Rick van der Linden

In thisDutch name,thesurnameisvan der Linden.

Rick van der Linden
Van der Linden (right) (1974)
Background information
Born	(1946-08-05)5 August 1946 Badhoevedorp,Netherlands
Died	22 January 2006(2006-01-22)(aged 59) Groningen,Netherlands
Genres	Rock,progressive rock,symphonic rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Severalkeyboards
Years active	1967–2006
Labels	Philips,Atco
Formerly of	Ekseption,Trace
Website	Official website

Rick van der Linden(5 August 1946,Badhoevedorp,North Holland- 22 January 2006,Groningen) was a Dutchcomposerandkeyboardist.Van der Linden first gained fame as a member ofEkseption,but he played in several other bands including most notablyTrace,as well as solo. Van der Linden was best known for his reworkings of classical music in a pop music domain, often with jazz improvisations.

History

Rick van der Linden was born in the village of Badhoevedorp, not far fromAmsterdam,the second of five van der Linden children. His family moved when Rick was only 5 weeks old toRotterdam,where they lived until 1957. He started piano lessons at age 7, but gave them up two years later because he wasn't enjoying them.When he was 11, his family moved again, toHaarlemwhere van der Linden attended the Triniteitslyceum.At 13, his father convinced Rick to try the piano again, so he was enrolled at the Haarlem School of Music. Two years later he became a private pupil of the Piet Vincent. At 17, he entered theHaarlem Conservatorywhere Aad Broersen andAlbert de Klerktutored him in the organ. Van der Linden finished his studies two years later and in 1965 passed exams at theRoyal ConservatoryinThe Hague,winning honours in piano, organ, harmony and counterpoint. Van der Linden thought he might become a teacher at the Haarlem Conservatory.

Meanwhile, in the early 1960s, van der Linden fell in love with rock and roll, along with jazz and ballet music. While still a student he took a job in a nightclub bar, playing foxtrots, boogie-woogie, ragtime, films soundtracks, blues, tango, pop, Strauss waltzes and cabaret tunes while studying the classical masters during the day. He also found time to write music for several local ballet ensembles. In 1964, he formed his first band, a piano trio, and later a brass jazz septet which played for fun and rehearsal only (never playing any gigs). After graduation, van der Linden joined the Occasional Swing Combo, a professional jazz septet which played extensively. Simultaneously, he was also touring the Netherlands playing with symphony orchestras, and appearing as soloist in concerti by Bach, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

In 1966, the Occasional Swing Combo shared a stage with Rein van den Broek's jazz combo The InCrowd, and van den Broek was impressed with the young keyboardist. He offered van der Linden the chance to join The InCrowd, which van der Linden accepted.

Soon after, they discovered there was another Dutch band with the name "The In Crowd", so they changed their name to Ekseption. In 1968, van der Linden attended a Rotterdam concert byThe Nice,Keith Emerson's neo-classical rock trio, where they played a version of Bach'sBrandenburg Concertos.Van der Linden was inspired to combine his love of classical music with modern presentation (see main article Ekseption).

Ekseption toured heavily, mainly throughEurope,from 1968 to 1974, and won critical acclaim. Van der Linden left Ekseption in 1974 to formTrace,a smaller rock trio along the lines ofEmerson, Lake & Palmer.In 1978, he returned to Ekseption for the first in a series of reunions, each less successful than the previous. He also played withMistral(1977–1980, withRobbie van Leeuwen(ex-Shocking Blue)) andCum Laude(1980–1989).He released several solo albums, most reworkings of classical music in the Ekseption style. He performed session work with artists such asJan Akkerman,Joachim Kuhn,Deep Purple,Phil Collins,Vangelis,Jack LancasterandBrand X.From 2002 to 2005 Ekseption was composed of primarily Canadian members. Van der Linden is quoted as saying that this was his favourite period of his music career as these band members worked well with each other and created a family-like atmosphere. For the first time, van der Linden was able to tourCanadaas well as previous locations in Europe.

Marriages

His first wife wasPenney de Jager,a ballerina/burlesque dancer whom he married 5 August 1971. A son (Rick Jr.) was born in 1972, but the couple eventually divorced in 1983. On 17 May 1989 van der Linden married Inez Zwart who was also a band manager and singer in Ekseption as well as in many of Rick's solo works. After van der Linden's death, Zwart continues to bring his music to the public.

Death

Van der Linden had long suffered fromdiabeteswith following eyesight impairment, and in 2005 had a successful eye surgery. On 19 November 2005 he suffered from a stroke which resulted in partial paralysis. He died on 22 January 2006 inGroningen,and was cremated inAssen.Almost 500 people attended his memorial service inHoogeveen.

Discography

With Ekseption

• Ekseption(1969)
• Beggar Julia's time trip(1970)
• Ekseption 3(1970)
• Ekseption 00.04(1971)
• Ekseption 5(1972)
• Trinity(1973)
• Ekseption '78(1978)
• Dance Macabre(1981)
• Ekseption '89(1989)

Compilations, live albums, reunion albums

• Ekseptional Classics - the Best of Ekseption(1973)
• Ekseption Witte Album
• Motive
• Greatest Hits - Classics(1975)
• Best of Ekseption
• Classic in Pop
• Pop Lions
• Reflection(1976)
• Ekseption Live at Idssteiner Schloss(1978)
• Past and Present(1983)
• Ekseption Plays Bach(1989)
• Greatest Hits(1990)
• With Love From Ekseption(1993)
• The 5th: Greatest Hits(1998)
• The Reunion(1994, live)
• Selected Ekseption(1999)
• With a smile(2000)
• Air(2001)
• The Best from Classics(2001)
• The Best of Ekseption(2002)
• The Universal Master Collection(2003)
• Live in Germany(2003)
• 3 Originals(2004)
• Rick van der Linden: An Ekseptional Trace(2007)
• The Last Live Concert Tapes(2009)
• Hollands Glorie(2009)
• The Story of Ekseption(DVD,PALformat, 2010)

With Trace

• Trace(May 1974)
• Birds(1975)
• The White Ladies(1976)

With Cum Laude

• Cum Laude 1(1980)
• Cum Laude 2(1987)

Solo

• Plays Albinoni, Bach, Handel(1976)
• GX1(played entirely on theYamaha GX-1synthesizer, 1977)
• Night of Doom(soundtrack, 1978)
• Wild Connections(withJack Lancaster,1979)
• Variations(with Cathalin Tercolea, 1979)
• Solo(1981)
• Norfolk Line(with Cathalin Tercolea, 1982)
• Old Friends, New Friends(1985)
• Rainbow Dubbel(1997)

External links

• Official website