Rita Reys
Encyclopedia
Rita Reys is a jazz
singer from the Netherlands
.
At the 1960 jazz festival of Juan Les Pins (France), she received the title 'Europe’s first lady of jazz'.
In 1943, Rita met her first husband, jazz drummer Wessel Ilcken, who introduced her to the jazz scene. Rita Reys & the Wessel Ilcken Sextet, featuring Jerry van Rooijen on trumpet and Toon van Vliet on tenor saxophone, regularly performed at the Sheherezade jazz club in Amsterdam and other Dutch stages. In the following years, Rita and Wessel performed in other parts of Europe. They performed with Ted Powder in Belgium and Luxemburg in 1945 and 1946 and they toured Spain and North Africa with the Piet van Dijk orchestra between 1947 and 1950.
In 1950 Rita and Wessel founded their own combo, the Rita Reys Sextet, with which they would celebrate many successes in the following years, both in The Netherlands and in other European countries. Their first concert was on April 1 that of that year, in the Amsterdam Palace club. But most of the time the sextet performed outside of Holland. In England they played on American army bases and in several dance clubs, where Rita met people like Ronnie Scott
, who later founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
in London
. A picture of them was published in music magazine Melody Maker
. A newspaper in Edinburgh (Scotland) wrote: "Rita Gives Swing Fans A Dutch Treat". In 1953 Rita and Wessel resided in Stockholm
, Sweden, for half a year, which was the jazz centre of Europe in those days. Rita made her first recordings there for the Swedish record label Artist. On 2 March 1953, the couple recorded their first tracks with the saxophone player Lars Gullin
. Six months later, they returned to the studio with the Ove Lind sextet. Rita and Wessel also attended some recording sessions Quincy Jones
was doing with Lars Gullin, Clifford Brown
, and Art Farmer
for the Artist label, and it was in Stockholm where Rita met people like Ella Fitzgerald
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Oscar Peterson
and Lester Young
for the first time.
After their time in Sweden, Rita and Wessel returned to the Netherlands, where Rita contributed to Jazz Behind The Dikes, an album featuring contemporary Dutch jazz talent. Her rendition of "My Funny Valentine
" was her big break in her homeland. Columbia
record producer George Avakian
, who had heard her sing at the Sheherezade club, invited her to visit the United States. She gladly accepted his invitation and in 1956 she went to New York on her own (Wessel was unable to get a visa owing to his smoking of cannabis
). She recorded half of an album in with Art Blakey
& The Jazz Messengers. The Cool Voice of Rita Reys features Horace Silver
, Hank Mobley
and Donald Byrd
. Avakian later remembered: "Rita could really swing. It was the swinging quality of her phrasing that persuaded me, and which also impressed the musicians. They recognized right away that she could stay right with them. That is exactly what happened on that record, and everybody can still hear it today". Some of the musicians did a number of shows with her at the renowned Village Vanguard
in New York’s Greenwich Village
. In New York Rita also got to know Tony Bennett
, a friend of George Avakian. They regularly met in the following decades, when Bennett was on tour in Europe.
Rita returned to America a year later, where again she performed at the Village Vanguard
, this time with the Chico Hamilton
group. She also played with a few other big names, including Oscar Pettiford
, Zoot Sims
and Clark Terry
. In Teddy Powell's Lounge Rita performed with jazz organist Jimmy Smith
for a week. She went to Toronto to work in Town Tavern. After that, back in New York, she performed with Herbie Mann
and Oscar Pettiford
. Recordings for the Dawn label were made with Milt Hinton
op bass, Osie Johnson
op drums and Mat Matthews on accordion.
Six days upon her return to the Netherlands, Rita suffered a personal loss: her husband Wessel, who had just become Dutch Water-skiing Champion, died of a brain hemorrhage. Nevertheless, Rita quickly went back to work in order to support herself and her daughter. She went to Germany, where she worked with Kurt Edelhagen
and Bengt Hallberg
, and she also performed with Lester Young
in France.
