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 Sunday, 21 March 2010 |
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Bebop Legend Eddie Berger Returns to the Stage |
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Written by Don Berryman
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Monday, 01 May 2006 |
 Eddie Berger, poto by Ann Ginsburgh Hofkin
This Sunday local bebop legend Eddie "All-Star"
Berger will be playing his first public
performance in three years.
After being honored in the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival in February,
Eddie Berger returns to the stage at
the Artists' Quarter, Sunday May 7th, at 7pm with the Brad Bellows
Sextet, with additional music provided by the Bill Lang Trio. The
Brad Bellows Sextet has
been rehearsing monthly since September of 2005 and although Ed has
been battling various health issues, Bellows and the band reports that
he is sounding better than ever.
The Brad Bellows Sextet features Brad Bellows on trombone and
euphonium, Eddie Berger on alto sax, Jon
Pemberton (who replaced the late Gene Adams in
the band) on trumpet, Bruce
"Pooch" Heine on bass, Mac Santiago on Drums,
and "Eddie Berger All Stars" veteran Mikkel
Romstad on piano.
Broadcaster, educator, and master-musician, Eddie Berger was born in
Philadelphia in 1932. In a
recent interview for The
Bridge by Cyn Collins, Eddie recalled his beginnings in jazz: "I
played clarinet for two years, and my idol was Benny Goodman. There’s
no question about it. Then I got a saxophone. I was 12. Charlie Parker
started to come out with single 78 records in black record stores and
blues record stores. I was going to high school one time, in a pretty
mixed neighborhood in Philadelphia. I ran into a guy and he said, 'I
want you to come down to a record shop on the avenue and listen to this
alto saxophone player.' So I went down there and he put on this Charlie
Parker record. And I thought, 'Ah, come on man. This is a gimmick,
right? Isn’t this a joke? This is sped up, right? This is some kind of
trick thing.' So I got right off on Charlie Parker."
 Eddie Berger, photo © Howard A Gitelson
Brad Bellows has been an active innovator on the local music scene. He
is probably best best known as the founder and leader of Locally Damaging Winds, the mid
west's preeminent trombone ensemble which brings together the finest
trombone talent to perform original arrangements. Brad also plays
euphonium and released a CD playing it in a duo with guitarist Dean
Granros called Bear's
Delight. Brad has had a friendship and musical association with
Eddie spanning decades.
Special guest for this evening will be the Bill Lang Trio. Bill
has been playing solo saxophone in various restaurants in the Twin
Cities for several decades and his unique talent is show-cased
especially well in his seldom seen but exciting trio featuring Bill
Lang on tenor sax, Alden Ikeda on drums, and Brock Thorson on bass.
Music will start promptly at 7 PM with Eddie and the Sextet playing the
1st and 3rd sets, and the Bill Lang Trio playing the 2nd set.
This is a rare opportunity to hear a living legend and should not be
missed.
For Eddie Berger with the Brad Bellows Sextet,
the evenings music will be comprised of Brad Bellows' arrangements of
straight ahead jazz standards including: Miles Davis' (or Jackie
McLeans') "Dig", Vince Guaraldi's "A
Hatfull of Dandruff", Mingus' "Goodbye
Pork Pie Hat", and Wayne Shorter's "Witch
Hunt" among others. They will also perform a couple of originals:
Eddie's beautiful ballad "Margi", and Bellows will be switching to
euphonium as the sextet performs his composition "Euphonium".
- Ed Berger with the Brad Bellows Sextet and Bill Lang
Trio
- Sunday May 7th 2006, 7 PM
- Artists Quarter, St. Paul (non-smoking)
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