Thijs van Leer

Van Leer was born on 31 March 1948 in Amsterdam. His father Ed, a Jewish refugee from the Netherlands, was a classically trained flautist and businessman; his mother Mary was a singer and involved in the Sufi Movement. When he was six, van Leer wrote his first composition "Uncle Willy", a tribute to family friend and keyboard teacher Willy Buard who helped pay for his father's flute studies at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève in Geneva. At eleven, van Leer was given a flute by his father who began teaching his son two years later after he discovered van Leer wished to instead pursue jazz music after he discovered the genre particularly through Miles Davis albums. He said, "I suppose I wanted to reject what I was brought up on. But then I thought the combination of jazz and classical music could be used in rock." He then joined the Bob de Lat Quartet, who once came fifth in the annual Hilversum jazz contest. After graduating, van Leer did not feel confident enough to attend a music school, so he studied art history at Amsterdam University which he found "very dry". Van Leer has cited Steve Winwood, Traffic, Brian Wilson, and The Beach Boys as musical influences who helped inspired him to pursue rock music, with Béla Bartók and Johann Sebastian Bach among his favourite composers. == Career ==

With Ramses Shaffy Around 1967, van Leer recorded "Nooit Zal Ik Vergeten" which Phonogram Records released as a 7-inch single which received little attention. In December 1967, during his first year at Amsterdam University, van Leer, unhappy with the course, landed a leading role in the Webster play The Duchess of Malfi. At one rehearsal, he learned from radio and television presenter Willem Duys that singer and actor Ramses Shaffy was in the process of hiring a final member to his four-piece backing band and vocal group for his upcoming theatre act, Shaffy Chantant. van Leer learned from Shaffy years later that the track "Jij Bent Nu Daarbinnen" ("You Are Now Within") was about him. This was followed by several performances from the group at some large venues, including shows at the Holland Festival backed by the Metropole Orchestra, the Carré Theatre, and the RAI Centre. yodelling, whistling, and scat singing. His influence from the Sufi movement through his mother is displayed in "Moving Waves", a piano and vocal composition he wrote when he was sixteen and quotes a teaching from its creator, Inayat Khan. The album closes with "Eruption", a 22-minute track that is "based on a musical idea" by van Leer who gained inspiration from the operas Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck and ''L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, combining rock, jazz and classical influences. Focus 3'' (1972) includes the band's second hit single "Sylvia" and includes van Leer's organ and operatic vocals. Van Leer's classical background is evident on the van Leer/Akkerman penned title track on Hamburger Concerto from 1974, based on Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Johannes Brahms. The miniature "Delitiae Musicae" equally belongs to Monteverdi. In 1969, van Leer played the flute on Love Me or Leave Me (1969) by Dutch singer Rita Hovink. The following year, van Leer wrote, arranged and conducted music for singer Bojoura for her third album, The Beauty of Bojoura (1970). She had previously worked with van Leer's trio with Shaffy, singing a cover of "Frank Mills" from Hair. Robin Lent used van Leer to play piano and flute on ''Scarecrow's Journey (1971), and arranged and played the flute on the Dutch cast production album of Oh! Calcutta!'' (1971). Van Leer headed Focus through several line-up changes, and by early 1976 he was the only remaining original member; the group disbanded in 1978. In 2001, van Leer reformed Focus which has since released the albums Focus 8 (2002), Focus 9 / New Skin (2006), "Live In Europe" (2009), Focus X (2012),, Golden Oldies (2014), Focus 8.5 / Beyond the Horizon (2016), The Focus Family Album (2017), Focus 11 (2018), Focus50: Live in Rio (2021), Completely Focussed (2021) and Focus 12 (2024). Solo career and other projects In mid-1972, after securing a solo recording deal with CBS Records, van Leer released his first solo album, Introspection. It features a selection of classical pieces by Bach and Gabriel Faure, Focus songs, and original compositions arranged for flute and orchestra by van Otterloo, and soprano vocals by Letty de Jong. In late 1975, van Leer released Introspection 2 which spent one week at number one in the Netherlands during a 19-week stay in the top 10. Van Leer continued the album series with Introspection 3, in 1977. After Focus split in 1978, van Leer continued with his solo career and took part in various projects. He formed the rock band Conxi, featuring Dutch and Senegalese musicians, and a rock group Van Leer with an American singer. In the early 1980s, van Leer worked and toured with Spanish singer Miguel Ríos playing keyboards and flute on his albums Extraños en el escaparate (1981), Rock & Ríos (1982) and El rock de una noche de verano (1983). In 1981, van Leer formed the multi-national band Pedal Point with musicians Tato Gomez and from Chile and Paul Shigihara from Japan. They recorded a double album, Dona Nobis Pacem, based on a composition van Leer had written that he later cited as "one of the most important compositions of mine", and a high point of his career in an artistic sense. In 1985, van Leer reunited with Akkerman and together recorded Focus: Jan Akkerman & Thijs van Leer (1985). Van Leer was one of the artists who recorded the song Shalom from Holland (written by Simon Hammelburg and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991. He also appeared as a guest musician on the album, Into the Electric Castle, by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's musical project Ayreon. In 2008, Explore Multimedia released van Leer's first solo album in almost a decade, The Home Concert. The album features recordings made in his living room as he played material for Focus 9. The album is exclusively available online. On 13 September 2008, van Leer was made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau for "special services to music." In 2010, van Leer performed at a concert with Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno to celebrate 40 years of imaginative music ==Discography==

Solo albums • Introspection (1972) • O My Love (1975) • Introspection 2 (1975) • Musica per la Notte di Natale (1976) • Introspection 3 (1977) • Nice to Have Met You (1978) - Recorded in 1977. • Introspection 4 (1979) • Collage (1980) • Pedal Point: Dona Nobis Pacem' (1981) • Reflections (1981) • Focus (Jan Akkerman & Thijs van Leer album) (1985) - Recorded in 1984. • Renaissance (1986) • I Hate Myself (For Loving You) (1987) • ''Introspection '92'' (1992) • Musical Melody (1994) • Bolero (1996; CD version of the Reflections with two extra tracks) • Summertime (1996) • Joy to the World (1996) • Instrumental Hymns (1997) • The Glorious Album (1999; reissued in 2000 as 12 Mooiste Liederen (12 Most Beautiful Songs)) • Bach for a New Age (1999) • Etudes Sans Gêne (2006; limited edition DVD) - Recorded in 2001. • The Home Concert (2008) - Recorded in 2005. • Sir Thijs van Leer: Live at Trading Boundaries (2015) - Recorded in 2014. ;with Thomas Blug Band • Guitar From The Heart/Live (2005; DVD) • Guitar From The Heart – Live in Raalte, NL (2005) • Soul & Pepper (2009) ==References==