ensure that the pr oper pit ch (the distance between
grooves) was ach ieved, an d the gain (degree of volume) n ot allowed to
66 C U R R E N T M U SI C O L O O Y

exceed acceptable levels. As a cutter of lacquer masters, Van Gelder soon

ear n ed a r eput at ion for bein g able to "put m or e level on an LP t h an any-
on e else in the business" (Porter 2000). Th e h ot t er he was able to r ecor d
to tape by close-mikin g, an d the mor e level he cou ld t h en obtain on h is
lacqu er masters, th e less tape hiss an d b ack gr ou n d n oise Van Ge ld e r
w ould have on the fin ish ed r ecor d, a factor w h ich h elped h im ach ieve the
clear an d tigh tly-defin ed soun d for w h ich he first establish ed his n ame.
Th e late 1950s also saw the advent of st er eoph on ic r ecor d in g, made
possible by th e in t r od u ct ion of two- an d th ree-track tape r ecor der s.
Because at first it was un cer t ain wh et h er or n ot this new tech n ology w ou ld
catch on with the gen eral pu blic, most r ecor d labels appr oach ed the idea
with a degree of caut ion . W ou ld people readily con vert to stereo, a move
r e q u ir in g t h em to buy a secon d lou dspeaker , t w o- ch an n el am plifier ,
stereo car t r idge, etc.? Th e in it ial stereo releases of several labels were
issued on quar t er -in ch reel-to-reel tape, a format m ar ket ed pr im ar ily to
dedicat ed au dioph iles. For most con sumer s the t r an sit ion to stereo was
n eit h er swift n or smoot h .
Stereo r ecor din g r equ ir ed a greater degree of skill on the part of the
en gin eer t h an was necessary in the sim pler m on au r al m et h od. In m on o,
the signals fr om all of the m icr oph on es were fu n n eled on t o a sin gle track
an d plaved back t h r ough a single loudspeaker . O n ce a basic balan ce h ad
been establish ed, an d the levels of the various in st rumen ts set, the on ly
on-the-fly adjustmen t the en gin eer n eeded to make was to perh aps raise
the volume of a specific m icr oph on e to better capture a solo passage.
In these early days of stereo, before the developmen t of consoles capa-
ble of "p an n i n g" sign als fr om r igh t to left, en gin eer s h ad on ly t h r ee
ch oices of wh ere they cou ld route a given sign al: they cou ld place a trum-
pet, for example, on the left ch an n el on ly, the righ t ch an n el on ly, or both
ch an n els simultan eously. Th is latter opt ion w ou ld make it appear on play-
back that the t r umpet was in the ph ysical cen ter of the soun d stage. Th e
ch oices made at the r ecor din g stage cou ld not be altered later, sin ce this
process was essentially the "dir ect to two-track" m et h od.
Fur t h er com plicat in g the tran sition fr om m on o to stereo was the fact
that r ecor d compan ies began to issue new releases in bot h formats, since
con sumers opt in g to stick with m on o h ad n o use for stereo disks, wh ile
those m ovin g to the new t ech n ology w ou ld n o lon ger purch ase m on o.
Th is mean t that sessions h ad to be r ecor ded in bot h m on o an d stereo si-
mult an eously, w h ich r equ ir ed that separate r ecor d in g mach in es be r u n
at the same time. Needless to say, this presen ted en gin eers with an awk-
ward sit uat ion : they cou ld n ot m on it or bot h versions at on ce d u r in g a ses-
sion . Savoy pr odu cer Ozzie Caden a recalls dealin g with this pr oblem in
Hacken sack.
 D A N SKE A 67

In '58 or so we started d oin g stereo. I h ad to talk Savoy in t o it be-

cause they w ou ld n ' t pay the five bucks a goddam h ou r mor e. I asked
Rudy, or we agreed, that we listen to the m on o m on it or s. You kn ow,
like the stereo t h in g, I gotta listen , I gotta ju m p back an d forth to
find out wh at the h ell's goin g on? Th at may have h appen ed for a
cou ple of sessions, but in the lon g r u n we d i d ou r m on it or in g in
m on o, w h et h er we r ecor ded in stereo or n ot. It's bein g r ecor ded in
stereo, but the mon it or s are saying m on o. A n d we got a balan ce that
way. Lat er on they h ad variation s of wh at goes left an d what goes
righ t. But I say it's all gotta be h ear d on each ch an n el to a cert ain de-
gree. A n d that's h ow Rudy r ecor ded the stuff. H e r ecor ded a very
tigh t k in d of t h in g, tip close r ecor d in g k in d of scene. A n d h e got
separation w it h out slam separation . It wasn't like they t old the guys,
"Yo u get over th ere forty feet away." Th ey were all tigh t. Everybody
was like close togeth er. H e just d id it elect r on ically. A l l the folks in
the w or ld weren 't great jazz en th usiasts—Rudy was. Th at's the differ-
en ce. A lot of en gin eers didn ' t care. (Caden a 1999)