, whom she already knew from his playing with Wessel. After a show in the city of Groningen, during the drive back home in a minivan, he suddenly proposed to her, while guitarist Wim Overgaauw and Pim’s brother, bassist Ruud Jacobs, were sleeping in the back. Their "marriage in jazz" even made news headlines. On their wedding day, the mayor of Hilversum (one of the Dutch music ’headquarters’) presented the happy couple with the first copy of their album Marriage in Modern Jazz (the album that would win Rita her first Edison award).
That same year, Rita and the Pim Jacobs Trio won the Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival in France, where Rita was named Europe’s first lady of jazz, a title she would carry with grace for the rest of her career. The 1960s ended with one of the greatest high points in Rita’s career: in 1969 she was the first Dutch jazz singer to perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, where she played with, among others, Zoot Sims
and Milt Hinton
, accompanied by Pim on piano. She became a Citizen of Honor of New Orleans in 1980.
orchestra. Her versions of songs by Burt Bacharach
and Michel Legrand
- including renditions of "Make It Easy On Yourself" and Once Upon A Summertime - won her both an Edison award and a gold record. Later, she also recorded albums with the repertoire of George Gershwin and Antonio Carlos Jobim with the same orchestra.
In the 1980s, Rita returned to classical American Songbook jazz, recording albums such as Memories Of You with the Lex Jasper orchestra. In 1985, Rita was diagnosed with breast cancer, but made a quick and full recovery. After severe medical treatment and having recuperated for weeks, she gave a sold-out performance at a the Concertgebouw
in Amsterdam
, which signaled her comeback on stage. In 1986, Rita recorded the Christmas album Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas with the Pim Jacobs Trio and the Metropole Orchestra conducted by Rogier van Otterloo. It would be her last album with Rogier, as he died two years later.
That same year, Rita had been nominated for a Bird Award, which she finally received at the 1991 North Sea Jazz Festival
, in addition to an American Songbook Award. She received a certificate of appreciation from the American Ambassador in The Hague for her achievements. In 1992 she released two double albums, Rita Reys, The American Songbook, Volumes 1 & 2. These would be the last albums she recorded with Pim, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1995. As a result, the tour celebrating Rita’s 70th birthday was cancelled and a long path of medical treatment ensued. Despite this, Pim died on 3 July 1996 at the age of 61. Ten days after his death, Rita collected the Bird Award on his behalf, promising to make a comeback "as Pim would want me to".
Reys performed again at the North Sea Jazz Festival
, with her new accompanist Lex Jasper, only one year after Pim’s death. She started to perform regularly again and even recorded a new album Loss of Love, Rita Reys sings Henry Mancini. In order to celebrate her 75th birthday, she recorded The Lady Strikes Again with the Lex Jasper Trio, the Cor Bakker Trio and the Rosenberg Trio. The first copy of the album was presented to her by the Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, who seemed to be a big fan of hers for a long time. In 2003, Rita celebrated her 60th anniversary on stage with her 17th North Sea Jazz performance and a successful Dutch tour. Some media began to speculate about a farewell, but Rita’s fierce reaction was: "Farewell? I’m not dead yet!"
Reys publishing her life story Rita Reys, Lady Jazz, co-written by journalist Bert Vuijsje in 2004. And in August, she recorded a new album. Together with Peter Beets
(piano), her brother-in-law Ruud Jacobs (bass) and recent Bird Award winner Martijn van Iterson (guitar), she recorded 14 tracks she had never sung before. This CD Beautiful Love pays homage to Pim Jacobs, the man she spent 36 years of her life with and who was so beloved by her, Ruud and many others. Two years later, she was the first Dutch jazz musician to be honoured with the Edison Award (after Tony Bennett
, Herbie Hancock
, and Toots Thielemans
.
