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Albert Beger

Born in Turkey in 1959 and raised in Israel, Albert Beger's musical sensibilities were informed from a young age by the vast cultural melting pot that surrounded him. The deeply diverse and eclectic range of sounds he heard offered a rich musical landscape upon which to draw continuing inspiration - a colorful palette of melody, harmony and rhythm that would impact his future direction as a composer and improviser.

Albert's eclectic tastes are evident in his own compositions. Listening to his energetic, soulful pieces one hears a confluence of styles. A "World Music" that the term "world music" simply doesn't do justice to - bebop, hard bop and free jazz, contemporary classical and ethnic music, progressive rock and electronica - delivered in an indefinable style that is pure Albert Beger. And of course there's that sound: free of border or limitations…a spark reaching beyond to grasp the fire of the Divine …a fearless, joyful noise that embraces experimentalism and tradition, and lyricism and frenzy, with equal passion, love and respect.

Albert has spent years wood-shedding his instrument, a reflection of his penchant for self-discipline and auto-didactic study and an uncanny love for the saxophone and its seemingly endless aural possibilities. His formal education consists of a BA earned in Composition and Performance from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and a Masters in Music from the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. He currently holds teaching positions at the Rubin Academy and Haifa University and heads the Instrument and Performance Department at Muzik - School of Creation and Production in Tel Aviv.

Albert Beger has recorded eight albums of original compositions since launching his professional career in 1991. He has also collaborated on numerous projects with both local and internationally acclaimed jazz musicians, playing in a wide range of challenging improvisational settings. The long list of musicians with whom he has traded riffs both on stage and in the studio include master instrumentalists such as William Parker and Hammid Drake; Harold Rubin, Asaf Sirkis and Gabriel Meyer; John Bostock, Hagi Fershtman, and Joelle Leandre; James Newton and Roman Kontzman; and composer Eric Shapira.

Albert is the recipient of the Landau Award for Performing Arts (2005) and Israel's highest honor for musicians, the prestigious Prime Minister's Award for Composers (2009).

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Album Review

Albert Beger Trio: The Way To Go

Read "The Way To Go" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


Israeli sax hero Albert Beger's new album presents this restless composer and ambitious improviser in two, schizophrenic forms. On one hand, The Way to Go features some of Beger's most impressive compositions, mostly written after his beloved mother's death, showing Beger as a restless musician who seeks to expand his compositional ideas and vocabulary as an improviser. On the other hand, he opts for the classic trio format he used on Hevel Havalim (Earsay's Jazz, 2003), and later with the ...

36
Album Review

Albert Beger / Gerry Hemingway: There’s Nothing Better To Do

Read "There’s Nothing Better To Do" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


This live album documents the first musical meeting between Israeli sax hero Albert Beger and master drummer Gerry Hemingway. The two met in November, 2011 in Tel Aviv's Levontin 7 club. They did not exchange any notes before their gig, or even sketch a loose road map for the improvisations to follow. Instead, both trusted their musical intuition and instincts--and they were absolutely right. There's Nothing Better To Do captures a rare, immediate musical affinity, a breadth of shared musical ...

259
Album Review

Albert Beger Electroacoustic Band: Peacemaker

Read "Peacemaker" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


Peacemaker, from Albert Beger, marks a new beginning for the innovative Israeli saxophonist. Beger introduces a new quintet that adds, for the first time, live electronics to his fiery-spirited palette of sounds, and a new approach to composition and playing that stresses thematic structure. He is also recording for a new local label that is identified with alternative music. Like on his previous Big Mother (Jazzear, 2008), which dealt with the damage that humans are inflicting upon ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five with Albert Beger

Read "Take Five with Albert Beger" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Albert Beger:Albert Beger, the free-jazz pioneer and innovator, with his ninth album Peacemaker. Accompanied by his new electro-acoustic band, combining acoustic instruments and noise/glitches laptop works. Albert brings his music to a new level of creation and band dynamic. Following his critically acclaimed Big Mother, Peacemaker returns to a more personal, introspective observation of the inner self, and merges delicacy and aggression in one of the most unique jazz records of recent times. Instrument(s):

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Album Review

The New Albert Beger Quartet: Big Mother

Read "Big Mother" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


The cover of Israeli saxophonist Albert Beger's Big Mother captures your attention immediately. Yinon Tubi's photos of an anonymous, depressing rubbish dump frame Beger's love cry on behalf of all mothers, a conceptual six-part suite that calls us to action before it's too late.

The new work challenges Beger, who usually opts for shorter compositions that emphasize his abilities as an improviser and his close interplay with his partners. Most noteworthy, these have included bassist William Parker and ...

174
Album Review

Albert Beger 5: Listening

Read "Listening" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


“We don't determine music, the music determines us; we only follow it to the end of our life: then it goes on without us." --Steve Lacy

Israeli free jazz saxophonist Albert Beger, 45, has dedicated his fifth disc, Listening , to the late great saxophonist Steve Lacy. But unlike the Lacy quote, on Listening Beger delays his surrender to the music and opts for a more accessible musical statement. This disc, the first outing with a ...

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Contest

Earth Day 2011 Special: Jazz Musician Albert Beger Gives Away His Album Big Mother For Free!

Earth Day 2011 Special: Jazz Musician Albert Beger Gives Away His Album Big Mother For Free!

Source: Yair Yona

Israeli saxophonist Albert Beger had released his album Big Mother in 2008. The album, is a six piece suit dedicated to the environmental issue, the danger that planet earth is in, the damage the humans causes the great gift of them all—our one global home, our big mother. Albert is also an activist. He helps clean the beach near his house from garbage left by people, take an active part in protests and also led a civilian battle against a ...

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Recording

Albert Beger Releases His Ninth Album 'Peacemaker' in September

Albert Beger Releases His Ninth Album 'Peacemaker' in September

Source: Michael Ricci

Peacemaker is the name of Albert Beger's new creation. It is also a way of life for the experienced, innovative, free-jazz cult hero. The new album is an open invitation, a possibility for an individual to take a deep, thorough look inside and have a self examination. It is an opportunity to restart, and make the little amendments in the world, using the big values of men. 51 Years old Beger, is conceived as one of the most respected and ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Way To Go

Jazzis Records
2014

buy

There's Nothing...

Ayler Records
2012

buy

There’s Nothing...

OutNow Recordings
2012

buy

Peacemaker

Anova Music
2010

buy

Big Mother

Earsay
2008

buy

Listening

Earsay
2004

buy

Long Story

From: Peacemaker
By Albert Beger

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