Un lik e some en gin eers wh o went over boar d with stereo effects, Rudv
used the new t ech n ology judiciously. Recor din g pion eer Les Paul adm ir ed
Rudy's restrain t.

Th e most impr essive t h in g about Ru d y —w h ich is very m u ch a

com p lim en t —is th at Rudy was con servative an d n ot bein g r adical
with any equalizat ion or extreme exper imen t s. H e was on e to r em ain
stable. A n d the musician s respected that, kn owin gly or un kn ow in gly.
W h et h er they t ech n ically knew what Rudy was d oin g, they knew that
if som et h in g good went i n , it came out that way. W h er e, in a lot of
ot h er cases it came out radically differen t. (Paul 1999)

In ad d it ion to Van Gelder ' s r ecor d in g skills, th ere were a n u m ber of

oth er reasons why h is Hacken sack oper at ion attracted clien ts in the early
1950s. Th e first of these was purely fin an cial: h is h ou r ly rates were lower
t h an th ose ch ar ged by the establish ed New Yor k Cit y studios. Sin ce h e
w or ked alon e an d h ad n o assistant to pay, Van Gelder was able to keep h is
pr ices w it h in r each of the sm aller in d e p e n d e n t labels. P r odu cer s also
lik ed th e fact th at Van Geld er wasted n o time set t in g up for a session.
Ext r emely m et h odical an d well-organ ized, he was always pr epar ed in ad-
vance an d spent n on e of the clien t's clock time settin g tip equipmen t or
t est in g m icr op h on e s. Prestige p r od u cer Esm o n d Edw ar ds recalls that
wh en musician s ar r ived, all they h ad to do was "walk i n , un pack the h or n
an d start playin g" (Edwards 1999).
68 C U R R E N T M U SI C O L O G Y

Hacken sack clien ts also always h ad the ben efit of state-of-the-art equip-
men t . H igh ly attun ed to evolvin g t ech n ology an d able to afford the latest
in n ovat ion s as they became available, 7 Van Gelder con sisten tly pr ovided
h is cust omers w it h th e newest an d best m icr op h on es, tape r ecor der s,
reverberation devices, an d oth er apparatus.
Fu r t h er m or e, the Hacken sack livin g r oom pr ovided a comfor t able, re-
laxed settin g. Musician s liked the in t imacy of the relatively small space;
bein g ph ysically close to on e an ot h er h elped r h yt h m sections je ll. At the
same time, the warm, dry soun d of the r oom made it easier to play in th an
some larger com m er cial spaces wh ere reverberation s b ou n cin g off walls
cou ld disturb son ic cohesiveness.
Ult imat ely, pr oducer s appreciat ed Van Gelder 's dedicat ion an d the se-
riousness with w h ich he appr oach ed each r ecor din g session. H is business-
like, no-nonsense appr oach t old t h em that he con sider ed the music im -
portan t. Prestige label own er Bob W ein st ock remembers:

Th er e was ahvavs m u t u al respect—th e musician s for h im an d h im for

the musician s . . . See, the m ain t h in g abotit h im —h e wasn't a btill-
sh itter. H e loved the music. Even before he r ecor ded it, he loved the
music. A n d he loved the musician s, like 1 d id . So it wasn't some guy
just d o i n g it for th e m on ey. H e put h is h eart an d sou l in t o it .
(W ein stock 1999)

"I would like to hear the details"

