Borah Bergman (December 13, 1926 – October 18, 2012) was an American

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians dur ...

pianist.

Training and influences

Bergman was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents.Kelsey, Chris (December 2004
Chris Kelsey ''Borah Bergman: His Fatha's Son''.
JazzTimes. His grandfather Meir Pergamenick was a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. 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;Kelsey, Chri
''Artist Biography''.
AllMusic. Retrieved September 22, 2013. others, that he had piano lessons from a young age; 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.''Borah Bergman: You Must Judge a Man by the Work of His Hands''
(November 4, 2005) All About Jazz. As an adult, he developed his left hand playing to the point where he became essentially

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

as a pianist, and could play equally fast in both hands, and they could act completely independently of each other;Polillo, Arrigo. In ''A New Frontier'' D liner notes Soul Note. Bergman himself preferred the term "ambi-ideation" to "ambidextrous", as it conveyed the added ability to express ideas achieved when both hands were equal. Bergman cited Earl Hines,

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of mod ...

, and

Lennie Tristano Leonard Joseph Tristano (March 19, 1919 – November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation. Tristano studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in music in Chicago before moving to New Yo ...

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 Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Col ...

... 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".

Performance and recordings

Until the 1970s he played little in public, concentrating on private practice and his work as a school teacher. He recorded four albums as a soloist, most notably on the European label

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 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 Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

, though in a more fragmentary and disorderly sound-world".Cook, Richard & Morton, Brian (2008) ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' (9th ed.), p. 116. Penguin.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

References

External links

Borah Bergman: The Long Look
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Borah American jazz pianists American male pianists 1926 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Brooklyn Tzadik Records artists 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Chiaroscuro Records artists Black Saint/Soul Note artists Knitting Factory Records artists FMR Records artists Leo Records artists