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Jazz Articles about Shelly Berg
Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue
by Martin Longley
In his liner notes, saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski reveals that after hitting fifty, he had no desire to make albums that are going through the motions of record company requirements. Not that such bodies are lately in a position to demand anything. He now intends to make recordings when the inspiration is strong and when the circumstances align in an encouraging fashion. A major part of this disc's genesis seems to be the rapport that Peplowski shares with pianist Shelly Berg. ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Noir Blue
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Ken Peplowski has much to say; not in the sense that he jabbers incessantly, as many men with horns (and embouchures for hire) sometimes do. However, in erudite and leaping ululations, and in warm, wafting glissandos he sings of the gaiety and sadness of life. This he does through clarinet or tenor saxophone, depending on the echo and longevity he wishes his harmonic monologues to have. An old soul, with a spectacular perspective on the past, Peplowski lives in a ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Noir Blue
by C. Michael Bailey
Noir Blue is a slight coloring outside the lines for clarinetist/saxophonist Ken Peplowski. His most recent recordings (with Arbors and Nagel Heyer) have focused on older swing forms and repertoire. Presently, Peplowski is playing pure jazz quartet music with pianist Shelly Berg, bassist Jay Leonhart, and drummer Joe La Barbera. The song choice is anything but standard, thought it never ventures too far from Peplowski's comfort zone.
Noir Blue is heavy on the Ellington/Strayhorn book, clocking in with a third ...
Continue ReadingShelly Berg: The Nearness Of You
by Bruce Lindsay
Pianist Shelly Berg's career as a professional musician stretches back for 40 years. He began playing professionally in his early teens and has since been a solo performer, a bandleader, arranger and accompanist. In 2007 he became Dean of the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music, University of Miami. Despite this long and varied career, The Nearness Of You is his first solo CD. Berg takes on production duties in addition to performing and arranging, to create a fine ...
Continue ReadingLorraine Feather: Language
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Lorraine Feather Language Jazzed Media 2008
By its very title, Language, from singer and lyricist Lorraine Feather, implies that Feather and company believe that they have the musical and linguistic chops to take on such a sophisticated concept for our entertainment. So it's good to find that Feather is a heavyweight who--with a championship caliber crew in her corner--delivers a resounding KO.
To some ears, story songs--word-intense tunes--may seem overly Broadwayesque and ...
Continue ReadingShelly Berg: New Moon Over Miami
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
This title refers to the radical changes that are about to occur in music education, now that Shelton G. (Shelly) Berg has become dean of Miami University's school of music.Although Berg is widely considered one of the most eloquent, swinging, and accomplished pianists in jazz, to date he's more famous as an educator. Berg was President of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) from 1996-98; he spent eight years chairing the department of jazz studies at the ...
Continue ReadingShelly Berg & Frank Potenza: First Takes
by Michael P. Gladstone
In the liner notes to this piano-guitar duo album, Shelly Berg notes that there “often exists a love/hate relationship between the guitarist and pianist in a jazz band, with each jockeying for supremacy in creating chords and accompaniment." Upon reflection, I would have to say that this may be a reality on some occasions, but when two like-minded musicians pull off an album like this one, the results can be quite the opposite. Considering the collaborative efforts of Bill Evans ...
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