Karl Berger

Karl Hans Berger (March 30, 1935 – April 9, 2023) was a German-American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. He was a leading figure in jazz improvisation from the 1960s when he settled in the United States for life. He founded the educational Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York, in 1972 with his wife and Ornette Coleman, to encourage international students to pursue their own ideas about music.

Life and career Berger was born on March 30, 1935, in Heidelberg. He started playing classical piano when he was ten and worked in his early twenties at a club in his hometown. He worked as a member of Don Cherry's band in Paris.

Berger worked with drummers Ed Blackwell and Jack DeJohnette, bassist Dave Holland, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman, Lee Konitz and Ivo Perelman. John McLaughlin and Roswell Rudd, Buckethead, Jeff Buckley, Angélique Kidjo, Natalie Merchant and Rich Robinson, among others.

Berger died at a hospital in Albany, New York, on April 9, 2023, at age 88, from complications after surgery.

Discography Berger's recordings include:

As leader From Now On (ESP Disk, 1967) Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966 Vols. 1–3 (ESP Disk, 1966) Symphony for Improvisers (Blue Note, 1966) Filmtracks 2000 (Tzadik, 2001) Points of Order (Innerhythmic, 2001)

With Ivo Perelman Reverie (Leo, 2014) Anthony Braxton, Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976) Buckethead, Giant Robot (CyberOctave, 2000) Chocolate Genius, Black Music (Everlasting, 1998) Coheed and Cambria, Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV (Columbia, 2005) Lajos Dudas, Talk of the Town (Double Moon, 2000) Theo Jorgensmann, Fellowship (hatOLOGY, 2005) Kalaparusha, Kalaparusha (Trio, 1977) Hans Koller, Big Sound Koller (Sonorama, 2016) Lee Konitz, The Lee Konitz Duets (Milestone, 1968) Lee Konitz, Seasons Change (Circle, 1980) Rolf Kuhn & Joachim Kuhn, Transfiguration (SABA, 1967) Sylvain Leroux, Quatuor Créole (Engine Studios, 2012) John Lindberg, Duets 1 (Between the Lines, 2006) Magpie Salute, The Magpie Salute (Eagle, 2017) Albert Mangelsdorff, Albert Mangelsdorff and His Friends (MPS, 1971) John McLaughlin, Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971; Esoteric Recordings, 2017) Musica Elettronica Viva, United Patchwork (Horo, 1978) Robert Musso, Innermedium (DIW, 1999) Pete Namlook, Polytime (Fax, 1998) Rich Robinson, Through a Crooked Sun (Circle Sound 2011) Roswell Rudd, Blown Bone (Emanem, 2006) Frederic Rzewski, Attica/Coming Together/Les Moutons De Panurge (Opus One, 1974) Alan Silva, Skillfullness (ESP Disk, 1969)