Thijs van Leer
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Thijs Van Leer (born 31 March 1948, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch musician and singer, best known for being in the progressive rock band, Focus.
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[edit] Life
Van Leer has also made many solo albums which were also classical music and jazz based.
His main instruments are flute and different types of organs. He also sings, yodels and whistles.
Van Leer received his first flute at the age of eleven from his father, a classical flautist. He studied History of Art at Amsterdam University; he then began studying flute and composition at Amsterdam Conservatorium. He received a degree for flute from Geneva Conservatoire and also studied piano, orchestration (with Rogier van Otterloo), and organ (with Anthon van der Horst).
While still at school, van Leer led a jazz group on piano. Later he played flute and sang for the Ramses Shaffy cabaret group. In 1969 he joined Martin Dresden (bass) and Hans Cleuver (drums) to form a trio that covered songs by Traffic and backed other Dutch musicians, as well as playing their own material. Later in the year Jan Akkerman joined, completing the line-up of Focus. They released several albums in the early 1970s.
Van Leer stayed with Focus through several line-up changes, and by 1977 he was the only remaining original member. The group disbanded in 1978. In 1985, van Leer briefly reunited with Jan Akkerman to make Focus 1985. In 2003, van Leer joined what had been a Focus tribute band to release the album Focus 8.
In addition to his work with Focus, van Leer has released a large number of solo albums since 1972.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Focus
- In and Out of Focus (January 1971)
- Moving Waves (October 1971)
- Focus III (November 1972)
- Focus at the Rainbow (October 1973)
- Hamburger Concerto (May 1974)
- Mother Focus (October 1975)
- Ship of Memories (September 1977)
- Focus con Proby (January 1978)
- Focus (August 1985)
- Focus 8 (January 2003)
- Live at the BBC (May 2004)
- Focus 9 / New Skin (September 2006)
[edit] Solo artist
- 1972 Introspection (CD) / Introspection (LP)
- 1975 O My Love
- 1976 Introspection 2 (CD) / Introspection 2 (LP)
- 1977 Nice to Have Met You
- 1978 Introspection 3 (CD) / Introspection 3 (LP)
- 1980 Introspection 4 (CD) / Introspection 4 (LP)
- 1981 Reflections
- 1986 Renaissance
- 1992 Introspection 92 ( Posthumous tribute to Rogier van Otterloo)
- 1994 Musical Melody
- 1996 Bolero
- 1996 Summertime
- 1997 Instrumental Hymns
- 1999 The Glorious Album
- 1999 Bach For A New Age
- 2000 12 Mooiste Liederen
[edit] External links
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