Berg Trades Blackboard for Keyboard

Despite his position as director of the USC Jazz Studies department, pianist Shelly Berg is no stuffed-shirt academic. A whirlwind of motion on the piano bench who never sounds a dull note, Berg gave a lesson in exuberance Thursday at Steamers Cafe in Fullerton with a first set filled with moments of high emotion and drama.

The occasion was a CD release party with a twist: Copies of Berg’s forthcoming recording, “The Will: A Tribute to Oscar Peterson,” were held up because of problems at the pressing plant. Berg carried on without; a few demonstration pressings were sold, and orders were taken. Though the discs were absent, the music itself made a grand appearance.

Like Peterson, Berg has an extensive knowledge of jazz piano styles and his dense solos often come as history lessons. Bits of Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Bud Powell and Peterson could be heard as the set progressed, all held together by Berg’s boundless enthusiasm.

His improvisations, especially on up-tempo tunes, leaped forward on thick, hammered chords and long swirling lines. His sense of lyricism kept the solos accessible, much like a well-thought-out lecture, but without the dryness.

*

Working with bassist Trey Henry and drummer Randy Drake (the new album employs Peterson veterans Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums) and vibraphonist Tom Cummings, an old friend from Berg’s boyhood days in Houston, Berg stretched out on Peterson’s “Blues Etude” and made shimmering statements in tandem with the vibes on “L’Impossible.”

Though it had been eight years since they performed together, Berg and Cummings melded their sounds with an ear for tonal quality and rhythmic accent. On Cummings’ “Be-Bop Doesn’t Live Here Any More,” they traded progressively hotter and hotter lines to a fiery crescendo.

“Tenderly” was given anything but tender treatment as the pianist moved between moods and tempos. The set’s most offbeat number was Berg’s reading of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” which he graced with a long, intense, unaccompanied coda.

This performance from professor-pianist Berg belied the often-quoted old saw “Those who can’t, teach.” The respected educator is someone who practices what he teaches.