Borah Bergman (December 13, 1926 – October 18, 2012) was an American free jazz pianist.
Borah Bergman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 13, 1926 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 18, 2012 (aged 85) New York, U.S.[1] |
| Genres | Free jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Years active | 1975–2012 |
Training and influences
editBergman was born in Brooklyn to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents.[2][3] His grandfather Meir Pergamenick was a cantor.[4] Accounts of when he began to learn the piano vary: some assert that he learned clarinet as a child and did not commence his piano studies until adulthood;[5] others, that he had piano lessons from a young age;[3] one of his own accounts is that he took piano lessons as a child, then changed to clarinet, before returning to piano after being discharged from the army.[6] As an adult, he developed his left hand playing to the point where he became essentially ambidextrous as a pianist, and could play equally fast in both hands,[5] and they could act completely independently of each other;[7] Bergman himself preferred the term "ambi-ideation" to "ambidextrous", as it conveyed the added ability to express ideas achieved when both hands were equal.[6] Bergman cited Earl Hines, Bud Powell,[3] and Lennie Tristano[7] as formative influences, although his own style was based on free improvisation rather than song form. Commenting on his other influences, Bergman said that "I was influenced strongly by Ornette Coleman... I was also very influenced by chamber music and Bach and Dixieland or New Orleans, where all of the instruments were playing contrapuntally and polyphonically. So I figured I'd like to do it myself".[6]
Performance and recordings
editUntil the 1970s he played little in public, concentrating on private practice and his work as a school teacher.[3] He recorded four albums as a soloist, most notably on the European label Soul Note, before embarking on duo and trio albums from the 1990s. A small number of solo and quartet albums were also released from the mid-1990s. The style for which he is best known is described in The Penguin guide to jazz recordings: "His astonishing solo performances recall the 'two pianists' illusion associated with Art Tatum, though in a more fragmentary and disorderly sound-world".[8]
Discography
editAs leader/co-leader
edit| Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975? | Discovery | Chiaroscuro | Solo piano |
| 1976? | Bursts of Joy | Chiaroscuro | Solo piano |
| 1983 | A New Frontier | Soul Note | Solo piano |
| 1984 | Upside Down Visions | Soul Note | Solo piano |
| 1990 | The Fire Tale | Soul Note | Duo, with Evan Parker (soprano sax) |
| 1992 | Inversions | Muworks | Duo, with Thomas Chapin (alto sax, saxello) |
| 1992 | The Human Factor | Soul Note | Duo, with Andrew Cyrille (drums) |
| 1994 | First Meeting | Knitting Factory | Most tracks duo, with Roscoe Mitchell (alto sax, soprano sax); some tracks trio, with Thomas Buckner (vocals) added |
| 1994 | The October Revolution | Evidence | Quartet, with Joe McPhee (tenor saxophone, flugelhorn), Wilber Morris (bass), Rashied Ali (drums); in concert |
| 1994–95 | The Italian Concert | Soul Note | Duo, with Roscoe Mitchell (alto sax, soprano sax) |
| 1995 | Reflections on Ornette Coleman and the Stone House | Soul Note | Duo, with Hamid Drake (drums) |
| 1996 | Eight By Three | Mixtery | Trio, with Anthony Braxton and Peter Brötzmann (reeds) |
| 1996 | Monks | some real music | Trio, with Wilber Morris and Sunny Murray |
| 1996 | Geometry | Leo | Duo, with Ivo Perelman (tenor sax) |
| 1996 | Blue Zoo | Konnex | Trio, with Thomas Borgmann (tenor sax), Peter Brötzmann (alto sax, tarogato) |
| 1996 | Ride into the Blue | Konnex | Trio, with Thomas Borgmann (tenor sax), Peter Brötzmann (alto sax, tarogato) |
| 1996 | Left | Not Two | Trio, with Peter Brötzmann (tenor sax, clarinet, tarogato), Frode Gjerstad (alto sax) |
| 1996–97 | Exhilaration | Soul Note | Trio, with Peter Brötzmann (alto sax), Andrew Cyrille (drums) |
| 1997? | Ikosa Mura | Cadence | with Frode Gjerstad, Bobby Bradford and Pheeroan akLaff |
| 1997 | A New Organization | Soul Note | Duo, with Oliver Lake (alto sax); in concert |
| 1997 | Toronto 1997 | Boxholder | Duo, with Thomas Chapin (sax, flute) |
| 2000 | The River of Sounds | Boxholder | Trio, with Conny Bauer (trombone), Mat Maneri (violin) |
| 2001 | Meditations for Piano | Tzadik | Solo piano |
| 2002 | The Double Idea | Boxholder | Solo piano |
| 2003 | The Mahout | Slam | Trio, with George Haslam (baritone sax, tarogato), Paul Hession (drums) |
| 2002 | Rivers in Time | FMR | Most tracks duo, with Frode Gjerstad (sax, clarinet); some tracks solo piano; one track Gjerstad solo |
| 2003 | Acts of Love | Mutable Music | Trio, with Lol Coxhill (soprano sax), Paul Hession (drums) |
| 2007 | One More Time | Silta | Duo, with Giorgio Dini (bass) |
| 2007 | Live at Tortona | Mutable Music | Duo, with Stefano Pastor (violin); in concert |
| 2008 | Luminescence | Tzadik | Most tracks trio, with Greg Cohen (bass), Kenny Wollesen (drums); one track quartet, with John Zorn (alto sax) added |
References
edit- ^ Obituary by Christoph Wagner (German)
- ^ Obituary in Wire
- ^ a b c d Kelsey, Chris (December 2004) Chris Kelsey Borah Bergman: His Fatha's Son. JazzTimes.
- ^ Borah Bergman: Meditations for Piano
- ^ a b Kelsey, Chris Artist Biography. AllMusic. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
- ^ a b c Borah Bergman: You Must Judge a Man by the Work of His Hands (November 4, 2005) All About Jazz.
- ^ a b Polillo, Arrigo. In A New Frontier [CD liner notes]. Soul Note.
- ^ Cook, Richard & Morton, Brian (2008) The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.), p. 116. Penguin.