Shelly Berg – Alegria (ENG review)

Street Date – July 19th 2024
Jazz
Shelly Berg – Alegria

Alegria is the new album by pianist Shelly Berg, who is also featured on many albums by trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. He is surrounded by a magnificent team of musicians: Carlitos Del Puerto on bass, Dafnis Prieto on drums, and special guest Melvin Butler on tenor saxophone. This album mixes Shelly Berg’s personal compositions with rearranged covers of Bernstein and The Beatles, making it a mixed bag. From my perspective, Shelly Berg excels in accompanying artists and arranging albums, and here he offers a good quality album, but it is too verbose.

Moreover, the most interesting moments on this album are when Shelly intelligently gives space to his fellow musicians. It is in these moments that Shelly Berg’s contributions are most impactful and essential. “It is really important that there is a relationship between the artist and the audience,” Berg says. “The more the audience feels included in the music, the better time everyone has—the more opportunities there are for the music to do what it does—touch and move them.” This unique know-how is certainly Berg’s most beautiful and expressive talent.

Berg has collaborated with jazz greats and legendary international artists, including Gloria Estefan, Arturo Sandoval, Steve Miller, and Pharrell Williams, among others. He draws inspiration not only from his experiences but also from those around him who share these experiences and continuously invite him to change his perspective.

I would say that the main flaw of this album is its scattered nature. Musically, this album is of high quality, but it is hard to grasp the overall musical proposition. However, this allows all the artists on the album to be heard and appreciated for their various qualities, which is already something.

The theme of this album revolves around the various facets of joy, which is probably the reason for this musical patchwork. In this sense, the project holds up, but personally, I do not fully connect with it, as I have a preference for more structured and deeper projects. Nonetheless, I give this album four stars, acknowledging that I do not hold the absolute truth and that everyone can find their interest in this project. I will leave the last word to Shelly Berg: “I hope the whole recording feels like a big story made up of smaller ones,” says Berg. “I want people to feel connected to the music and the arc of the album.”. »

Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News

PARIS-MOVE, July 18th 2024

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