Pianist Rob Madna (The Hague,1931-2003) was fully self-taught. His professional musical career has severely suffered under his job as math teacher, that prompted him to reject offers of Thad Jones, Freddie Hubbard and Lucky Thompson to fill the piano bench on their European tours. First in 1985 he became involved in music full time, accepting to teach jazz piano at the Hilversum Conservatory. Yet he is regarded as one of the greatest Dutch jazz pianists, who unfortunately showed little interest in recording. The few records he made are very high rated in the jazz world. Dutch pianist and composer Rob Madna is considered one of the founders of modern jazz in postwar Holland. He was born June 8, 1931 and passed away on April 5, 2003. Madna was a complete autodidact, who learned to play by listening to whatever records happened to be around the house: music of Teddy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, or a recording of George Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess.’ Together with neighborhood friends Ack en Jerry van Rooijen, Rob listened as much as he could to jazz and dance orchestras during the Second World War. After the war he heard the latest music from America, including bebop, which was to have a deep impact on his further musical growth. Apart from submerging himself in music, Madna developed a fascination for mathematics, and he decided to pursue a career as a mathematician rather than a musician. Rob always shunned the spotlights and a life on the road didn’t appeal to him. With what he considered his Asian relativism, he did not seek public recognition and much of his musical life would take place in relative invisibility. Nevertheless, Madna did perform with many jazz outfits, and subbed in many orchestras. He was deeply respected by his fellow musicians and those listeners who knew him.In 1955 he recorded for the first time, participating in the anthologies 'Jazz From Holland' and 'Jazz Behind the Dikes'. Among his more recent recordings are the 1996 CD 'Update', with his trio and The Dutch Jazz Orchestra, followed by a 2000 live recording issued in the Daybreak piano series 'En Blanc Et Noir'. In his long career Rob Madna played with luminaries such as Phil Woods, Dexter Gordon, Don Byas, Lucky Thompson and Freddie Hubbard. Rob Madna's greatest model was Miles Davis, Thad Jones being another particular inspiration. During the 2003 North Sea Jazz Festival he posthumously received the prestigious Bird Award for his complete works.
