Thijs van Leer

Thijs Van Leer (born 31 March 1948 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch musician, singer and composer, best known for heading Dutch progressive rock band, Focus, as primary vocalist, Hammond organ virtuoso, and flautist.

Life

Van Leer went on to produce 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; after when he 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. He went on to play the flute and sing with the Shaffy cabaret group. In 1969 he joined Martijn 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 guitarist Jan Akkerman joined, completing the lineup of Focus. They released several albums in the early 1970s.

Van Leer headed Focus through several lineup 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 2002, van Leer created a new Focus line-up, which has since released the albums Focus 8 & Focus 9 / New Skin. Their British tour in spring 2006 indicates that the mastery Van Leer shows with the Hammond organ is undiminished although his vocal range is more limited than in the band's early period. The lead guitar and drumming skills evident in their set demonstrate that, despite personnel changes, Focus remain in the top league of creative rock outfits. They undoubtedly helped to break down the barriers between rock, jazz and classical styles and remain hard-to-categorize for that very reason.

In addition to his work with Focus, van Leer has released a large number of solo albums since 1972. He also appeared as a guest musician on the album Into the Electric Castle by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's musical project Ayreon.

Discography

Focus

In and Out of Focus (January 1971)
Moving Waves (October 1971)
Focus III (November 1972)
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)
''FOCUS Masters From The Vaults Classic Rock Productions CRP1112 (2004)
Live at the BBC 1976 (May 2004)
Focus 9 / New Skin (September 2006)

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
1987 I hate myself (for loving you)
1992 Introspection 92 (Posthumous tribute to Rogier van Otterloo)
1994 Musical Melody
1996 Bolero (CD version of the Reflections album with 2 extra tracks)
1996 Summertime
1997 Instrumental Hymns
1999 The Glorious Album
1999 Bach For A New Age
2000 12 Mooiste Liederen (re-release of The Glorious Album under the name of Jan Mulder, piano)
2006 Etudes Sans Gêne limited edition DVD