This man was singlehandedly involved in the recording sound quality of some of the greatest jazz musicians in history. There will not be another like him. Rest in peace, Rudy, and watch for clip in the Great Jam Session In the Sky.
Just for a reference to his sound, look up "Maiden Voyage" by Herbie Hancock (it's probably on Youtube). Listen in particular to the drum sound (a 20 year old Tony Williams!), and the breath sounds of Freddie Hubbard's astounding trumpet solo.
This was supposed to be the sound of the sea, and that's what it sounds like.
Funny Story: Rudy would set up multiple microphones on a session. Some would be plugged in to the board and some were just a placebo. This helped him keep his unique sound as his popularity soared.
The idea being that a spectator couldn't be sure what microphone he used to record with.
I'm surprised he insisted that he isn't a producer. I mean, sure, I understand how he feels like an audio engineer first, but he definitely had the right to be credited as a producer as well with all the work that the did.
Probably because in traditional jazz the role of Producer doesn't really apply like it does in more modern genres (R&B, Rock, etc).
Producers typically focus not on the mechanics and apparatus of the recording process/audio fidelity (that's what the engineer does) but rather are involved in selecting the musicians who play together, what songs they record, how they're arranged, mixed, sometimes even contributing to the writing, etc.
Given that most of those responsibilities don't apply in traditional jazz - Coltrane is going to play with whoever Coltrane wants to play with - and the "mix" is intended to match as closely as possible how it sounds in a real life setting, the role of "producer" (outside of the artist themselves) in most traditional jazz was never really a thing.
Definitely not true. There were plenty of producers who were "involved in selecting the musicians who play together, what songs they record, how they're arranged, mixed, sometimes even contributing to the writing, etc." -- Orrin Keepnews, Teo Macero, Alfred Lion, Creed Taylor, Ozzie Cadena, Don Schlitten, and the list goes on and on. A good producer often made the difference between an OK session and a great one (case in point, Sonny Stitt).
Fair enough, but then the question becomes did RVG play that same role? My understanding is he didn't, that he focused solely on the recording process and was a 'hired gun' so to speak. Is that not the case?
Producers definitely had a role in the history of jazz--in the early days, Guys like Eddie Condon and Norman Granz did everything you describe--arrange recording dates, including hiring musicians to play, and so on. Nesuhi Ertegun had this role at Atlantic Records for many years and shaped the label's jazz program.
So sad. I was always amazed at how many great albums he recorded. And his remastering of the old records to CD format ensured that these historic sounds would preserved in the digital age.
RIP Rudy Van Gelder truly There Will Never Be Another You.
But, a major motivation to remaster old records is due to copyright expiring on the old recordings, particularly in Europe. A remastered release is considered a new release in terms of copyright, which can therefore be protected, I believe.
The depressing mountain of very cheap public domain John Coltrane (for just one example) "reissues" by every man and his dog was foreseen by the record companies.
And, while I'm here, these cheap reissues of expired copyright recordings often say they are "remastered" when all they've done is tweak the equaliser and added some phasing. For no other reason, these RVG remasters are great in order to identify the reference recording amongst the deluge of bedroom re-hashes.
(And, RIP Bobby Hutcherson. RVG's remasters of his recordings sparkle).
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For those curious about his recordings, search "Rudy Van Gelder" on Spotify or similar - there are many remastered tracks tagged as his. Definitely worth a listen.
I don't consider myself to be a dedicated jazz fan, and I've got a dozen or two out of those ~800 recordings - mostly Miles, Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock.
From the dates, that's ~800 recordings between '52 and '65 - that's an average of one a week for 13 years. Prolific and hard-working as well as talented...