Recently Rita Reys performed at a sold out Amsterdam Concertgebouw
, together with Trijntje Oosterhuis
and accompanied by the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
.
EDISON AWARD
JAZZWERELD POLL
GOLDEN RECORDS
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
At the 1960 jazz festival of Juan Les Pins (France), she received the title 'Europe’s first lady of jazz'.
Early career
Maria Everdina Reys was born into an artistic family. Her father was a violin player and conductor, her mother a dancer. At home, there was virtually no jazz music. Her parents preferred light classical music, so Rita grew up with the sounds of Tchaikovsky and Chopin. As a teenager, Rita nonetheless entered and won many local talent competitions.In 1943, Rita met her first husband, jazz drummer Wessel Ilcken, who introduced her to the jazz scene. Rita Reys & the Wessel Ilcken Sextet, featuring Jerry van Rooijen on trumpet and Toon van Vliet on tenor saxophone, regularly performed at the Sheherezade jazz club in Amsterdam and other Dutch stages. In the following years, Rita and Wessel performed in other parts of Europe. They performed with Ted Powder in Belgium and Luxemburg in 1945 and 1946 and they toured Spain and North Africa with the Piet van Dijk orchestra between 1947 and 1950.
In 1950 Rita and Wessel founded their own combo, the Rita Reys Sextet, with which they would celebrate many successes in the following years, both in The Netherlands and in other European countries. Their first concert was on April 1 that of that year, in the Amsterdam Palace club. But most of the time the sextet performed outside of Holland. In England they played on American army bases and in several dance clubs, where Rita met people like Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
, who later founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club which has operated in London since 1959.The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. A picture of them was published in music magazine Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
. A newspaper in Edinburgh (Scotland) wrote: "Rita Gives Swing Fans A Dutch Treat". In 1953 Rita and Wessel resided in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden, for half a year, which was the jazz centre of Europe in those days. Rita made her first recordings there for the Swedish record label Artist. On 2 March 1953, the couple recorded their first tracks with the saxophone player Lars Gullin
Lars Gullin
Lars Gunnar Victor Gullin was a Swedish jazz baritone saxophone player, occasional pianist and composer closest in playing style to United States Cool school players, with a full tone, but also a lightness uncommon with baritone saxophonists and an influence from Swedish folk music, which helps...
. Six months later, they returned to the studio with the Ove Lind sextet. Rita and Wessel also attended some recording sessions Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
was doing with Lars Gullin, Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...
, and Art Farmer
Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
for the Artist label, and it was in Stockholm where Rita met people like Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
and Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
for the first time.
After their time in Sweden, Rita and Wessel returned to the Netherlands, where Rita contributed to Jazz Behind The Dikes, an album featuring contemporary Dutch jazz talent. Her rendition of "My Funny Valentine
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
" was her big break in her homeland. Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
record producer George Avakian
George Avakian
George Avakian is an American record producer and executive known particularly for his work with Columbia Records, and his production of albums by Miles Davis and other notable jazz musicians....
, who had heard her sing at the Sheherezade club, invited her to visit the United States. She gladly accepted his invitation and in 1956 she went to New York on her own (Wessel was unable to get a visa owing to his smoking of cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
). She recorded half of an album in with Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
& The Jazz Messengers. The Cool Voice of Rita Reys features Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
, Hank Mobley
Hank Mobley
Henry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
and Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
. Avakian later remembered: "Rita could really swing. It was the swinging quality of her phrasing that persuaded me, and which also impressed the musicians. They recognized right away that she could stay right with them. That is exactly what happened on that record, and everybody can still hear it today". Some of the musicians did a number of shows with her at the renowned Village Vanguard
Village Vanguard
The Village Vanguard is a jazz club located at in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. At first, it also featured other forms of music such as folk music and beat poetry, but it switched to an all-jazz format in 1957.-History:Over 100 jazz...
in New York’s Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. In New York Rita also got to know Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, a friend of George Avakian. They regularly met in the following decades, when Bennett was on tour in Europe.
