Bob Berg (April 7, 1951 – December 5, 2002) was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He 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. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period of John Coltrane's music. He was known for his extremely expressive playing and tone.

A student from the hard bop school, he played from 1973 to 1976 with Horace Silver and from 1977 to 1983 with Cedar Walton. Berg became more widely known through his short period in the Miles Davis band. He left Davis's band in 1987 after recording only one album with them.

After leaving Davis's band, 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 that were always musical. He often played at the 7th Ave South NYC club. He worked with Chick Corea, Steve Gadd and Eddie Gomez in a great quartet. His tenor saxophone sound was a synthesis of rhythm and blues players like Junior Walker and Arnett Cobb with the lyricism, intellectual freedom and soul of Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and John Coltrane.

He was killed in a road traffic accident in East Hampton, NY while driving to buy groceries with his wife Arja. The person who crashed into his car was driving a cement truck that accidentally skidded on ice.

Discography [link]

As leader [link]

• New Birth (1978; Xanadu Records)
• Steppin': Live in Europe (1982)
• Short Stories (1987) Denon Records
• Cycles (1988)
• Live at the Sweet Basil with Randy Brecker [Sonet]
• In the Shadows (1990)
• New York Journey with M. Genoud, J.C. Lavanchy, I. Malherbe (1990) [Preludio Productions]
• Back Roads (1991)
• Virtual Reality (1992)
• Enter the Spirit (1993)
• Riddles (1994)
• The Best of Bob Berg (1995)
• Another Standard (1997)
• Jazz Times Superband (2000)

As sideman [link]

With Miles Davis

• You're Under Arrest (1985)

With Horace Silver

• Silver 'n Brass (1975)
• Silver 'n Wood (1976)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Rhythmstick (1990)

With Cedar Walton

• First Set (1979) [Steeplechase]
• Second Set (1979) [Steeplechase]
• Third Set (1979) [Steeplechase]
• Animation (1979) [CBS]
• Eastern Rebellion 3 (1979) [Timeless]

With Chick Corea

• Time Warp (1995)

With Mike Stern

• Upside Downside (1986)
• Time in Place (1988)
• Jigsaw (1989)
• Odds or Evens (1991)
• Standards and Other Songs (1992)

With Wolfgang Muthspiel

• Timezones (1989)

With Tom Coster

• Let's Set The Record Straight (1993) [JVC]
• The Forbidden Zone (1994) [JVC]

External links [link]

• Jazz Professional article about his death
• Interview with Bob Berg