Borah Bergman

Jazz reviewers initially likened the exceptional free jazz pianist Borah Bergman to Cecil Taylor at the outset of his professional path. Later commentators, however, highlighted the misguided nature of those parallels, even as they repeated the pairing rather than evaluating Bergman independently. Although Bergman identified Tristano, Monk, and Powell among his influences, he invited no equivalences with others, so distinctive was his approach as an improvising pianist. Few if any jazz performers on any instrument possessed a technique as thorough as his. Both hands operated with unmatched dexterity, enabling him to generate spontaneous free counterpoint at astonishing velocities while maintaining exceptional accuracy. His wholly individual manner stemmed partly from personal technical advances; no prior jazz pianist had cultivated comparable velocity and nimbleness in the left hand. He further refined a crossed-hands method that heightened his overall fluency. Yet the most striking qualities remained the astonishing abundance and caliber of his musical ideas together with the indescribable force he brought to realizing them. In originality and creative drive, Bergman belonged alongside the foremost figures in jazz. The sole justification for juxtaposing him with Cecil Taylor today lies in recognizing their equivalent stature among creative innovators.

Bergman began with clarinet during childhood yet turned to piano only in his twenties. He resolved at once to cultivate a singular voice, remarking to writer Francis Davis, "I knew there was no point in sounding almost as good as Bud Powell." The right-handed pianist devoted years to fortifying his left hand, at one stage concentrating practice almost exclusively on that side until he achieved ambidexterity at the keyboard. Recording likewise began late for him. His initial four releases were solo recitals, starting with Discovery on the Chiaroscuro label in 1975. Three further albums followed, among them A New Frontier in 1983 and Upside Down Visions in 1985, both issued by Soul Note. From 1992 onward he launched an acclaimed sequence of duo projects, opening with Inversions on the Muworks label alongside the young free-bop altoist Thomas Chapin. Two subsequent Soul Note recordings solidified his standing: 1993's The Human Factor with drummer Andrew Cyrille and 1994's The Fire Tale with soprano saxophonist Evan Parker. The latter disc proved especially potent, uniting two of jazz's most commanding improvisers. Additional releases from the period encompass a duo/trio session with saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and vocalist Thomas Buckner, a trio featuring saxophonists Peter Brötzmann and Thomas Borgmann, and another trio with Brötzmann and Cyrille.

As the 1990s ended, both the volume of Bergman's recorded work and his recognition as a leading contributor grew markedly. That momentum persisted into the new century, with the pianist remaining active through several live documents as well as Meditations for Piano in 2003 and Luminescence in 2009, both on Tzadik Records. Around 2010 he gave his final public performances, and Luminescence—a trio date with bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Kenny Wollesen, featuring John Zorn on alto sax for one track—became his last album. Reportedly residing in a nursing home while contending with dementia, Borah Bergman died on October 18, 2012 (the same day as saxophonist David S. Ware); the pianist was 85.