Biography
Pianist and composer Ken Berman 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. Born in New York City but with roots stretching from New York and Boston to Detroit and San Francisco, Mr. Berman has performed and recorded with Bob Moses, Kai Eckhardt, Akira Tana, John Lockwood, Yoron Israel, Bob Gullotti, Jaleel Shaw, Take Toriyama, Rémi Vignolo, Sarah Manning and others: he studied piano and composition at the University of Michigan and Berklee College of Music, and with legendary jazz mentors Barry Harris and Charlie Banacos: he has been the recipient of several artist grants and awards for his ongoing work in jazz education.
His music has been the subject of programs on radio stations KCSM in San Francisco, KPFA in Berkeley, and on KZSU at Stanford University, where his playing drew comparisons with Bill Evans, Ramsey Lewis and Keith Jarrett. Over the years, his work has received special features on jazz radio stations KCSM in San Francisco, WGBH in Boston, WFMT in Chicago, and WEMU in Michigan, and has been playlisted on jazz radio stations in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The French newspaper Le Monde hailed Mr. Berman as a “fluid and erudite” composer and performer whose “complex improvisations are imbued with delicate sensuality and brilliance.”
Reviewing Ken Berman's 2006 CD In Mind (featuring John Lockwood, Yoron Israel and Bob Gullotti) for The L.A. Jazz Scene, jazz critic and historian 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." In Mind was rated one of the top 15 jazz releases of 2006 on the Jazz with Bob Parlocha website. In 2006, Le Monde continued to praise Mr. Berman as "precise and inventive," and the "talk of the town in the clubs of the capital of jazz in Europe."
Ken Berman's new release Looking Forward (2010), features a dynamic trio including bass virtuouso Kai Eckhardt and the critically acclaimed Akira Tana on drums, performing a set of extraordinary original compositions that bring to mind those classic trios of Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans, while at the same time maintaining a completely unique and inimitable sound.
Mr. Berman is currently on the music faculty at the University of California at Berkeley and teaches part-time at Stanford University.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Below are a few video excerpts of live concerts: The Ken Berman Trio, featuring Kai Eckhardt and Akira Tana, in a performance of the original composition "Délie" followed by "The Bard Flies."
And Ken Berman, with Peter Barshay (b) and Alan Hall (d) perform two more Ken Berman originals, "Délie," and "Looking Forward."
Instrumentation
Ken Berman - piano
Kai Eckhardt - bass
John Lockwood - bass
Yoron Israel - drums
Akira Tana - drums
Bob Gullotti - drums
For more information, email: press@kenbermanmusic.com
