Borah Bergman - A New Frontier (1983)

On the years Bergman has broken down any residual distinction between left -and right- hand functions in piano-playing. On the two large-scale pieces wich make up "A New Frontier" he sets up huge whirling shapes with each hand, which then engage in confrontational dialogue. There is something slightly mechanistic about the playing on "Night Circus" that makes one think of the player-piano pieces of Colon Nancarrow, but this is eliminated on the remarkable "Time For Intensity", a more richly coloured pair of contrating pieces, the second of which, "Webs And Whirlpools", is quite astonishing. (The Penguin Guide To Jazz Recordings, Ninth Edition).

The similarities in style between pianist Borah Bergman and Cecil Taylor cannot be denied. Bergman, like Taylor, assaults, cajoles, and fully explores the instrument; there's nothing mild or polite about the way he rips through chords, develops spiraling, teeming two-handed statements, or barrels through the octaves with each hand making its own furious phrases. This contains two lengthy pieces, each broken into movements. This is intense solo piano that requires just as committed and concentrated an effort from the audience as the performer in order to appreciate and follow the direction. (Rob Wynn).

1.- Night Circus
- Part I : By The Red Moon
- Part II : Trapeze

2.- Time For Intensity
- Swift River
- Webs & Whirlpools


Borah Bergman (piano)


Recorded in New York on January, 1983.