Pianist and composer Ken Berman has performed and recorded with Yoron Israel, Kai Eckhardt, Akira Tana, John Lockwood, Bob Moses, Rémi Vignolo, Bob Gullotti, Jaleel Shaw, Take Toriyama and others: he has appeared on the famed stages of Carnegie Hall in New York, Yoshi's in San Francisco, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Detroit's Fox Theater, and The Sunside in Paris. Ken has been the recipient ...of several artist grants and awards for his ongoing work in jazz education. His latest album "Looking Forward" was chosen as "One of the Top Ten Best and Most Important Releases of 2010" by critic Philip Booth in Jazz Times. The SF Examiner.Com called Berman "a fiercely imaginative pianist," and Cadence Magazine places his music on the "cutting edge" of the current jazz scene. His music has been the subject of in-depth programs on KCSM in San Francisco and on KZSU at Stanford University, where his playing drew comparisons with Bill Evans, Ramsey Lewis and Keith Jarrett. His latest compositions have been featured on more than 50 NPR-Jazz radio stations nationwide. Reviewing Ken Berman's CD In Mind for The L.A. Jazz Scene, jazz critic Scott Yanow writes: "When listening to Ken Berman's trio CD In Mind, it is easy to think of Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans, for Berman's chord voicings and his close interplay with his sidemen recall the work of his two predecessors. The difference is that Berman wrote all ten selections, he never copies Evans or Jarrett, and at times he sounds more advanced than either of them. The music overall is both swinging and thoughtful, spontaneous and purposeful." The SF Weekly described Berman's music as "contemplative jazz, gentle but without a trace of fluff or artifice," and Le Monde praised him as a "fluid and erudite" jazz performer and composer whose "complex improvisations are imbued with delicate sensuality and brilliance." In Mind was rated one of the top 15 jazz releases of 2006 on the Jazz with Bob Parlocha website. Ken is currently on the music faculty at the University of California Berkeley and teaches at Stanford University. HIs new trio album, "Looking Forward" is due out in September, and features Kai Eckhardt (b) and Akira Tana (d). Meer weergeven