In January 1953, Van Gelder en gin eer ed his first r ecor din g session for
Blue Not e Records, the leadin g in depen den t label in the jazz field on the
East coast. By the follow in g year, two of that label's ch ief compet it or s—
Prestige an d Savoy—h ad also become steady clien t s at the H acken sack
st udio. Over the n ext decade, the h u n dr eds of jazz albums Van Geld er
r ecor ded for these th ree labels served as on e of the major pathways alon g
w h ich the art for m developed an d was dissemin ated.
A you n g en gin eer tryin g to lear n h is craft cou ld h ardly have been in a
better posit ion th an Van Gelder fou n d h imself at this stage of his career.
H e was r ecor din g with ever-greater frequen cy for th ree of the most im por -
tant labels in jazz, w or kin g with some of the music's biggest stars. Miles
Davis, Th elon iou s Mon k , Milt Jackson, Son n y Rollin s, H or ace Silver, an d
Joh n Colt r an e were all r ecor din g in Hacken sack on a regular basis, an d
the albums they t ur n ed out were fillin g the bin s at r ecor d stores. For bot h
musician s an d audien ces alike, Van Gelder 's recordin gs of these artists be-
came cen t ral documen t s in the on goin g developmen t of t h eir in dividual
an d collective styles.
 D A N SKI :A 69

Van Geld er was also gain in g valuable exper ien ce with every new ses-
sion . Blu e Not e ow n er Alfr e d Li o n , especially par t icu lar about sou n d ,
offer ed gu idan ce an d en cou r agem en t to h elp Ru dy sh ar pen h is own
already keen aural sensitivity.

Rudy h ad a good ear for jazz, you kn ow , an d a good feelin g. H e

wasn 't just a m an wh o sat ar ou n d th e con t r ols an d look e d at
the needles . . . H e listen ed, you kn ow . . . every time I listen ed to the
records fr om bigger compan ies, the d r u m sou n d was k in d of push ed
in the back. You didn ' t h ear the details. A n d Rudy an d I discussed it
all the time, an d I said, "I w ou ld like to h ear the details. I'd like to
h ear the sock cymbal. Yo u kn ow, that . . . [snaps fingers] . . . an d,
cymbals on th e t op, an d th e r in g. Really get th is out , you kn ow ,
an d make it lively." Rudy mastered that after a wh ile, an d very well.
A n d so we went from in strumen t to in strumen t—th e bass—and we de-
veloped a sou n d w h ich was the Blue Not e sou n d. Th e records soun d
differen t fr om ot h er people's. 8

By exper im en t in g with the various elemen ts of the r ecor din g process—

the ch oice of m icr oph on es, wh ere they were placed, the ph ysical dist ribu-
tion of musician s w it h in the studio, the volume level at w h ich each player
was r e cor d e d —Van Ge ld e r was able to in cr easin gly ach ieve a fu ll, vet
tran sparen t sou n d in w h ich each in dividu al in st r umen t cou ld be distin ctly
h ear d w it h in the overall m ix. 9 H or n s were close-miked for greater pres-
ence an d en h an ced with a t ouch of ech o. Basses became less boomy or
m u ddy, t h eir lin es m or e clean ly defin ed. Th e pian o was sligh tly atten u-
ated to keep it b eh in d the h or n s in the m ix. Perh aps most tellin gly, Van
Gelder 's developin g sonic sensibilities, cou pled with the favorable acoustics
of the Llacken sack livin g r oom , en abled h i m to con t r ol an d con t ain the
busy an d explosive styles of percussionists like Ar t Blakey, Ph illy Joe Jones,
Ar t Taylor , an d Max Roach , an d to successfully capture the d r u m set "de-
tails" Alfr e d Li o n was after. Van Geld er was gr at eful for Lio n ' s exper t
guidan ce.

Alfr ed kn ew exactly what he wan ted to h ear. H e com m u n icat ed it to

me an d I got it for h im t ech n ically. H e was amazin g in what h e h ear d
an d h ow h e w ou ld patien tly draw it out of me. H e gave me con fi-
den ce an d suppor t in any sit uat ion , (quoted in Cu scu n a an d Ru ppli
2001:xiv)

An importan t elemen t of the evolving "Blue Note Sou n d" was its consistency.
70 C U R R E N T M U SI C O L O G Y

Every session [Lion ] made I r ecor ded for h im , so that label got a dis-
tinctive soun d that way. Th er e was a certain consistency an d the peo-
ple wh o bough t those records w ou ld look forward to what was com-
in g n ext because they kn ew the r ecor d w ou ld have a good sou n d.
Th e musician s were all of a cert ain caliber an d he w ou ld get a good
per for man ce out of t h em, (quot ed in H ovan 1999)

