Rutgers-Newark Heralds New Jazz Exhibit

From now until January 19, the Newark community can enjoy “Just a Mood: Jazz and Other Images, 1966-2006,” a collection of 54 of  the several thousand photographs taken by Ed Berger, Associate Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies.  Together the mostly black-and-white photographs combine Berger's interests in jazz, travel, and photography, and include jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Carter.

Berger's affinity for jazz can be credited to his father Morroe Berger's influence.  “My father was a big jazz fan, so I grew up hearing records playing around the house,” Berger said in an interview.  Morroe's love for all things jazz was lifelong, and through it he met and befriended Benny Carter.  Their ties were so close that Ed came to regard Carter as part of the family.  In that capacity – and further strengthening his jazz palette – Berger served as Carter's producer and road manager on several occasions within the U.S. and abroad in eastern Asia.

But more extensive than his love for jazz is Berger's skill in photography.  Starting at the age of ten with his father's twin-lens reflex camera, Berger acquired a Kodak Brownie and eventually turned one of his father's bathrooms into a darkroom.  His photographs have since appeared on numerous jazz albums and periodicals, including the Jazz Times in which he doubles as a contributing writer.

“Combining photography and jazz seemed like a natural thing,” he told the Targum, “Visually, the settings [for the exhibit images] are quite interesting.”