Ruud Brink
Ruud Brink (Haarlem, 9 August 1937 – Haarlem, 29 June 1990) teaches himself to play the clarinet at the age of thirteen, and soon becomes a professional musician. Inspired by clarinetist Dim Kesber he starts out playing Dixieland, but when he discovers modern jazz, the saxophonists making up The Brothers ...
Full biography
Instruments
klarinet, tenorsaxofoon, vocalen
Biography Ruud Brink
Ruud Brink (Haarlem, 9 August 1937 – Haarlem, 29 June 1990) teaches himself to play the clarinet at the age of thirteen, and soon becomes a professional musician. Inspired by clarinetist Dim Kesber he starts out playing Dixieland, but when he discovers modern jazz, the saxophonists making up The Brothers in the Woody Herman band become his new role models. Stan Getz and Zoot Sims are his greatest idols. In 1953 Brink switches to tenor saxophone, and he also starts singing, in the manner of Chet Baker. From the age of nineteen he becomes a heavy drinker, an addiction that will continue to determine his life. Ruud Brink develops his own style within the Getz idiom, but has trouble finding work because of his drinking problem. An offer to join the Woody Herman band doesn’t materialize because of Brink’s lack of initiative. When his colleague Sandy Mosse dies Brink is appointed as a teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. As a Getz devotee he has little affinity with the heroes of the younger jazz generation. In spite of this he hangs on for a few more years and then retires. He manages to make a living as a sideman and by doing studio work, but a great career never gets off the ground. In 1990 he seems to get the first real recognition: He is awarded the North Sea Jazz Festival’s Bird Award, in the same year as his friend Stan Getz. The jury report is full of praise: ‘Ruud Brink is a very modest jazz giant, with so many individual traits that he may justly be called a real stylist. […] He has been a tremendous swinger for years, and a master at playing ballads.’ But even this is doomed to failure. Two weeks before the presentation he dies of liver cancer. The Bird Award is presented posthumously to Ruud Brink’s son by Stan Getz.
1950 - 1956
At the age of thirteen he starts playing in a Dixieland band. In 1953 he joins trumpeter Cees Smal’s The Diamonds (later: Diamond Five) on clarinet, and soon switches to tenor saxophone. A year later he is asked to join the combo of bassist Ted Powder (Theek Kruijt). He performs for American soldiers stationed in Germany, playing mainly dance music, and little jazz. This is when he takes up singing. In 1956 he transfers to the Rob Pronk Sextet. Occasionally he plays with the Zaans Rhythm Quintet and in the rock & roll combo of Bill White (Wim Overgaauw). As a member of the Rob Pronk Boptet he gets a favorable review by critic Pete Venudor in Rhythme magazine (‘Eighteen-year-old Rudi Brink excels with a broad tone, surprising ideas and a great amount of swing’).
Cees Smal Rob Pronk (1)
1957 - 1981
He plays with bassist Henny Frohwein’s Atlantic Quintet, with which he tours all over Germany. Between 1963 and 1980 he is a member of the Skymasters and Boy’s Big Band. In this period his career goes downhill, but in 1973 he does record his first LP as a leader; Teach Me Tonight earns him his first Edison (Dutch Grammy) in 1974. Then Ruud Brink disappears from view. He plays commercial gigs (he can be heard on pop singer Lee Towers’ first album), but loses ‘the battle against the bottle’ and goes into rehab in 1981.
Atlantic Quintet Boy's Big Band Skymasters
1982 - 1990
In 1982 he makes his comeback with the Ruud Brink/Irv Rochlin Quartet at the NOS Jazz Festival at the Amsterdam Meervaart. When tenor saxophonist Sandy Mosse dies in 1983 Brink is his replacement as a teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. The saxophpnist becomes an in demand studio musician once again. He forms a trio with singer Greetje Kauffeld and guitarist Peter Nieuwerf, with which he has a regular spot at the Herberg De Waag in Haarlem. The trio records the album The Song Is You. He also plays with his old friend, trumpeter Ray Kaart, and his older brother Han Brink (five years his senior) on drums. In the late eighties Ruud Brink often performs in jazzclubs and at festivals in Italy, he plays his first concert at the Amsterdam Bimhuis, and records the LP Double Face with Italian sidemen.
Greetje Kauffeld Peter Nieuwerf Ray Kaart
Discography Ruud Brink
Rudi Brink
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Teach Me Tonight
Ruud Brink / Ray Kaart Sextet
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Just You, Just Me, Just Jazz
Double Face: Ruud Brink In Verona
Act
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Ruud Brink
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Type and year
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LP, 1989
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Label
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LMJ Records, LMJ 3340
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Trio Pim Jacobs featuring Ruud Brink
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Just Friends
Rob Agerbeek / Ruud Brink Quartet
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Pardon My Bop
Act
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Ruud Brink
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Type and year
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CD, 2004
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Label
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Blue Jack Jazz Records, BJJR 016
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muzikant
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Harry Emmery
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muzikant
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Jo Krause
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Details
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Recorded live in Nick Vollebregt's Jazzcafé, Laren, 19 October 1987
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Ruud Brink / Irv Rochlin Quartet
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Where Or When
Act
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Ruud Brink
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Type and year
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LP, 1981
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Label
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Ariola, 203988
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gastmuzikant
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Ruud Brink
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Act
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Ruud Brink
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Type and year
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LP, 1985
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Label
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VARA Jazz, 5216
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muzikant
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Jacques Schols
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muzikant
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John Engels
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muzikant
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Ruud Brink
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Details
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Recorded live in Memphisto, Rotterdam, 25 October 1984; co-leader is Slide Hampton (trombone)
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Rita Reys
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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Act
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Ruud Brink
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Type and year
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LP, 1986
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Label
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Limetree, MLP 198244
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muzikant
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Fred Pronk
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muzikant
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Herman Schoonderwalt
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muzikant
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Peter Ypma
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muzikant
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Cees Smal
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muzikant
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Ruud Brink
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muzikant
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Ferdinand Povel
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Details
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Recorded live during the North Sea Jazz Festival, Congress Centre of The Hague, 16 July 1982; also featuring Dusko Goykovich (trumpet, flugelhorn); also released on CD (MCD 198244)
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Loek Dikker
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De Tussentijd (The Unknown Time) / Een Scherzo Furioso
In the discography you will find all recordings that have been released listed chronologically. We restrict ourselves to the title, the type of audio, year of publication or recording, label, list of guest musicians, plus any comments on the issue.
Audio/Video Ruud Brink
Video Ruud Brink
Ruud Brink met vrienden -...
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