Frank Carlberg

by David R. AdlerFinnish-born pianist and composer Frank Carlberg has developed a musical vision that blends aspects of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus with contemporary classical and avant-garde influences. He has won numerous awards, performed all over the world with the likes of Steve Lacy, George Garzone, Ron McClure, the Either/Orchestra, and Christine Correa, and taught at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, and Oulunkyla Jazz Conservatory.
Carlberg's debut as a leader came in 1993 with Blind Drive. Ugly Beauty, a duo recording with Christine Correa, followed in 1994. A quintet session titled Crazy Woman followed in 1996. Variations on a Summer Day, Carlberg's particularly ambitious 2000 effort, is a song cycle for jazz ensemble and voice based entirely on the text of a poem by Wallace Stevens.