4 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Borah Bergman is a volatile free jazz pianist who also plays with a fractured lyricism whenever he turns thoughtful (which is often--see "Poignant Dream"). Keeping the listener spinning even more, Bergman is ambidextrous, so his left hand can be just as busy as the right throughout these relentless improvisations. None other than John Zorn recorded Bergman in a deliberately slower cantorial mode on MEDITATIONS for Zorn's own Tzdaik label. And while that album is an good place to start for the uninitiated, this fresh 1985 solo piano outing on the Italian Soulnote label is also highly recommended.

BORAH BERGMAN, solo piano

July 24 & 25, October 2 & 3, 1984.

TRACKS:

01. Upside Down Visions
02. Uncharted Rivers Flow Forever
03. Spirit Song
04. Poignant Dream
05. Prelude to an Apex
06. Ballad of a Child Alone