In 1956, Blue Not e presen ted Rudy with a new ch allen ge. Alfr ed Li o n
h ad ju st discovered an d sign ed a dyn amic vot in g organ ist fr om Pen n syl-
van ia whose in n ovative appr oach to the in st r um en t w ou ld soon spark a
wave of disciples an d imitators wh o embr aced the excit in g new possibili-
ties of the jazz or gan com bo. W h ile the electric organ h ad been r ecor ded
in jazz before, not u n t il Jimmy Sm it h came r oar in g on t o the scene with his
t h u n der in g H a m m o n d B-3 h ad an yon e so fully tested the in st rumen t 's po-
t en t ial. Sm it h br ed off savagely sw in gin g im pr ovisat ion al lin es wit h h is
righ t h an d , wh ile com p in g ch or ds with h is left h an d an d p u m p i n g out
ferocious bass lin es with his feet. Lion ' s Blue Not e par t n er Fran ces W olff
first en cou n t er ed Smit h at Small's Paradise. "Th e air was filled with waves
of soun d I h ad never h ear d before," W olff r em em ber ed. "Th e n oise was
sh at t er in g" (quot ed in Cuscun a an d Ru ppli 2 0 0 1 :xv).
But h ear in g Smit h in per son an d capt u r in g h im on tape were two dif-
feren t th in gs. P r od u ced by a series of r ot at in g ton e gen erators, the B-3's
u n iqu e sou n d con t ain ed man y h ar m on ic overton es an d partials, w h ich
were difficult for r ecor d in g en gin eers to deal with . Th e pr oblem was com-
plicat ed by th e fact that Sm it h am plified the or gan 's ou t pu t t h r ou gh a
Leslie speaker cabin et, w h ich featured spin n in g r ot or h or n s on top an d a
revolvin g d r u m on the bot t om. In ot h er words, the organ 's soun d was n ot
on ly a difficult target for an en gin eer to h it , but a m ovin g on e as well.
Alt h ou gh it took several sessions of exper im en t in g with various micr o-
ph on es an d t h eir placemen ts to ach ieve the or gan sou n d Li o n wan t ed,
Van Gelder eventually man aged to do so, in the process becom in g the first
r ecor din g en gin eer to un veil the H am m on d ' s full pot en t ial an d capture
the br eadt h of Smit h 's creative gen ius. Smit h 's early Blu e Not e albums,
com b in in g his in n ovative playin g style with Van Gelder 's im pr oved r ecor d-
in g meth ods, made a sign ifican t impact in the jazz w or ld, spawn in g a gen-
er at ion of Sm it h disciples an d m akin g the or gan trio on e of the most pop-
ular in st r umen t al con figurat ion s in jazz for the n ext fifteen years. 1 0
Van Gelder 's association with the Blue Not e label was u n ique in several
ways. For on e t h in g, Alfr ed Li o n em ployed a m u ch m or e h an ds-on ap-
pr oach th an ot h er pr oducer s, wh o typically gave Van Gelder free r ein to
do as he wish ed in the studio. Li o n h ad firm ideas about what each r ecor d
sh ou ld sou n d like, an d was det er m in ed to h elp Van Gelder achieve the re-
 D A N SKKA 71

suits h e desired. Secon dly, u n like ot h er in depen den t label owners, Lion
paid musician s for a day or two of reh earsals pr ior to the actual r ecor din g
date. Blue Not e artists were thus able to attempt mat er ial of a more ambi-
tious n ature th an they oth erwise cou ld in a typical th ree-h our session, an d
th eir albums t en ded to be more polish ed an d structured th an those put
out on ot h er labels. In con trast, Prestige an d Savoy dates were usually
mor e casually assembled "blow in g sessions" don e with little pr epar at ion .
Tr u m pet er Joe W ilder remembers:

Th e way we d id [it] at Savoy, we didn ' t even kn ow wh o the leaders

w ou ld be u n t il th e session was over. Th ey w ou ld say, "W e l l , you
kn ow , play some tunes, you guys pick some tun es," or som et h in g,
an d the guys w ou ld do that. An d wh en w e'd get t h r ou gh , th ey'd say,
"W ell, oka\ Joe, you were the leader on this on e." O r , "Fr an k Wess,
you were the leader." (W ilder 1999)

Li o n was also w illin g to go to greater len gth s at the session itself to

achieve the best possible r ecor din g, per m it t in g Van Gelder to tape mult i-
ple versions of a given selection fr om w h ich the best performan ce w ou ld
later be selected for release. Bot h the Prestige an d Savoy operation s were
mor e cost-conscious, u r gin g musician s to r ecor d the m axim u m n u m ber of
titles in th e t ime allot t ed, an d savin g m on ey by t apin g over u n w an t ed
takes. W ein st ock recalls:

In my r ecor din gs, I h ad a t h in g with Rudy. I'd say, "Rudy, on ce it's

stopped an d it's n o good, erase it ." I d id n ' t keep outtakes . . . It was
an automatic r ule. O n ce it was n o good, an d on ce you went to do an-
ot h er , he can go righ t back an d take it away. (W ein stock 1999)

If Van Gelder ben efited greatly fr om his association with Alfr ed Li o n ,

h e lear n ed a lot by w or k in g with ot h er pr oducer s as well. W 7hile Lion ' s
close super vision pr ovid ed specific goals to strive for, Van Geld er also
im p r oved h is skills t h r ou gh t r ial- an d- eir or exper im en t s h e was able to
employ mor e freely in the looser sessions r u n by ot h er labels.

W h en I exper im en t ed, I w ou ld exper im en t on Bob W ein stock's proj-

ects. Bob d id n ' t t h in k m u ch of soun d . . . So if I got a new micr o-
ph on e an d I wan ted to try it on a saxoph on e player, I w ou ld never
try it on Alfr ed' s date. W ein stock didn ' t give a dam n , an d it worked
out great. Alfr ed w ou ld ben efit fr om that, (quoted in Roz/i 1995:45)

Alt h ou gh he ach ieved his first r ecogn it ion in the jazz w or ld as the creator
of the "Blu e Not e Sou n d ," Van Gelder d id n ot lim it the t ech n ical skills
72 C U R R E N T M U SI C O LO G Y

h on ed at Blu e Not e to projects for Lion ' s label alon e. Just as h e made all
of his ph ysical equ ipm en t available to eve 17 clien t , h e also afforded each
th e fu ll ext en t of h is e xp an d i n g t ech n ical exper t ise. W h ile a cer t ain
am ou n t of unevenness is eviden t on some ear lier r ecor din gs, for the most
part Van Geld er ach ieved the same "sou n d " for all of h is clien ts. Varia-
t ion s fr o m alb u m to al b u m were due m or e to th e way th e m usic was
played t h an to h ow it was r ecor ded. In deed, comparison s of con t empor a-
n eous album s released on Blu e Not e, Prestige, an d Savoy fr om 1954 on -
ward reveal that the great majority sh are r emar kably similar son ic charac-
t erist ics. 1 1 For all in ten ts an d purposes, th e "Blu e Not e Sou n d " actually
became t h e "Rudy Van Geld er Sou n d"—t h e most distin ctive son ic signa-
ture in the h istory of r ecor d ed jazz.

Conclusion
Th e 1950s were a sem in al p e r io d i n th e d evelopm en t of m od e r n
Am er ican jazz, an d a time d u r in g w h ich lan dm ar k r ecor din gs by leadin g
artists w er e r ou t in ely m ad e in Va n Geld er ' s H acken sack livin g r oom .
W h ile h e also r ecor ded a lim it ed n u m b e r of non-jazz sessions over the
years, V a n Gelder was essentially a jazz specialist . 1 2 Jazz was h is pr efer r ed
m ed iu m an d the musician s an d pr oducer s wh o w or ked with h im knew it.
W h en th ey came to the Hacken sack studio for a session, they felt appreci-
ated, n ot merely t oler at ed. Van Geld er spoke the jazz players' lan guage
an d treated the music they created as h igh art.

I sort of h ad a r appor t w it h the musician s, an d I t r ied to un der st an d

what th ey were tryin g to do. I always felt that jazz musician s sh ou ld
be treated in a way that was a little mor e as if it were a major effort
t h an d ie way they h ad been treated i n ot h er places. But that was a
stron g feelin g on my part —t h at I cou ld allow cert ain types of clien ts
who came to me an d h ad faith in me—to allow th em to compet e on
a qualit y level with the biggest compan ies. A n d par t icular ly with jazz,
(quot ed in For len za 1993:58)