Rita returned to America a year later, where again she performed at the Village Vanguard
Village Vanguard
The Village Vanguard is a jazz club located at in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. At first, it also featured other forms of music such as folk music and beat poetry, but it switched to an all-jazz format in 1957.-History:Over 100 jazz...
, this time with the Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton , is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.-Early life through 1960s:Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California. He had a fast-track musical education in a band with Charles Mingus, Illinois Jacquet, Ernie Royal, Dexter Gordon, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso...
group. She also played with a few other big names, including Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.-Biography:...
, Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
and Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
. In Teddy Powell's Lounge Rita performed with jazz organist Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
for a week. She went to Toronto to work in Town Tavern. After that, back in New York, she performed with Herbie Mann
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
and Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.-Biography:...
. Recordings for the Dawn label were made with Milt Hinton
Milt Hinton
Milton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
op bass, Osie Johnson
Osie Johnson
James "Osie" Johnson was a jazz drummer.He first worked with Sabby Lewis and then, after service in the United States Navy freelanced for a time in Chicago...
op drums and Mat Matthews on accordion.
Six days upon her return to the Netherlands, Rita suffered a personal loss: her husband Wessel, who had just become Dutch Water-skiing Champion, died of a brain hemorrhage. Nevertheless, Rita quickly went back to work in order to support herself and her daughter. She went to Germany, where she worked with Kurt Edelhagen
Kurt Edelhagen
Kurt Edelhagen, born 5 June 1920 in Herne, died 8 February 1982 in Köln, was a major European big band leader throughout the 1950s.After having studied clarinet and piano in Essen, he set up his multicultural big band, which over the years would include many big names in jazz in Europe, including...
and Bengt Hallberg
Bengt Hallberg
Bengt Hallberg is one of Sweden's most influential jazz musicians. He studied classical piano from a very early age, and at 13 years old he wrote his first jazz arrangement. In 1949 he recorded with the Swedish alto saxophonist Arne Domnérus for the first time, an association which has continued...
, and she also performed with Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
in France.
Europe's First Lady Of Jazz
In the Netherlands, Rita started to perform more regularly with the trio of pianist Pim JacobsPim Jacobs
Willem Bernard Jacobs was a Dutch jazz pianist and television presenter. He worked with Louis van Dijk and Rogier van Otterloo. He was married with Jazz-singer Rita Reys from 1960.Jacobs became famous with the Pim Jacobs Trio, which included Wim Overgaauw, Ruud Jacobs and Peter Ypma...
, whom she already knew from his playing with Wessel. After a show in the city of Groningen, during the drive back home in a minivan, he suddenly proposed to her, while guitarist Wim Overgaauw and Pim’s brother, bassist Ruud Jacobs, were sleeping in the back. Their "marriage in jazz" even made news headlines. On their wedding day, the mayor of Hilversum (one of the Dutch music ’headquarters’) presented the happy couple with the first copy of their album Marriage in Modern Jazz (the album that would win Rita her first Edison award).
That same year, Rita and the Pim Jacobs Trio won the Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival in France, where Rita was named Europe’s first lady of jazz, a title she would carry with grace for the rest of her career. The 1960s ended with one of the greatest high points in Rita’s career: in 1969 she was the first Dutch jazz singer to perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, where she played with, among others, Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
and Milt Hinton
Milt Hinton
Milton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
, accompanied by Pim on piano. She became a Citizen of Honor of New Orleans in 1980.
Later career
In the following years, Rita recorded records with the Rogier van OtterlooRogier van Otterloo
Willem Rogier van Otterloo was a Dutch composer and conductor.-Biography:Van Otterloo was the eldest son of the conductor Willem van Otterloo. He composed several soundtracks for Dutch films and in 1980 became conductor of the Metropole Orkest for jazz music in Amsterdam...
orchestra. Her versions of songs by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
- including renditions of "Make It Easy On Yourself" and Once Upon A Summertime - won her both an Edison award and a gold record. Later, she also recorded albums with the repertoire of George Gershwin and Antonio Carlos Jobim with the same orchestra.
