Van Gelder recording techniques

[seashorepiano]

For all those interested in jazz organ recordings on CTi (Richard Tee, Hancock's stabs at it, Walter Wanderley and others), I've dug around and found an interesting article on the demise of jazz organ these days and how Rudy Van Gelder's retirement from active engineering was the beginning of the "fall." Here's the URL:

http://www.afana.org/jazzorgan.htm

The heading of the particular section regarding Van Gelder is titled as follows:

THE AURAL EXPERIENCE: RECORDING THE ORGAN AND PLAYING IT BACK

 

[Dave]

--> About Jazz Organists​

My favorite Jazz Organists have long been Jimmy McGriff and Jimmy Smith, as well as the late Richard Tee...

Yes, Herbie Hancock is mostly known as a pianist--sharing keyboard duties with the likes of Charles Covington on organ, for example...

Walter Wanderley on Organ and Harpsichord, to me, ranks with Steve Allen on Harpsichord and Piano; I have the works of both and like each just the same...

Dave

 

[seashorepiano]

I've thought for a while that Hancock had a real way with the Hammond. I was very impressed by his sensitive B-3 work on "Delphia" from Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay (1970). Speaking of that album, it's a great example of how Van Gelder was able to record the nuances of the organ in sync with the trumpet almost perfectly. It's a very melancholic ballad that makes you feel as if they're playing in a small living room.

 

[RichardWarner]

One of the highlights of my life was a group dinner with Fourplay, set up by Warner Records' jazz rep here in Atlanta. Luck of the draw, I wound up sitting next to Bob James and spending a remarkable evening (remarkable, to me, anyway). We started off discussing Mac computers, which we both use. And migrated to Creed Taylor (whom he sued to get possession of his master tapes returned) and then discussion about Van Gelder.

Bob said Rudy would never let anyone into the control room. The dials were all carefully set to position, and no one was allowed to see it or tamper with it. During lunch breaks, the control room was locked.

 

[seashorepiano]

That's a very interesting story, Richard. I know Bob James did a lot of sideman keyboard work in the late '70s before doing his own BJ1 through BJ4 records--which later migrated to the "Tappan Zee/Warner" label. If you look at the original vinyls, you'll see that they were indeed under the CTi imprint.

I heard before that Rudy was very protective of his procedures and methods--and Bob James's story confirms this. I don't blame the man, since he wanted to preserve what might have been his own invention of the perfect recording dynamics from being abused by others. It's a testament to his genius in electronics.

 

[RichardWarner]

Bits of that evening are coming back to me...

Bob and his group recorded "Feel Like Makin' Love," the single from his first album...and the following morning, the same group re-recorded it with Roberta Flack. But they had to hold their release until hers came out months later.

 

[RichardWarner]

Larry Carlton was also a class act. He talked about recording his first album, the one with "Room 335" on it, and said, "we were all just kids and so euphoric about doing it." The coolest of all that I hung out with was Nathan East, who is as down to earth a person as I've ever met. His approach to life is: don't focus on your problems. Every day above ground is a good day. ... Later I found from a reliable source that Larry replaced Lee Ritenour in Fourplay because there was only "room enough for one leader, and that was Bob."

 

[Dave]

--> or: Recording The Jazz Organ​

Well, I read the section on Recording The Organ... Rudy Van Gelder did manage to work around the "Booming Bass" of the typical Hammond B-3 in his recording techniques. Overall, a lot of history in Jazz Organ and I learned a lot from the article that I never knew, as well...

Dave

 

[jimac51]

Boy,the discussion of the B3 could take an entire corner in a jazz discussion site. The linked article was written by a true fan but,as such,his "cringing" at the past(the article was written over 15 years ago)is quite accurate and it was written just as the British acid jazz movement and the CD vault reissue years were about to happen-two major movments that gave(hopefully)some new fuel to the B3 flame for the current generation of music lovers(who sometimes do not care for other forms of jazz,but that's OK as long as their groovin'). Jimmy Smith was one of the first jazz players that I heard in 1965 so he is a buliding block of my love of jazz. Guys like Groove Holmes and Charles Earland(The Mighty Burner)were just natural to listen on Philly radio,even on the AM side once in a while. Since then,Larry Young,a guy I never got to hear while he was on the planet,has taken my soul-the article writer is on the money on Young's ability to take the instrument to the next level. Larry Young's UNITY is one of my Desert Island discs and it never fails to open another window of enjoyment. Another guy pokin' around this world,coming from a blues background,is Ron Levy. Levy,both as a player and a businessman(he co-founded Bulleye Blues for Rounder and Cannonball Records)give him a much deserved star on the B3 Hall of Fame. I heard an interview with him about ten years ago and his stories of carrying around a B3 while touring with Albert King(Levy was barely 18 at the time of these escapades) could fill a book. Of his many recordings,the out-of-print B3 BLUES & GROOVES is highly recommended-you should be grinnin' from ear to ear on this one. Mac