G.s Berger

During a Jazz Festival in Frankfurt 1997, Bill Laswell introduced Pete Namlook to Karl Berger. Both were immediately into the idea of working together on a new combination of Jazz and Electronic Music. What came out was a collection of pieces that range from Jazz to 70's film music to Ambient and Blues. The sound of Karl Bergers vibraphone and the liveliness of his performances in Pete's studio were stunning. If you listen closely to the tracks "Insight" and "True Blue" you will hear Karl breathing deeply while he plays… he creates unconsciously a perfect accompaniment to his solos that gives a rare organic environmental feel to the music. The tremendous value of improvised music… there are not just phrases being played and combined… the minds and bodies of the musicians are fully involved and in a constant process of musical creation.

Though a quick perusal of the score to his F-minor Piano Quintet (op. 95) immediately whets the appetite for more, Wilhelm Berger (1861–1911) is completely unknown today, even among musicologists. Almost an exact contemporary of Gustav Mahler, he does not even appear on the periphery of the standard music histories of fin de siècle Germany. Berger is a truly forgotten figure who is at best occasionally mentioned in the statistics of the period’s art music.

The Michel Berger and France Gall collaboration ‘Double Jeu’ was released in 1992, shortly before the sudden death of Michel Berger. It is therefore his final appearance on an album. Although she's best-known as the pretty, perky teenager who won the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with her hit "Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son," French pop singer France Gall has had a much longer and more varied career than that, having released solid records almost non-stop since the early '60s. Although only a cult figure in most of the rest of the world, Gall is a major star and beloved figure in her native country.

Karl Berger, Dave Holland, Ed Blackwell - Transit (1987) {Black Saint BSR0092CD}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 225 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 89 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 32 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1987 Black Saint | BSR 0092 CD
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz

An innovative vibraphonist who has traveled his own musical path throughout his career, Karl Berger is heard on this Black Saint release performing seven of his diverse pieces in trios with bassist Dave Holland and the colorful drummer Ed Blackwell. Many moods are explored; there is a feature for Blackwell and also a tribute piece for Ornette Coleman. Recommended as an excellent example of Karl Berger's inside/outside playing.

This recording should be in every early music lover's collection! It's a landmark performance of secular song, as close as any modern interpretation can come to recreating not the rarefied music of the court, but the everyday songs of the people. The performances are both heartfelt and erudite- you'll want to hear this CD over and over..