Frank Carlberg
Pianist, composer Frank Carlberg is a native of Helsinki, Finland. Following some years of classical studies, he became interested in jazz after listening to his father’s recordings of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. Initially, Carlberg tried to imitate the players of the records and then took some lessons from local jazz musicians. In 1984 Carlberg decided to enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee he played with fellow students such as Jim Black, Chris Cheek, Antonio Hart, Sam Newsome, Chris Speed, Ben Street, as well as faculty members Robert Freedman, George Garzone, Hal Crook, Herb Pomeroy and John LaPorta. During the summers, in between the academic years at Berklee, Carlberg toured in Europe extensively with various groups.
After receiving his Bachelor’s degree from Berklee in 1990, Carlberg decided to continue his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. While at the Conservatory, he came under the influence of jazz masters such as Paul Bley, Ran Blake, Geri Allen and Jimmy Giuffre. The music and thinking of these musicians had a profound impact on Carlberg and set him on a path in search of a personal expression. Carlberg received a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in 1992.
It was in 1992 that Carlberg finally released Blind Drive (Accurate Records) • his first recording as a leader. This was a trio effort featuring Ben Street on bass and Michael Sarin on drums with a program consisting of mostly original compositions. It was through this recording that Carlberg’s music initially caught the attention of the critics. Jon Andrews describes the CD in DownBeat as “sophisticated, approachable music played with both freedom and discipline”. Carlberg’s next recording, Ugly Beauty (Northeastern Records), was a duo recording with vocalist Christine Correa. This was to be the first of many collaborations. Ugly Beauty was a mix of folk music (Indian and Finnish) as well as free improvisations, original compositions and jazz repertoire reflecting the eclecticism and influence of Ran Blake. Paul Robicheau writes in the Boston Globe that “……it would be hard to find an album as gorgeous and sophisticated as Ugly Beauty”.
The second release on Accurate Records, The Crazy Woman, was of particular importance for Carlberg’s artistic development, as he began his extended quest in setting music to poetry. The material consisted of 11 original songs composed to texts by 20th century poets such as Jack Kerouac, Anselm Hollo and Anna Akhmatova. The recording featured a quintet format(voice/sax/piano/bass/drums), which was to become the core of several future projects. Dan Ouellette praises this CD in DownBeat as “…..both a romp and a haunt, joyful and grey, The Crazy Woman streams with nourishing beauty”.
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Album Review
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- The American Dream by Eyal Hareuveni
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Multiple Reviews
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Stratøs
saxophone, tenorPhotos
Album Discography
Cloud Break
From: Night Devoid of StarsBy Frank Carlberg