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Jazz Articles about Jeff Berlin

13
Liner Notes

Bill Bruford: The Winterfold Collection 1978-1986

Read "Bill Bruford: The Winterfold Collection 1978-1986" reviewed by John Kelman


It's often easy to judge artists based on where they are now, but when you have a recorded legacy as rich as that of Bill Bruford, it's far better to view the body of work as a whole. As divergent as the intrepid percussionist/composer/bandleader's career has been, there are common threads running through all his work, making the earlier, electrified and amplified material on this Winterfold Collection fit contextually as a logical antecedent to his more recent unplugged and improvisation-centric ...

24
Interview

Jeff Berlin: Making Jack Songs, Making Amends, Making A New Path

Read "Jeff Berlin: Making Jack Songs, Making Amends, Making A New Path" reviewed by Mike Jacobs


Chances are, if you know Jeff Berlin's name, you know at least some of the bassist's now-classic work with such seminal jazz/rock/fusion mainstays as Bill Bruford or Allan Holdsworth. If so, you may also know of his 10 albums as a leader or some of his many other sideman, supergroup and touring credits. If you're still saying yes, it's likely you also know about his longtime commitment and passion as a bass educator. And if you're still checking boxes in ...

29
Album Review

Jeff Berlin: Joe Frazier Round 3 (CD Single)

Read "Joe Frazier Round 3 (CD Single)" reviewed by John Kelman


In the world of music, there are plenty of “could have beens," but far fewer “should have beens." Count Jeff Berlin amongst the latter. The American electric bassist first made a number of marks in the second half of the musically innovative 1970s on a series of '76 recordings by singers Patti Austin and Esther Phillips, composer/arranger Gil Evans and Swiss progressive rock keyboardist Patrick Moraz, not to mention gigging with everyone from Pat Martino and George Benson to Dave ...

27
Album Review

Bruford: Seems Like a Lifetime Ago 1977 - 1980

Read "Seems Like a Lifetime Ago 1977 - 1980" reviewed by John Kelman


With the plethora of box sets being issued these days with new masters and, perhaps even more importantly, new mixes of classic recordings, it was inevitable that the small but significant discography of drummer Bill Bruford's first steps into a solo career with his band Bruford should finally get the deluxe treatment. Seems Like a Lifetime Ago 1977-1980 not only covers the three studio and one live recording that this at-the-time completely unexpected and utterly distinctive surprise of a group ...

4
Album Review

Jeff Berlin: Low Standards

Read "Low Standards" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Indeed, bassist and educator Jeff Berlin is a modern era pioneer amid accolades that have piled high, spanning several decades via his astounding technique and contributions to progressive-rock, jazz fusion and modern mainstream jazz. Following up his jazz trio outing High Standards (2010, M.A.J. Records) also featuring bassist, pianist Richard Drexler, the core differentiator on Low Standards is that renowned drummer Mike Clark takes over the drum chair from Danny Gottlieb. Yet Berlin's game-plan is similar as Drexler uses the ...

969
Interview

Jeff Berlin: Still the Ace of Bass

Read "Jeff Berlin: Still the Ace of Bass" reviewed by John Patten


Through the course of a four-decade career, Jeff Berlin has refused to end his musical quest. He crafted a popping, percussive style so thoroughly ingrained in the recordings of the 1980s, it's nearly ubiquitous. His work with Bill Bruford, whom he met during a stint with Yes, led to further innovations in playing.More recently, he's been developing a contrapuntal style of playing that allows him to approach bass guitar as a pianist, adding harmony and melody to his ...

1,209
In the Artist's Own Words

Bassist Jeff Berlin Pays Tribute to Charlie Banacos

Read "Bassist Jeff Berlin Pays Tribute to Charlie Banacos" reviewed by Jeff Berlin


[Editor's note: Bassist Jeff Berlin first emerged in the early 1970s with artists including Gil Evans, Ray Barretto, Pee Wee Ellis and Don Pullen. But it was his fusion work with British drummer Bill Bruford on albums including Feels Good to Me (Winterfold, 1977) and One of a Kind (Winterfold, 1979) that he gained greater international exposure and a reputation as one of jazz's finest (and undervalued) electric bassists. Since that time, Berlin has released a small but significant discography ...


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