Biography

Robert Berg (April 7, 1951– December 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist. Berg started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. He studied at the High School of Performing Arts and Juilliard before leaving school to tour. Berg was influenced by the late 1964–1967 period of John Coltrane's music. A student from the hard bop school, Berg played from 1973 to 1976 with Horace Silver and, from 1977 to 1983, with Cedar Walton. Berg became more widely known when he joined Miles Davis' band in 1984. After leaving Davis's band in 1987, Berg released a series of solo albums and also performed and recorded frequently in a group co-led with guitarist Mike Stern. On these albums he played a more accessible style of music, mixing funk, jazz and even country music, with many other diverse compositional elements to produce albums. He often played at the 7th Avenue South NYC club. He worked with Chick Corea, Steve Gadd and Eddie Gómez in a quartet. Berg's tenor saxophone sound was a synthesis of rhythm and blues players such as Junior Walker and Arnett Cobb with the lyricism, intellectual freedom and soul of Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and John Coltrane. Berg was killed in a traffic accident in East Hampton, New York, while he and his wife were driving near his home when a cement truck that had skidded on ice hit his car.