Third Eye -

Third Eye was a Dutch jazz-rock band that released the 1976/77 albums Third Eye and Connexion on Ring Records. Between albums, founder Jan Huydts left for The Keyboard Circle, replaced by subsequent Free Fair keyboardist Rob van den Broeck.

Members: Jan Huydts (electric piano, synthesizer, Mellotron), Alfred Haurand (bass, percussion), Leo de Ruyter (drums), Frank Köllges (drums, Mellotron, piano), Steve Boston (congas, percussion), Wilton Gaynair (saxophone), Rob van den Broeck (keyboards), Tony Levin (drums), Alan Skidmore (saxophone), Kenny Wheeler (trumpet), Bobby Jones (clarinet, reeds), Gerd Dudek (winds), Nippy Noya (percussion)

Background

Third Eye evolved from the Jan Huydts Trio, a Dutch-German jazz unit that recorded the 1970 album Brown Taste in Germany for Jazz Groove Records. The album paired Dutch keyboardist Jan Huydts and drummer Leo de Ruiter with German bassist Alfred Haurand.

Huydts was born on February 25, 1937, in Schiedam. He planned to study medicine, then entered professional jazz in 1957 with a Hilversum trio. In 1959, Huydts backed American alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and drummer Art Taylor at the Blue Note in Brussels. He joined the Herman Schoonderwalt Quartet and worked with The Millers, a Dutch swing orchestra led by guitarist Ab de Molenaar.

The Jan Huydts Trio won the Parool Jazzconcours at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, then held a 1963–64 engagement at the Blue Note in Berlin. During that run, the trio accompanied American saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin, along with trumpeter Donald Byrd. Huydts moved into Dutch cabaret work with Toon Hermans and Wim Sonneveld during the mid-sixties. From 1967 to 1970, he served as orchestra leader-pianist for Sonneveld and wrote songs and arrangements for the stage shows.

Haurand was born Alfred Josef Antonius Haurand on November 15, 1943, in Viersen, Germany. He studied at the Folkwang School and the Rhineland Music Academy from 1966 through 1973. Haurand led his own trio before joining pianist George Maycock’s trio and quintet in 1967. A 1968 tour placed him with American drummer Philly Joe Jones, Belgian saxophonist Jacques Pelzer, Belgian guitarist René Thomas, and Huydts.

De Ruiter anchored Huydts on the 1974 JHT album Chopin Schablone. They both played on the 1975 Park Records release Basic Train, a project headed by saxophonist Herman Schoonderwalt. The JHT core then linked with guitarist John Schuursma, a veteran of the Rob Hoeke Rhythm & Blues Group and Brainbox, the Amsterdam rock group formed by guitarist Jan Akkerman.

Between 1970 and 1976, Huydts and Haurand toured Europe with de Ruiter, Schuursma, and assorted players. The wider Third Eye circle included soprano saxophonist Theo Loevendie and trumpeter Jon Eardley. Saxophonist Wilton Gaynair, an alumnus of the WDR-Jazzorchester and the Kurt Edelhagen band, also joined the group’s orbit. As sessions drew near, Leo de Ruiter departed for Napalis. Third Eye hired drummer Frank Köllges, formerly of the Frederic Rabold Crew.

Third Eye

Third Eye released their self-titled debut album in 1976 on Ring Records.

The album presents nine pieces performed by bassist Alfred “Ali” Haurand, percussionist Steve Boston (congas, cowbells), and drummer Frank Köllges, who doubles on Mellotron alongside Jan Huydts, whose arsenal includes Fender Rhodes electric piano and the Hohner String Melody and ARP Odyssey synthesizers.

The opening side pairs electric-piano figures with Mellotron flute and string tone across “Protuberans,” “Sound Circle,” and “All About Us.” “Eichendorff 8” reduces the arrangement to a piano-led passage, while “Serius” extends the second side through solo space and quick keyboard movement. The closing sequence compresses percussion breaks into short pieces. “Arco=Mio” and “Bass=Raga” narrow the frame to bowed figures and raga-colored bass writing.