In the 1980s, Rita returned to classical American Songbook jazz, recording albums such as Memories Of You with the Lex Jasper orchestra. In 1985, Rita was diagnosed with breast cancer, but made a quick and full recovery. After severe medical treatment and having recuperated for weeks, she gave a sold-out performance at a the Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, which signaled her comeback on stage. In 1986, Rita recorded the Christmas album Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas with the Pim Jacobs Trio and the Metropole Orchestra conducted by Rogier van Otterloo. It would be her last album with Rogier, as he died two years later.
That same year, Rita had been nominated for a Bird Award, which she finally received at the 1991 North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
, in addition to an American Songbook Award. She received a certificate of appreciation from the American Ambassador in The Hague for her achievements. In 1992 she released two double albums, Rita Reys, The American Songbook, Volumes 1 & 2. These would be the last albums she recorded with Pim, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1995. As a result, the tour celebrating Rita’s 70th birthday was cancelled and a long path of medical treatment ensued. Despite this, Pim died on 3 July 1996 at the age of 61. Ten days after his death, Rita collected the Bird Award on his behalf, promising to make a comeback "as Pim would want me to".
Reys performed again at the North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
, with her new accompanist Lex Jasper, only one year after Pim’s death. She started to perform regularly again and even recorded a new album Loss of Love, Rita Reys sings Henry Mancini. In order to celebrate her 75th birthday, she recorded The Lady Strikes Again with the Lex Jasper Trio, the Cor Bakker Trio and the Rosenberg Trio. The first copy of the album was presented to her by the Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, who seemed to be a big fan of hers for a long time. In 2003, Rita celebrated her 60th anniversary on stage with her 17th North Sea Jazz performance and a successful Dutch tour. Some media began to speculate about a farewell, but Rita’s fierce reaction was: "Farewell? I’m not dead yet!"
Reys publishing her life story Rita Reys, Lady Jazz, co-written by journalist Bert Vuijsje in 2004. And in August, she recorded a new album. Together with Peter Beets
Peter Beets
Peter Beets is a Dutch jazz pianist. He has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter and John Clayton...
(piano), her brother-in-law Ruud Jacobs (bass) and recent Bird Award winner Martijn van Iterson (guitar), she recorded 14 tracks she had never sung before. This CD Beautiful Love pays homage to Pim Jacobs, the man she spent 36 years of her life with and who was so beloved by her, Ruud and many others. Two years later, she was the first Dutch jazz musician to be honoured with the Edison Award (after Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, and Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
.
Recently Rita Reys performed at a sold out Amsterdam Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...
, together with Trijntje Oosterhuis
Trijntje Oosterhuis
Judith Katrijntje "Trijntje" Oosterhuis is a Dutch pop and jazz singer.-Early life:Judith Katrijntje Oosterhuis was born on 5 February 1973, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands...
and accompanied by the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...
.