In 1959, as stereo in cr easin gly became the n or m , Van Geld er built a

new st udio an d h om e in En glew ood Cliffs, New Jersey. H e t h en closed
his opt omet r y practice an d th ereafter devoted h im self en tirely to h is activi-
ties as a r e cor d in g en gin eer . Bu t fr om th e start of h is car eeer , Van
Gelder 's in tuitive empath y for jazz, com b in ed with h is t ech n ical skills, per-
fectionist t emperamen t, an d dedicat ion to t ailor in g r ecor din g tech n ology
to the u n iqu e con dit ion s of jazz per for m an ce en abled h im to deal with
the music at a level most ot h er r ecor d in g en gin eers were un able to mat ch .
H e was n ot so m u ch a t ech n ical in n ovat or as a ch r on icler of artistic in n o-
 D A N SKKA 73

vat ion s, wh ose sen sitivity an d d iligen ce i n d o cu m e n t in g th e for w ar d-

r each in g explor at ion s of artists like Miles Davis, Th elon iou s Mon k , an d
Jo h n Colt r an e aided these musician s an d oth ers in freely expan din g an d
r ein ven t in g musical boun dar ies. Still sou n din g fresh an d lively todav, th e
r ecor din gs Rudy Van Gelder made d u r in g th e 1950s compr ise a vital part
of the music's son ic h istory.

Notes
1. Advertisement for the Presto Record Maker in Radio Retailing (April 1931): 70.
2. Rudy Van fielder, quoted on Jo h n Coltrane's The Ultimate Blue Train, re-
leased in 1996 (Blue Note CD 53428). This multi- media compact disc contains an
interview with Van Gelder conducted on December 16, 1995.
3. W h e n N arma later designed an d built four custom- made multi- channe l
recording consoles, Van Gelder was the first to receive one. Th e other three went
to Olmstead Studios, Les Paul, and Goth am Studios, in that order.
4. Van Gelder discussed the Moody recording at a videorecorded panel in Van
Ge lde r's h o n o r at the annual conference of the International Association of
Record Collectors (August 7, 1993, Teaneck, N.J.).
5. Th e earliest employment of this technique in jazz occurred on Apri l 18,
1941, w hen Sidnev Bechet became a one- man band bv ovei dubbing clarinet, so-
prano sax, tenor sax, piano, bass, and drum parts on his recording of "Th e Shiek
of Arabv."
6. Van Gelder once gave guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli a demonstration of this ex-
pertise by playing a tape on w hich he had spliced together the ID announcements
of a dozen different radio stations. "It was very funny w hen you heard them. It kept
getting funnier and funnier, you know. Yo u w ould hear every one. He had a whole
gang of them" (Pizzarelli 1999).
7. A combination of factors—family wealth, a successful optometry practice,
and supplementary income from recording—enabled Rudy to afford the latest in-
novations. He w orked lean and clean, had no assistant to pay, paid no rental on
the studio, and earned substantial additional money from his clients by cutting the
disc masters for all his recordings. W hile his optometry-' practice brought signifi-
cant income in the early years, as time went on the money earned through record-
ing activities became far greater.
8. Alfred Li o n , quoted in the documentary Blue Note, produced by Ki m Evans
for LW T Television, Ltd. (Lo n do n ). First telecast in Britain on February 16, 1986.
9. Compare , for example, The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 1 (Blue Note GD P
7-81505-2) with The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 2 (Blue Note GD P 7-81506-2).
Both were recorded for Blue Note, the first at W O R Studios in New York (aty in
1953, the second in Hackensack in 1954 and 1955.
10. W hile it is not entirely know n how Van Gelder was initially able to record
Smith so successfully, several organists (including Joey DeFrancesco) have guessed
that part of his secret involved mi ki n g the B- 3s bass tones directly (i.e., hard-
w iring them, without a microph on e ). This technique is standard procedure today,
74 C U R R E N T M U SI G O L O G Y

and Van Gelder was apparently the first to do it, although one can only speculate if
and when he employed the procedure with Jimmy Smith as early as the mid-1950s.
11. A n example can he heard by c o mpari n g the sonic qualities of sessions
recorded for three different labels within the space of four days: Phil W oods, Pot
Pie (Prestige New Jazz 8291), February 4, 1955; Horace Silver, Horace Silver and the
Jazz Messengers (Blue Note 1518), February 6, 1955; and Kenny Clarke, Telefunken
Blues (Savoy 12006), February 7, 1955.
12. Un l i ke V an Ge l de r, w ho conce ntrate d almost exclusively o n jazz, most
re cording engineers of the pe riod dealt with a w ider variety of musical styles.
There were, however, a number of important engineers of the era who did signifi-
cant work in the jazz field. These include Irv Greenbaum, To m Dow d, Harry Smith,
and Ray Fow ler in New York, and Roy D u N an n and Wally He i de r in California.

