The eponymous Blue Note Records sound engineer, Rudy Van Gelder has passed away on the morning of 25th August at his home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey which was also the location of his studio for more than 50 years.
Van Gelder has led an astounding career having recorded thousands of jazz sessions with not just Blue Note Records but also Prestige Records and Savoy Records, having recorded classic albums with the greatest jazz musicians of all time such as John Coltrane (A Love Supreme), Miles Davis (Workin’ and Steamin’) and Thelonious Monk (The Unique Thelonious Monk) to name a few.
Van Gelder’s studio was immortalised into song by Thelonious Monk’s track ‘Hackensack’ off his 1954 album ‘Monk’. Listen to the track below.
Source: The Guardian