Albums
- 1957: The Cool Voice Of Rita Reys
- 1957: The Cool Voice Of Rita Reys II / Her Name Is Rita
- 1958: Two 'Jazzy' People
- 1960: Marriage In Modern Jazz
- 1961: Jazz Pictures At An Exhibition (live)
- 1963: Jazz Sir, That's Our Baby
- 1963: At The Golden Circle Club, Stockholm (live)
- 1963: Live At Jazzfest, Warsaw, Poland (live)
- 1964: Relax With Rita And Pim
- 1965: Congratulations In Jazz
- 1965: Rita Reys Meets Oliver Nelson
- 1967: Rita A Go-Go, Live At The Go-Go Club, Loosdrecht (live)
- 1969: Rita Reys Today – Recorded In London
- 1969: The Rita Reys Collection (compilation album)
- 1971: Rita Reys Sings Burt Bacharach
- 1973: Our Favorite Songs
- 1972: Rita Reys Sings Michel Legrand
- 1975: Rita Reys Sings George Gershwin
- 1979: That Old Feeling
- 1981: Rita Reys Sings Antonio Carlos Jobim
- 1981: Rita's Requests (compilation album)
- 1981: Rita Reys Collage (compilation album)
- 1981: Rita Reys / Pim Jacobs Collage (compilation album)
- 1983: Memories Of You
- 1986: Rita Reys & Trio Pim Jacobs - Special Guest Louis Van Dijk - Live At The Concertgebouw (live)
- 1986: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
- 1987: Two For Tea
- 1990: Swing And Sweet
- 1992: Europe's First Lady Of Jazz Rita Reys - The Great American Songbook - Volume 1
- 1992: Europe's First Lady Of Jazz Rita Reys - The Great American Songbook - Volume 2
- 1992: Tenderly
- 1995: The Ballad Album (compilation album)
- 1995: First Lady Of Jazz (compilation album)
- 1998: Loss Of Love - Rita Reys Sings Henry Mancini
- 1999: Once Upon A Summertime
- 1999: The Lady Strikes Again
- 1999: Introducing Dutch Jazz Masters (compilation album)
- 1999: Dutch Jazz Masters Volume 3 - Rita Reys (compilation album)
- 1999: Dutch Jazz Masters Volume 6 - Leading Ladies & Gents (compilation album)
- 2000: Summertime (compilation album)
- 2004: Beautiful Love - A Tribute To Pim Jacobs
- 2004: The Rita Reys Collection - Songs Of A Lifetime (compilation album)
- 2006: Het Beste Van ... Rita Reys (compilation album)
- 2006: Songbooks (Bacharach, Legrand & Gershwin) (compilation album)
Awards and honours
- 1954 - Rhythme Poll: Best Dutch jazz singer
- 1956 - Rhythme Poll: Best Dutch jazz singer
- 1957 - Rhythme Poll: Best Dutch jazz singer
- 1958 - Rhythme Poll: Best Dutch jazz singer
- 1959 - Rhythme Poll: Best Dutch jazz singer
- 1960 - Rhythme Poll: Best Dutch jazz singer
- 1958 - Playboy Jazz Poll (USA: nomination for best female singer)
- 1960 - Rita Reys & Trio Pim Jacobs winn the festival award at the jazz festival of Antibes/Juan-les-Pins
EDISON AWARD
- 1961 - for Marriage in Modern Jazz (Philips)
- 1969 - for Rita Reys Today (Philips)
- 1971 - for Rita Reys Sings Burt Burt Bacharach (CBS)
- 1972 - for Rita Reys Sings Michel Legrand (CBS)
- 1988 - for Two For Tea (ft. Louis van DijkLouis van DijkLouis van Dijk is a Dutch pianist. He studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium....
) (Polydor) - 2006 - Edison Oeuvre Award
- 1963 - Award for best vocalist at the Prague Jazz Festival
JAZZWERELD POLL
- 1966 - Best Dutch vocalist
- 1967 - Best Dutch vocalist
GOLDEN RECORDS
- 1971 - for Rita Reys Sings Burt Bacharach (CBS)
- 1972 - for Rita Reys Sings Michel Legrand (CBS)
- 1992 - for The American Songbook, Volume I (Masters Music)
- 1992 - for The American Songbook, Volume II (Masters Music)
- 1980 - Citizen of honour of New Orleans
- 1981 - Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau
- 1992 - Certificate of Appreciation for her promotion of the American Song Book (presented to her by the United States ambassador in the Netherlands)
- 1991 - Bird Award (category Jazz music in The Netherlands)
External links
- The Official Rita Reys Website
- Rita Reys at All About Jazz
- Jazz Miscellaneous and More... - page on Rita Reys