Appendix A: Select discography of 1950s recordings engineered bv Rudy Van

Gelder. Original recording date is in brackets, where applicable.

Adderley, Julian "Can n o n bal i :1 [1958] 1999. Somethird Else. Blue Note CD 95329.
Amnions, Ge n e . [1958] 1991. The Big Sound. Prestige Origin al Jazz Classics CD
051-2.
Bert, Eddie. [1955] 1992. Musician of the Year. Savoy Jazz CD SV-0183.
Blakev, Art. [1954] 2001. A Night at Birdland, vols. 1 and 2. Blue Note CD 32146/
32147.
Blakey, Art, and the Jazz Messengers. [1958] 1999. Moaniri. Blue Note CD 95324.
Burrell, Kenny. [1956] 2000. Introducing Kenny Burrell. Blue Note CD 24561.
Clark, Sonnv. [1958] 1987. Cool Strutthd. Blue Note CD 46513.
Clarke, Kenny. [1954-55] 1992. Telefunken Blues. Savoy CD SV-0106.
Coltrane, Jo h n . [1958] 1987. Soultrane. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 021-2.
. [1957] 1985. Blue Train. Blue Note CD 46095.
Davis, Miles. [1954, 1956] 1989. Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants. Prestige
Original Jazz Classics CD 347-2.
. [1954] 1987. Walhin: Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 213-2.
. [1956] 1993. CookiiT. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 128-2.
. [1956] 1987. Relaxird. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 190-2.
. [1956] 1989. Steamcn. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 391-2.
. [1956] 1987. Workin \ Prestige Original Jazz ("lassies CD 296-2.
Farmer, Art. [1954-55] 1994. Wtien Farmer Met Gryce. Prestige Original Jazz Classics
CD 072-2.
Fuller, Curtis. [1959] 1991. Blue-sette. Savoy Jazz CD SV-0127.
Garland, Red. [1957] 2001. All MornnT Long. Prestige CD 7130-2.
Griffin, Johnny . [1957] 1999. A Blowing Session. Blue Note CD 99009.
Haw kins, Cole man . [1958] 1984. Soul. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 096-2.
Jackson, Milt. [1955] 1992. OpusDe Jazz. Savoy Jazz CD SV-0109.
Johnson, J. J. [1954-55] 1989. The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 2. Blue Note CD
81506.
Johnson, J. J., and Kai W inding. [1956] 1996. Jay and Kai. Savoy CD CY-78818.
Melle, Gi l . 1998. The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions. Blue Note CD 95718.
 D A N SKKA 75

Mc Le an , Jackie. [1959-601 1987. Jackie's Bag. Blue Note CD 46142.

Mingus, (Charles. [1955] 1990. Mingus at the Bohemia. Debut Original Jazz Classics
CD 045-2.
Mobley, Hank. [1957] 1996. Hank. Blue Note CD TOCJ- 1560.
Mo de rn Jazz Quartet. [1953] 1987. Django. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 057-2.
Mo n k, Th e l o n i o us. [1953-54] 1999. llielomous Monk with Sonny Rollins. Prestige
CD 7075-2.
. [1956] 1987. The Unique Thelonious Monk. Riverside Original Jazz Classics
CD 064-2.
New born, Phineas, Jr. [1956] 1986. The Piano Artistry OJf'Phineas Newborn, Jr. Atlantic
CD 90534.
Nichols, Herbie. 1997. The Complete Blue Note Recordings. Blue Note 3-CD box set
59352.
Rollins, Sonny. [1956] 1987. Saxophone Colossus. Prestige Original Jazz ("lassies CD
291-2.
. [1956] 1987. Tenor Madness. Prestige Original Jazz. Classics CD 124-2.
Silver, Horace. [1954- 55] 1995. Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. Blue Note CD
TOCJ- 1518.
Smith, Jimmy. [1957] 2000. House Party. Blue Note CD 24542.
. [1958] 1987. The Sermon. Blue Note CD 46097.
Taylor, Billy. [1954] 1991. The Billy Taylor Trio with Candido. Prestige Original Jazz
Classics CD 015-2.
W al l i n gto n , Ge o rge . [1955] 1992. Live! at Cafe Bohemia. Prestige Ori gi n al Jazz
Classics CD 1813-2.
W oods, Phil. [1954- 55] 1996. Pot Pie. New Jazz (Prestige) Original Jazz Classics CD
1881-2.
. [1956] 1991. Pairing Off. Prestige Original Jazz Classics CD 092-2.

