From left, drummer McClenty Hunter Jr., guitarist Dave Stryker and organist Jared Gold at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.
It was a Jersey jazz dream come true. Dave Stryker, one of the preeminent guitarists in jazz, recorded his new album in the legendary Englewood Cliffs studio that has produced some of the greatest records in jazz history.
“It was a longtime dream of mine,” says Stryker — who will perform at Shanghai Jazz in Madison, Jan. 23 — of recording Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session (Strikezone Records) at Van Gelder Studio. “I grew up on all the records made there.”
The studio building, which was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and is on the National Register of Historic Places, was custom-built in its current location by the late sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder (1924-2016) in 1959. His determination that the studio have the best possible warm, intimate sound for jazz musicians helped create what is often called “The Blue Note Sound.” His sometimes-secretive recording techniques led to the studio being the birthplace of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme as well as notable albums by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Bobby Hutcherson and others.
The cover of “Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session.”
“I’d probably driven by it many times on Route 9 there, but I never got the opportunity (to record there) when Rudy was alive,” says Stryker, who lives in West Orange. “It’s incredible to think of all the music that came out of this place and the giants that have walked through that door. It could have been overwhelming, but we just tried to use that inspiration to do our thing.”
Stryker has been a prolific recording artist since the late ’80s. His releases include four albums in his “Eight Track” series, featuring jazz versions of pop tunes from when 8-track tapes were popular (roughly the mid-60s to the early ’80s).
Coming off last year’s Stryker With Strings Goes to the Movies, an album of film music done with a 30-piece orchestra, he wanted to return to a smaller group format and decided to go to Van Gelder Studio with his trio and record some of the original and cover songs they had been playing on their recent live dates.
The album begins with the original “Van Gelder’s Place” (listen below), a shuffle blues featuring Jared Gold on the studio’s storied Hammond organ. Elsewhere, Stryker tips his hat to both The Beatles and the late Sérgio Mendes with “The Fool on the Hill.” The album also includes a bittersweet instrumental version of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “The Folks Who Live on the Hill,” famously recorded by Peggy Lee and others.
Stryker, 68, has been playing guitar professionally since he was a 12-year-old in Omaha, Nebraska, devoting himself to covers of the era’s Top 40 hits and trying to follow in the footsteps of his first musical heroes, The Beatles.
As he grew up, he began listening to bands playing more long-form, improvisational songs, such as Santana and The Allman Brothers Band. Inspired by the playing of guitarists such as Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, he shifted to pursuing jazz and moved to Los Angeles. There he met organist Jack McDuff, who eventually invited him to play regularly in New York.
CHRIS DRUKKER
DAVE STRYKER
“We played from 10 to 4 in the morning up there in Harlem,” Stryker says. “You got a lot of experience, playing-wise and life-wise, and it was great.”
He then played with Stanley Turrentine for 10 years — and, in fact, just played on a forthcoming tribute album to the late saxophonist.
“To be asked to be in Stanley’s group was incredible because he’s one of the greats of the saxophone,” Styker says. “He was one of those kind of players that you can tell in two notes who it is, which is, I think, would be the goal of any musician — to have your own sound. To have to follow Stanley’s solos night after night of just being in that pocket, and always just hitting a home run every time … it was very inspiring. You have to raise your level up to be in that company. So yeah, I’m very grateful for that opportunity.”
Stryker has recorded more than 35 albums as a leader and appeared on dozens more as a collaborator. He has been named a top guitarist in Downbeat magazine’s critics’ and readers’ polls, 15 times. He also teaches young jazz musicians at three New Jersey universities: William Paterson, Rutgers and Montclair State.
“I want them to play their own way, but to listen to the greats,” he says. “I got the opportunity to play with some of the greats, so I enjoy passing it on. I’m very grateful to be able to play music with so many great musicians and try to keep it positive through music in the times that we are going through.
“Yeah, I’m grateful to have that outlet.”
The Dave Stryker Trio, featuring organist Jared Gold and drummer Steve Johns, will perform at Shanghai Jazz in Madison, Jan. 23 at 7 and 9 p.m. Visit shanghaijazz.com.
For more about Stryker, visit davestryker.com.
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