The David Berger Jazz Orchestra at Birdland

Jazz composer, arranger and conductor David Berger is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing Era and big band music. Conductor and arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed more than 750 full scores of classic recordings including over 500 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Mr. Berger maintains a close working relationship with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 1996 Berger collaborated with choreographer Donald Byrd to create and tour the Harlem Nutcracker, a full-length 2-hour dance piece that expands the Tchaikovsky/Ellington/Strayhorn score into an American classic...

read more

Jazz composer, arranger and conductor David Berger is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing Era and big band music. Conductor and arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed more than 750 full scores of classic recordings including over 500 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Mr. Berger maintains a close working relationship with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 1996 Berger collaborated with choreographer Donald Byrd to create and tour the Harlem Nutcracker, a full-length 2-hour dance piece that expands the Tchaikovsky/Ellington/Strayhorn score into an American classic. The 15-piece band assembled to play this show has stayed together as the David Berger Jazz Orchestra where they enjoyed a three-year residency at Birdland that ended in May 2009. The DBJO actively performs Berger’s music on tours throughout the United States and Europe, and have been featured on 2 PBS specials of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Awards for Comedy, given to Bill Cosby and Billy Crystal. They have released seven CDs on the Such Sweet Thunder label, and are currently releasing a series of single tracks for download of new Berger/Mendenhall songs and old standards sung by Denzal Sinclaire. Jazz artists that Berger has composed and arranged for include the following bands: Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Quincy Jones, WDR Big Band, Buddy Rich Big Band and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Berger has also arranged for many singers including: Jon Hendricks, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney, Cab Calloway. David Berger's jazz compositions, arrangements and transcriptions are played by hundreds of bands every day all over the world. After teaching for 35 years, his students fill the top ranks of the last two generations of jazz musicians. Berger’s passion for excellence, education, and tradition are creatively expressed through his always-innovative compositions and arrangements.

show less