Third Eye works in compact instrumental cells, with exposed feature spots set beside short ensemble passages. “Sound Circle” hovers around a full-toned Mellotron flute line, with string-synth wash around the lead. “All About Us” glides through string-and-choir shading. “Eichendorff 8” settles into jazz-piano figures. “Serius” pivots toward classical piano motion with added ensemble detail. “Basic Train” darts through Rhodes runs. “Bloodstream” splinters around brittle violin tone and another high-register solo. “Arco” isolates a drum solo. “Bass Raga” drones on tabla-driven bass and a low Mellotron line.

A1. “Protuberans” (5:30)
A2. “Sound Circle” (3:30)
A3. “All About Us” (2:54)
A4. “Eichendorff 8” (4:39)

B1. “Serius” (8:03)
B2. “Basic Train” (2:44)
B3. “Bloodstream” (1:33)
B4. “Arco=Mio” (2:00)
B5. “Bass=Raga” (3:30)

The quartet recorded Third Eye on January 11 and 12, 1976, at Blackfield Studio in Kirchhellen. Bernd Steinwedel and Fritz Fey served as sound engineers, and Steinwedel mixed the album. The front cover frames a central illustration of a blue-coated figure near a low glowing orb. A windswept tree and a suitcase occupy the right side of the image.

Between albums, Jan Huydts formed The Keyboard Circle with ex-Scope players.

Connexion

Third Eye released their second album, Connexion, in 1977 on Ring Records. The album contains four extended pieces and shifts the lineup from the debut quartet into a revised sextet.

Connexion retains the debut rhythm section (Haurand, Köllges, Boston). The revised sextet adds saxophonist Wilton “Bogey” Gaynair (tenor/soprano saxophone, percussion) and reedist Gerd Dudek (tenor saxophone, flute). Keyboardist Rob van den Broeck completes the lineup on Fender piano and ARP Odyssey.

Gaynair wrote everything apart from “Landings,” a Köllges composition. “The Healer” pulses on a repeated Haurand bass figure before Dudek and Gaynair trade tenor lines. “Landings” darts through Dudek flute phrases against van den Broeck block chords while Haurand saws fast bowed low-register effects. “Ogetnom” descends on Haurand strummed low-end figures under Gaynair tenor phrases before Köllges turns the passage toward cymbal-led marching accents.

“Maroon Dance” broods through a ritual-toned drone and sci-fi synth bursts, then pivots to chiming Fender runs under a full-throated tenor solo. “The Healer” lopes from lapping bass figures into a two-tenor dialogue. “Landings” probes through high darting lines across chunky keyboard chords and jagged low-register bursts. “Ogetnom” descends on strummed low-end figures, then shifts into rounded tenor phrases and a cymbal-marked march. The closing passage adds choppy Fender runs and synthesizer haze around the march.

A1. “Maroon Dance” (10:50)
A2. “The Healer” (8:36)

B1. “Landings” (12:43)
B2. “Ogetnom” (8:52)

Third Eye recorded Connexion on August 29 and 30, 1977, at Procom Studio in Kirchhellen with producer Hans Köllges and sound/mixing engineer Fritz Fey. Ring pressed the original LP in an edition of 600 copies. Connexion appeared in a cover designed and photographed by Hans Köllges, with an additional Steve Boston photo by H. Görtz. The front image shows a cracked plaster wall with an open window and white ornamental trim.

Third Eye Live!

Third Eye released the live album Third Eye Live! in 1982 on View Records. The album presents four concert pieces by a revised live sextet with Haurand, van den Broeck, and Gaynair joined by saxophonist Alan Skidmore, trumpeter–flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler, and British drummer Tony Levin (ex-Nucleus).

The group places two brief pieces before the extended side-A performance “Northern Light.” Gaynair wrote “Quicksand,” while van den Broeck wrote “Skid” and “Northern Light.” Wheeler wrote the side-long “River Run,” which occupies the full second side.

Third Eye Live! lunges through open-form post-bop with long solo arcs, hard-edged unison passages, and loose ensemble replies. The two-tenor front line sets up intervallic pressure across the themes, with brass-cut phrases folded into the upper register. Van den Broeck works from clipped chordal jabs to wider harmonic circles. Haurand anchors the extended forms with a firm walking line and exposed low-register figures. Levin drives the set through cymbal accents and fast sectional turns. The album presents the late Third Eye lineup as a live improvising unit, closer to extended concert exchange than the suite-like studio layout of Connexion.

