The Hallowed Halls of The Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Still Inventing Masterpieces
PHOTO: Jean Francois Prins
When it came time for Belgian jazz guitarist-composer-arranger-producer-vocalist Jeanfrancois Prins, 57, to record his loving tribute to the label that pioneered bebop, he had to come to New Jersey. He just had to. So he did. The Van Gelder Studio in Englewood, since 1959, had birthed the bop, literally. Before that, Rudy Van Gelder [1924-2016] recorded the greats in Hackensack. He ultimately recorded every Blue Note session from 1953-1967. That’s why Blue Note Mode (Gam Records, France) reeks with tradition, and a real sense of history. Prins knows whereof he plays. He’s a professor at a Berlin University.
This sextet date features—besides four Prins originals—a stunning cover of Newark genius Wayne Shorter’s 1975 “Diana” featuring the sublime alto sax of Jaleel Shaw. One of the Prins originals—“Ornette-Lee”—is, as Prins says, “a homage to the two alto sax giants who, after Charlie Parker, changed our music several times: Ornette Coleman and my second mentor, Lee Konitz.” Prins also tackles the 1985 Wynton Marsalis classic, “J Mood,” Clifford Brown’s 1973 “Daahoud” and Monk’s 1944 ‘Round Midnight.” It all ends with the quiet contemplative bossa nova, “Too Late Now,” with Prins singing in a definite Chet Baker mode.
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