[Rackety Sax]

Ruud Brink's name has been mentioned a couple of times on the forum, though I never noticed before searching just now. I stumbled on this Youtube clip when I was googling pianist Irv Rochlin. Ruud's solo begins at 3:18 if you want to skip to it. Lovely playing.

Does anyone know anything about him? Is he still alive?

 

[daigle65]

I heard some Stan Getz influences in there....but you don't like Getz :twisted:

 

[warp x]

Ruud, or Rudy as we called him, was my first teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. I knew nothing about jazz at the time. The first tune he taught me was Old Folks, which remains one of my favorite ballads today. I remember him playing a Jack Teagarden record of the song and playing along with it. I thought he sounded wonderful. He was a great player on both clarinet and tenor (he sang very nicely too). The best way for me to learn from him was to ask him to play some stuff over a tune and record that. I would transcribe at home what he had played.
He was very modest about his own playing, but he loved to tell a story about him and Getz: Once Rudy was playing at the North Sea Jazz Festival, when Getz entered the room. After listening to a tune or two Getz commented to whoever was with him: "I guess we're not the only dixieland band in town." Rudy was very proud of that story.
He passed away in the early nineties after he had been my teacher for little over a year.

 

[Rackety Sax]

I heard some Stan Getz influences in there....but you don't like Getz :twisted:

I heard a lot of Stan Getz in there, but I like Ruud's sound better. Plus, being an open-minded sort, I've been listening to lots of Stan's stuff lately and developing an appreciation for many aspects of his playing, though that will never be my favorite tenor sound, to put it diplomatically.

 

[Rackety Sax]

Thanks for that info, Warp X!

 

[Sivari]

Ruud lived in Haarlem, Holland. He played a lot with singer Greetje Kauffeld. He is a great ballad player and the best to comp a singer. He played a later Selmer Mark VI and a Meyer 8 with Rico Royal 5. His favorite player was Zoot Sims. After his death a CD was brought out: To Say Goodbye, he plays Dear Old Stockholm on this CD with the Metropole Orchestra (an orchestra that is about to disappear) that is absolutely to beautiful and he is only playing the melody.

 

[mrpeebee]

Ruud lived in Haarlem, Holland. He played a lot with singer Greetje Kauffeld. He is a great ballad player and the best to comp a singer. He played a later Selmer Mark VI and a Meyer 8 with Rico Royal 5. His favorite player was Zoot Sims. After his death a CD was brought out: To Say Goodbye, he plays Dear Old Stockholm on this CD with the Metropole Orchestra (an orchestra that is about to disappear) that is absolutely to beautiful and he is only playing the melody.

Indeed Ruud's above mentioned CD with the Metropole Orchestra is great. He also made a fantastic CD called 'Just Friends' with the quartet of Pim Jacobs, playing standards. I've seen him a few times live, also at the North Sea Jazzfestival and as guest soloist with the great Dutch Big Band the Skymasters (with the great Ferdinand Povel and others). I don't like the sound of Stan Getz too much, but I did/do like the sound of Ruud Brink (and I know they are close, but not the same).

 

[mrpeebee]

After his death a CD was brought out: To Say Goodbye, he plays Dear Old Stockholm on this CD with the Metropole Orchestra (an orchestra that is about to disappear) that is absolutely to beautiful and he is only playing the melody.

This is the clip of that tune (Ruud start's at 1:35):

 

[mrpeebee]

And here another clip of Ruud playing 'Crazy Rhythm', recorded in 1981 in Haarlem (NL):

 

[jlima]

And here another clip of Ruud playing 'Crazy Rhythm', recorded in 1981 in Haarlem (NL):

Excellent tone, excellent phrasing ... who can ask for more?

 

[mrpeebee]

Indeed @jlima ! Here a nice example of Ruud's ballad playing in 'Skylark':

 

[jlima]

Very, very nice. I love the depth of his tone.

 

[saxxsymbol]

Love that tone and what he is saying.

 

[Sivari]

That's it!

This is the clip of that tune (Ruud start's at 1:35):

 

[odsum25]

I have the "Where or When" record that the clip in the OP is taken from. Really nice stuff including a great rendition of Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most.

 

[bakkiemetkoekie]

I was only 16 when i saw Ruud Brink regularly in cafe the sport in The Hague where Frans Elsen ( beautiful piano player and teacher who passed away an half year ago) had a weekly gig with Victor Kaihatu ( he was often
in Chicago maybe you heard of him) and Broer (the brother of famous Rob Pronk) on drums. What i remember was that he played right into my hart and i think that that was because he was like singer on the instrument.
Besides Ruud also Ferdinand Povel was there a lot and sometimes Sal Nistico and sometimes they played together.
What i also remember is that Ruud was joking with language all the time. He was a very funny man and a wonderful person and a fantastic musician.

 

[warp x]

I knew nothing about jazz at the time.

In fact most of the time I feel I still don't.

 

[FawltyTenor]

Didn't get chance to check all these clips out yet, but that's quite nice playing and sound on the tenor. Funny how everyone hears something different. It does recall a little of Mr. Getz's approach, but actually reminded me of Lee Konitz too at times and maybe a touch of Warne as well.

Lots of great bebop tradition in that sound...

Shawn

 

[Rackety Sax]

Such nice background on and tributes to Ruud Brink, thanks everyone.

 

[mrpeebee]

Ruud lived in Haarlem, Holland. He played a later Selmer Mark VI and a Meyer 8 with Rico Royal 5.

I visited this afternoon an exhibition in Haarlem and saw the tenor, mouthpiece and clarinet of Ruud Brink shown in a part of the exhibition about the history of Jazz in Haarlem (the Dutch city where Harlem in New York is named after!).

For the record: his tenor (a Selmer Mark VI, as Sivari already mentioned above) has serial number 165774, which dates it from 1969. The mouthpiece looked indeed like an HR Meyer, but I couldn't see any markings. Both looked like they haven't been played since long (probably since Ruud died in 1990).