A1. “Quicksand” (0:45) – Gaynair
A2. “Skid” (1:32) – van den Broeck
A3. “Northern Light” (19:55) – van den Broeck

B1. “River Run” (23:58) – Wheeler

Third Eye recorded Third Eye Live! on January 13, 1982, at Jazz Galerie in Bonn. View Records issued the album amid titles by the NDW groups Leningrad Sandwich and Z-Pasta.

Live in Köln, January 12, 1978

Third Eye performed the material later circulated as the bootleg Live in Köln, January 12, 1978 during a January 12, 1978 radio broadcast in Cologne. The album presents three long-form pieces by a quintet with Haurand, Dudek, van den Broeck, and Köllges joined by Skidmore.

The two-reed lineup places Skidmore and Dudek over piano, bass, and drums. “K.A. Blues” opens the set with a fourteen-minute performance, and “Rhum” extends the concert frame past eighteen minutes. “The Healer” returns to Gaynair’s Connexion material in a twenty-minute concert version.

Live in Köln, January 12, 1978 sprawls across three extended concert pieces with broadcast-raw balance and tenor-led solo movement. “K.A. Blues” burns through a long blues form, with the theme opening space for upper-register exchange. “Rhum” leans on an electric-piano vamp and widens into extended chorus movement. “The Healer” surges through modal-leaning phrases and heavy-footed rhythm accents. The set clips the earlier Connexion material into a leaner stage format, with the ensemble trading studio contour for longer improvised reach.

1. “K.A. Blues” (14:29)
2. “Rhum” (18:38)
3. “The Healer” (20:03)

Postlude

Huydts departed soon after the Third Eye sessions for The Keyboard Circle, formed with keyboardist Rob Franken and drummer Henk Zomer, both former Scope members. They taped a set on February 8, 1976, at Jeugdcentrum De Trucker in Pijnacker, later released as an archival disc. In 1980, Huydts joined the Muziekpedagogische Academie in Hilversum as piano teacher and jazz coordinator. He later became deputy director of the Hilversums Conservatorium before the Hilversum-Sweelinck merger in Amsterdam.

Haurand carried the Third Eye network into the European Jazz Ensemble, which grew from the European Jazz Quintet. He led changing rosters with saxophonist Gerd Dudek, pianist Rob van den Broeck, drummer Tony Oxley, saxophonist Alan Skidmore, and reedist Charlie Mariano. Haurand also worked with Skidmore and Oxley in Trio SOH. He made The Trio with Dudek and van den Broeck. Haurand worked on WDR television jazz programming and led the Düsseldorf Jazz Rally for twelve years. In 1987, he founded the Viersen Jazz Festival, which he directed through 2014.

Van den Broeck formed Free Fair, a post-bop/jazz-rock quartet that cut the 1978/79 albums Free Fair and Free Fair 2 on Timeless Records. For the 1981 album +8, Free Fair added four trombones and four trumpets. Van den Broeck also joined Haurand and Dudek in The Trio. From 1980 to 2000, he taught piano at the Academy of Arts in Arnhem.

Dudek stayed linked to Haurand through the European Jazz Ensemble and The Trio. He also appears on Globe Unity Orchestra recordings from 1977 and 1979 under pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach. The Trio cut the Konnex disc Pulque. Gaynair cut the 1982 Cologne album Alpharian with trumpeter Allan Botschinsky, pianist Rob van den Broeck, bassist Haurand, and drummer Joe Nay. In September 1983, he suffered a career-ending stroke during a Peter Herbolzheimer concert.

Köllges formed Klimarkant in 1980 with saxophonist-painter Lutz Köllges and other Rhineland players. Meanwhile, Die Krupps recruited Köllges for their 1981 first version of “Stahlwerksinfonie.” Between 1983 and 1987, he cut three albums in Härte 10, an avant trio with keyboardist Mike Herting and percussionist-vocalist Valerie Kohlmetz. Köllges later led Adam Noidlt Intermission Orchestra, which opened documenta 8 in Kassel in 1987.

Boston taught percussion and non-Western music at conservatories in Rotterdam, Arnhem, and Hilversum. He remained active in Dutch Latin-jazz percussion.

Discography: