Rutgers Institute for Jazz Studies’ Ed Berger has created atmospheric images of the likes of Dizzy, Wynton and Benny.
By: Susan Van Dongen
At first glance, the photograph looks like "The Thing that Ate the Saxophone Player." Is the musician controlling the enormous instrument or has it taken over from him? Is the bell going to swallow the music stand? Is there really a reed instrument that big?
Yes, there is the contrabass saxophone. In this image by Princeton resident Ed Berger, multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson is warming up on the monster sax, which he usually plays sitting down. As absurd as the contrabass looks, Mr. Berger’s black-and-white photograph is compositionally refined. In addition to the musician and the single-reed leviathan in the foreground, Mr. Berger snapped the shutter of his Leica at just the right moment, as a listener peeks into the auditorium and is captured in silhouette in the background.
The photographer is well-acquainted with Mr. Robinson, who plays a number of esoteric instruments in a variety of styles, from Dixieland to avant-garde.
As associate director of Rutgers Institute for Jazz Studies in Newark, Mr. Berger knows quite a few musicians in the tri-state region, as well as nationally and internationally. The son of the late Monroe Berger, a beloved professor in Princeton University’s music department, he was introduced at a young age, personally and through recordings, to a host of jazz greats. Mr. Berger’s lifelong love for jazz equals his affection for the camera, which he’s been taking to concerts, clubs, rehearsals and recordings for 40 years.
Just a Mood: Jazz and Other Images, 1966-2006, Mr. Berger’s first-ever photography show, will be on view at the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers University, Newark, through Jan. 19. It’s a collection of 47 atmospheric studies in jazz, as well as a sprinkling of color photographs from Mr. Berger’s travels abroad.
Because of the photographer’s access to and understanding of the musicians, the works reveal behind-the-scenes glimpses of the performers. There’s a casually dressed Benny Goodman directing a rehearsal, just a year before his death in 1986. Notoriously obstinate, the late clarinetist treated Mr. Berger like one of the guys.
"I knew a couple of people in the band and they snuck me in," he says. "Goodman had a reputation for being difficult, but he was quite friendly and made some jokes about me being there."
The textured hands of trumpeter Wycliffe Gordon are captured in close up. Cornetist Ruby Braff strikes an introspective pause between numbers during a recording session. New Jersey native Warren Vache seems regal but menacing as he glowers at the camera and Christian McBride, captured outside his office, looks to be in a pensive mood. There are also shots of Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis and the late Benny Carter in the exhibit. Mr. Berger says he had a special relationship with the latter, thanks to his father.
"My family had a long association with Benny Carter," he says. "In the ’70s, my father brought Benny Carter to Princeton many times to lecture and our whole family got to know him fairly well. I established an association with him and later he asked me to work with him as his road manager and record producer. So there are many photos of him in the exhibit.
"I tried to mix in known people like Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter with some lesser known people who never got the public acclaim that their talent warranted," he continues. "Some have worked as sidemen all their lives. A few of the subjects are obscure but I happened to like the photos."
A fascination with photography came even earlier than Mr. Berger’s love for jazz. He started playing with his father’s twin-lens reflex camera as a child, prompting Monroe Berger to buy his son a Kodak Brownie when he was 10. By the age of 15, young Ed had transformed the family bathroom into a dark room.
Mr. Berger’s first jazz photos were taken at a Louis Armstrong concert in Lambertville in 1966.
"It was called the Lambertville Music Circus, and they brought in some performers in the ’60s and ’70s," Mr. Berger says. "There was a revolving stage which was perfect for photography because you could sit in one place and get all different angles. I was about 16 or 17 and it was the only time I saw Louis Armstrong in person. To hear him play was extraordinary. Compared to other trumpeters, he sounded like he was playing a different instrument."
Many of the photos were taken with available light in nightclubs, so they have a subdued feeling, perhaps with a trail of cigarette smoke wafting toward the low lights. Mr. Berger says most of the clubs don’t mind photographers as long as they don’t use a flash, but things are getting more restricted, just in the last few years.
"In New York, it’s sort of mixed," he says. "The Blue Note doesn’t seem to care as long as you pay to get in, but in some other places, photography is restricted. Sometimes it just depends on the artist."
He notes that for more famous artists playing in large venues, photographers are only allowed to shoot during the first five minutes of the concert. Perhaps record companies are concerned about private shooters profiting from images of their artists. Mr. Berger has always been considerate of his subjects, sending the musicians copies of his work. He is also concerned about not intruding on their performances.
"I try to press the shutter and not disturb people," he says. "My Leica is very quiet but my digital camera is kind of noisy. I have to time it at a concert or club unless there is a loud drummer to drown out the sound."
This is one of the reasons why Mr. Berger has shot so many musicians rehearsing or recording, or not even playing at all.
"In putting this show together, I discovered most of my favorites are the ones of musicians when they’re not playing," he says. "I gravitate to them holding the instrument or posed without the instrument at all. As far as the studio shots, I’ve been around a lot of recording sessions and I’ve developed a sense of when someone is likely to have an interesting expression."
Influenced by jazz photographers such as David Redfern, Mr. Berger has assembled an impressive array of images. It never occurred to him to have a show and it took the prompting of Lynn Mullins, director of the Dana Library, to motivate him.
"I’ve had a few images displayed elsewhere but never a solo thing," he says. "Lynn is interested in exhibiting art in the library building, which has a lot of wall space. She was aware of my photography and put out the idea a few years ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but when it got closer I started to panic. But it was fun putting it together and it gave me a reason to get organized. I printed most of the images fresh, some in the darkroom and some digitally."
"We’ve wanted to show off some of Ed’s incredible photos for years," Ms. Mullins says. "His colleagues have long known how talented he is. Now we can share those talents with both people who love jazz and everyone who appreciates fine photography."
Just a Mood: Jazz and Other Images, 1966-2006 by Ed Berger is on view at the
John Cotton Dana Library, 185 University Ave., Rutgers University, Newark, through
Jan. 19. Library hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. 10
a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m. Call to confirm Dana Room availability: (973) 353-5222.
On the Web: www.newark.rutgers.edu