Karl Heinz Berger (born March 19, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a musicologist with a PhD in Music Esthetics, jazz composer, jazz vibraphonist|vibraphone and jazz piano|piano player. Together with Ornette Coleman and Ingrid Sertso he founded the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock(N.Y.). During the 1990's he taught jazz music and ensemble playing as a professor in Frankfurt.

Most of his output has been rather experimental music, and he has been active in Free Jazz circles, recording with Carla Bley, Don Cherry, Lee Konitz, John McLaughlin , Gunther Schuller, the Mingus Epitaph Orchestra, Dave Holland, Pharoah Sanders and many others. Berger continuously won the Down Beat critics poll in the category of the best jazz vibraphone player of the year between 1969 until 1975.

=== See also ===

Escalator Over the Hill

All this talk of "Free Jazz" makes Karl Berger sound like a scary musician, while nothing could be further from the truth. Berger's piano trio albums for Black Saint/Soul Jazz such as Transit or Crystal Fire are elegant, generally melodic excursions similar to his contemporaries Paul Bley and Joachim Kuhn, and influenced by his association with Ornette Coleman but also Carla Bley.

Karl Berger became noted for his innovative arrangements for recordings by Jeff Buckley ("Grace"), Natalie Merchant ("Ophelia"), Better Than Ezra, The Cardigans, Jonatha Brooke, Buckethead, Bootsie Collins, The Swans, Sly + Robbie, Angelique Kidjo a.o.; and for his collaborations with producers Bill Laswell, Alan Douglas ("Operazone"), Peter Collins, Andy Wallace, Craig Street, Alain Mallet, Malcolm Burn and many others.

In 2004, Berger was named Chairman of the UMass/Dartmouth Music Department, where he has also moved his Creative Musicians Studio from its residence in Woodstock, NY.

He has also cooperated and performed in association with Ed Sarath, professor and chair of the Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Studies at the University of Michigan.

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