Rob Franken

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Rob Franken (born August 16, 1941 in Rotterdam ; † December 7, 1983 in 't Harde near Elburg ) was a Dutch jazz pianist , keyboardist and organist .

Life

Franken began his professional career in the backing band of the vocal duo Esther & Abi Ofarim . He played in a trio with the drummer Klaus Weiss and founded the group "Rob Franken Organization" in 1967 with the participation of the drummer Louis Debij , the guitarist Ingo Kramer and the bassist Piet Hein Veening . Franken was one of the first European pianists to play the Hammond organ . Since the late sixties he has also been enthusiastic about the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano , which has become his trademark. Rob Franken became the pianist of harmonica player Toots Thielemans , who was influenced by him. Among other things, both worked on the soundtrack of the feature film Turkish fruits in 1973 .

Franken played as a session musician on over 400 records. He worked all over Europe and especially a lot in Germany. He was a permanent keyboardist in Peter Herbolzheimer's big band Rhythm Combination and Brass and a regular guest on the radio show Sesjun in the public service program TROS in the Netherlands. He also performed with his own trio with changing bassists and drummers. In 1976 he founded the experimental formation The Keyboard Circle with the pianist Jan Huydts and the percussionist Henk Zomer . The two pianists played pieces in a fusion style, juxtaposing the sounds of Fender Rhodes pianos, clavinets and synthesizers , accompanied by Henk Zomer.

On December 4, 1983, Franken made his last recordings as a soloist for Herbolzheimer's LP Big Band Bebop . He died of internal bleeding three days later at the age of only 42. Big band Bebop is dedicated to Franconia.

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personal data
SURNAME Franken, Rob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch jazz pianist, keyboardist and organist
DATE OF BIRTH August 16, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Rotterdam
DATE OF DEATH 7th December 1983
Place of death 't Harde near Elburg