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Frank Herzberg

Bassist Frank Herzberg - born in East Berlin - began playing drums at the age of 7. Influenced strongly by his older brother, the bassist Hartmut Herzberg, he switched to the instrument which captured his heart.

He became a violin maker in Markneukirchen - one of Germanys centres of instrument making and started in 1990 to study double bass at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin with Kammervirtuose Gerd Reinke.

Frank won a scholarship to study at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he was lucky to take classes with Charlie Banacos and Hal Crook in Jazz Improvisation and graduated from Berklee with the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition and Performance.

Frank returned to Berlin, where he completed his classical studies at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. Since 1997, Frank has lived in São Paulo, Brazil, where he works as a bassist with different jazz formations and is a member of the bass section in the Symphonic Band of São Paulo.

Frank Herzberg has appeared on nearly 60 CD's as a bassist, plays regularly with his own trio, and with the Marta Karassawa Quintet, John Stein Group, and the André Juarez Quartet, among others. He works also as a studio musician and producer for instrumental music in Brazil. He appears regularly at festivals giving concerts and workshops about improvisation.

During his carrier he has appeared on stage, in the studio, or in workshops with Horace Sliver, Antonio Sanchez, John Stein, Zé Eduardo Nazário, Ithamara Koorax, Bocato, Guilherme Franco, Teco Cardoso, André Juarez, Torsten de Winkel, Bob Moses, Jaques Schwartzbart, Steve Hass, Cornelius Claudio Kreusch, Andre Pawelski, and Chris Allen, among others.

Frank Herzberg works as a acoustic bassist in various orchestras in Brazil, including the Symphonic Band/São Paulo, Jazzsinfonic Orchester/São Paulo, and Orquestra Mediterrânia, where he has accompanied well-known musicians like David Liebman, Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti, Ginga, and Airto Moreira, among others.

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Album Review

John Stein: Watershed

Read "Watershed" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


As his eleventh release on the label, Watershed continues the elegant and blissful creative marriage between guitarist John Stein and Whaling City Sound. A good marriage is based in compromise, in accommodating give-and-take, and Stein's give-and-take with this rhythm section of bassist Frank Herzberg, drummer Zé Eduardo Nazario and pianist Daniel Grajew creates beautiful, delightful music. Stein pours out Bobby Scott's “A Taste of Honey" with all the natural sweetness of its title for six luscious minutes. His ...

17
Album Review

John Stein: Watershed

Read "Watershed" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Jazz guitarist John Stein has produced many recordings throughout his career. Watershed is his fifteenth album and a special one at that, marking his retirement from academics and the beginning of a new chapter in his life. A former professor at Berklee College of Music (his alma mater), Stein is now fully engaged in producing the deep grooves and rhythm-based and breezy-styled melodies that make this album such a wonder to listen to, repeatedly. Recorded while on tour ...

25
Album Review

Rodrigo Lima: Saga

Read "Saga" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


“I fell in love with the jazz guitar--all kinds of jazz guitarists, from Jim Hall to Pat Metheny to Luis Bonfá, by listening to their records," explains Brazilian composer, arranger, bandleader and guitarist Rodrigo Lima. Saga luxuriously extends this jazz guitar love affair across the American and Brazilian continents--it was recorded in New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba--and across the two CDs of Lima's utterly magnificent recorded debut. Producer Arnaldo DeSouteiro elegantly ...

101
Album Review

Frank Herzberg Trio: Handmade

Read "Handmade" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


The letter “B" has played a major role in Frank Herzberg's life. The Berlin-born bassist, who spent time honing his craft at Berklee, relocated to Brazil in 1997 and has been busy performing and recording music there ever since. While Herzberg's career choices probably have nothing to do with adding alliterative qualities to his biography, they have everything to do with his efforts to broaden and sharpen his mind and music. Herzberg and his trio work in ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Frank Herzberg

Read "Take Five With Frank Herzberg" reviewed by Frank Herzberg


Meet Frank Herzberg: Frank Herzberg has appeared on nearly 60 CDs as a bassist, plays regularly with his own trio, and with the Marta Karassawa Quintet, John Stein Group, and the André Juarez Quartet, among others. He works also as a studio musician and producer for instrumental music in Brazil. He appears regularly at festivals giving concerts and workshops about improvisation.During his carrier he has appeared onstage, in the studio, or in workshops with Horace Silver, ...

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Contest

Enter the "Frank Herzberg - Handmade" Giveaway!

Enter the "Frank Herzberg - Handmade" Giveaway!

Source: All About Jazz


Instrumental CD of the Month Frank Herzberg Trio: "Handmade" (FH) 2011

Rating: ***** (musical performance & sonic quality)

Produced & Engineered by Frank Herzberg Recorded on November 26 & 27, 2010 Total Time 57:17

Arguably the best jazz album of the year, "Handmade" was conceived, engineered & self-produced by the great São Paulo-based German bassist Frank Herzberg. Everything is impressive: the original material, the arrangements, the bright sound quality, the pristine mastering. And, specially, the soulful performances by this cohesive trio of giants: Herzberg on acoustic bass, Alexandre Zamith on acoustic piano & Rhodes, and Zé Eduardo Nazário on drums.

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Primary Instrument

Bass

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Frank Herzberg has offered a jazz improvisation course for professional musicians and music teachers in São Paulo Brazil since 1997. His unique method is based on two simple ideas: History and Repetition. History... After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and after private improvisation classes with Hal Crook, Bruce Gertz, Ed Tomassi and the legendary Charlie Banacos, Frank found himself with one urgent question: What to study first? With a shelf full of methods, transcriptions, and handwritten notes about improvisation, it was a difficult task to organize a systematic method of study

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Watershed

Whaling City Sound
2020

buy

Saga

Jazz Station Records
2015

buy

Handmade

Self Produced
2012

buy

Flying Waltz

From: Saga
By Frank Herzberg

Don't Talk Crazy

From: Handmade
By Frank Herzberg

Videos

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