References
Cuscuna, Mich ae l, and Ruppl i , Mi ch e l . 2001. The Blue Note Label: A Discography,
Revised and Expanded. Westport, Co n n . , and Lo n do n : Gre e nw ood Press.
Feather, Le o n ard. 1956. A So un d Test. Down Beat (October 31): 31.
Fo rl e n za, Jeff. 1993. Rtidv V an Ge l de r: Jazz's Master En gi n e e r. Mix Magazine
(October): 54- 64, 254.
Fox, Te d. 1987. Lion's Pride: 30 Years at Blue Note. Audio (June): 62- 73.
Gitler, Ira. 2001. V an Gelder's Studio. Jazz Times (April): 24- 25.
Griffith, Joseph P. 1988. Phantom Studio Turn s Out Jazz Classics. Neiv York limes
(May 22): sec. 12, p. 2.
Hovan , Chris. 1999. Rudy Van Gelder Interview. All About Jazz (June). http://w w w .
allaboutjazz.com/ iview s/ yangelder.htm/ [July 25, 2002].
Kanzler, Ge orge , Jr. 1973. Sweetest Sounds are Capture d betw een Fo ur W orld-
famous Walls. Netoark Star-Ledger (June 13): 38- 39.
. 2001. Th e House That Jazz Built. Newark Star-Ledger (January 9): 21-25.
Korall, Burt. 1956. Rudy Van Gelder: Th e W e ll- Te mpe re d En gin e e r. Metronome
(January): 24.
Le vitin, D an i e l J. 1992. Interview with Rudy Van Ge l de r, En gi n e e r. Recording-
Engineer Producer Magazine (April): n.p.
76 C U R R E N T M U SI C O L O G Y

Rozek, Michael. 1980. Jazz Mirror: Rudy Van Gelder. Netv York Jazz (December): n.p.
Rozzi, James. 1995. Rudv Van Ge l de r: (Capturing the State of the Art. Audio
(November): 42- 46.
. 2000. Han gi n ' with Rudy Van Gelder. Audio (January): n.p.
Seidel, Mi tch e l l . 1988. Re c o rdi n g En gi n e e r Finds D arkro o m is His "Natural
Habitat." Newark Star-Ledger (June 12): n.p.
. 1990. '90 Special Ach ie ve me nt Aw ard: Rudy V an Ge lde r. Down Beat
(September): 33.
Sidran, Ben. 1995. Talking Jazz: An Oral History. New York: Da Capo Press.
Stewart, Zan. 1999. Rudy's Return. Stereo-phi le (August): 60- 65.
Van Gelder, Rudy. 1999. Lin e r notes to The RVG Album: Jazz from Rudy Van Gelder.
Blue Note CD TOCJ- 66060.
Williams, Martin. 1968. Li n e r notes to reissue of Miles Davis, WalhirT. Prestige LP
7076.

Radio Broadcasts
Sidran, Be n . 1985. Interview with Rudv Van Ge lde r. Sidran on Record. National
Public Radio broadcast (December).
Stamberg, Susan. 1993. Profile of Rudy V an fielder. Weekend Edition. National
Public Radio broadcast (February 20).

In tend exes
Bauer, Billy. 2000. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, March 7.
Cadena, Ozzie. 1999. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, December 31.
Edwards, Esmon d. 1999. Te le ph one interview with the author, April 10.
Elgart, Larry. 2000. Te l e ph o n e intendew with the author, January 23.
Igoe, Sonny. 1999. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, May 12.
Macero, Te o . 1999. Te le ph on e interview with the author, December 19.
Mitchell, Whitey. 1999. Te le ph one interview with the author, May 6.
Narma, Rein. 1999. Te le ph one interview with the author, December 8.
Paul, Les. 1999. Te le ph one interview with the author, November 17.
Pizzarelli, Bucky. 1999. Te le ph one interview with the author, May 12.
Porter, Bob. 2000. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, November 11.
Taylor, Billy. 1999. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, December 8.
Triglia, Bill. 1999. Te le ph on e interview with the author, May 12.
Van Gelder, Le o n . 2000. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, February 2.
Weinstock, Bob. 1999. Te le ph one interview with the author, May 3.
W ilder, Joe. 1999. Te l e ph o n e interview with the author, June 11.