Jerry Bergonzi (born October 21, 1947) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator.

Early life and education

Bergonzi received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1971 and is the founder of Not Fat Records.

Career

Bergonzi first gained recognition as he became a frequent guest-artist on several

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

ensemble tours and recordings during the 1970s, and he held the saxophone chair in the

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

from 1979 - 1982. He recorded nine albums with Brubeck, from 1973 to 1981. Bergonzi teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He is the author of ''Inside Improvisation'', a multi-volume series of instructional books with play-along CDs and videos, and another series of books about

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

published by Advance Music. He is also the author of the book/CD set ''Sound Advice'', published by Jamey Aebersold Jazz. He has recorded on the Blue Note, Red, Not Fat,

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, Atlantic, Label Bleu,

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

, Columbia, Deux Z, Denon, Canyon, Cadence, Musidisc, Ram, Ninety One, Freelance and Savant recording labels. He has recorded extensively for Double-Time Records.

Discography

Miscellaneous

Bergonzi is also a professional level

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist. He plays a mouthpiece by Aaron Drake (Drake "Jerry Bergonzi" Signature Mouthpiece). Jeff Ellwood compiled and engraved nearly 200 of Bergonzi's original tunes. Bergonzi decided to give the compiled PDF books away for free.

Gallery

Image:jerry-bergonzy01.jpg Image:Jerry-bergonzi02.jpg Image:Jerry-bergonzi_carl-winther_DSC04569.jpg

References

External links

Official Website
*

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergonzi, Jerry 1947 births Living people Musicians from Boston American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists New England Conservatory faculty Enja Records artists SteepleChase Records artists Red Records artists HighNote Records artists Label Bleu artists 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Massachusetts 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Double-Time Records artists American jazz educators