In honor of April as National Jazz Month, Optometric Management remembers jazz recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, OD, who recorded classic albums by John Coltrane (“A Love Supreme”), Miles Davis (“Walkin’), Sonny Rollins (“Saxophone Colossus”) and many more.1 While Dr. Van Gelder graduated with a degree in optometry in 1946 from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (now Salus University) in Elkins Park, Pa., and ran his own Teaneck, N.J., practice until 1959,1 his first passion was audio recording. While still practicing optometry, he would record jazz musicians in his free time at his parent’s Hackensack, N.J., home.2 Later, with his recording services in demand, he became a full-time recording engineer and opened his own studio.2 Dr. Van Gelder passed away in 2016, at the age of 91. More information on Dr. Van Gelder’s career and influence on jazz can be found at the references below.
References
1. Remembering Rudy Van Gelder, OD’46. bit.ly/SalusVanGelderObit. Published Aug. 31, 2016. Accessed March 11, 2024.
2. RVG Legacy – Preserving the Legacy of Rudy Van Gelder. https://rvglegacy.org/.
Accessed March 11, 2024.
