Quick Facts
Biography
Walter Bruyninckx (pronounced Brer-ninks; born 27 August 1932) is a Belgian jazz discographer, musicologist, jazz historian, author, and journalist.
Career highlights
While living in Mechelen, Belgium, in 1948, Bruyninckx co-founded a jazz club there while working as a newspaper journalist. He later worked for UNICEF. After a serious car accident in 1965 in India, and during a convalescence period 1966, Bruyninckx developed a strong interest in jazz discography. After conferring with discographer Albert McCarthy and major record collectors, Bruyninckx published 50 Years of Recorded Jazz, 1917–1967 — which included blues, gospel, and ragtime covers. His work was supported by a larger group of volunteers.
For his third edition — 70 Years of Recorded Jazz — Bruyninckx published 35 volumes of genre-specific discographies, initially for the Japanese market, of which 5 volumes covered progressive jazz (fusion, free Jazz, third stream), 4 volumes covered singers, 12 volumes covered swing and dance bands, 6 volumes covered traditional jazz, 6 volumes covered modern jazz (bebop, hard bop, West Coast), and 2 volumes covered modern jazz big bands.
Duration of discography project
Bruyninckx's discography is the longest running comprehensive jazz discography project. Other long standing discography projects include those of Tom Lord, based in the Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada (active twenty-five years — since 1992) and Erik Raben of Denmark (active twenty-eight years — since 1989), and Jørgen Grunnet Jepsen (de) of Denmark (died 1981). Bruyninckx announced that he would stop after the 2007 edition, but left it open whether the publication would continue by someone else, namely his sons Lucien and Dominique Truffandier.
Selected works
Print (self-published)
- 50 Years of Recorded Jazz, 1917–1967 (19 volumes; published between 1967 and 1975); OCLC 46895898
- 60 Years of Recorded Jazz, 1917–1877 (2nd ed., 16 volumes; published 1979); OCLC 6436260, 78428130
- 70 Years of Recorded Jazz, 1917–1987 (3rd ed., published 1999); OCLC 174385360, 49657893
CD-ROM
- 85 Years of Recorded Jazz (1917–2002, A–Z, Complete), compiled & edited by Walter Bruyninckx & Dominique Truffandier (2004); OCLC 162319250, 762695901, 271983241
- 90 Years of Recorded Jazz & Blues, 1917–2007 (prejazz, 1897–1917, A to Z, Complete), compiled & edited by Walter Bruyninckx & Lucien Bruyninckx (2007); OCLC 276460115
- 93 Years of Recorded Jazz & Blues, 1917–2010 (prejazz 1897–1917), A to Z, Complete), compiled & edited by Walter Bruyninckx, Lucien Bruyninckx, & Domi Truffandier (2010); OCLC 660149351