Grade: 6 This music exerts a bulldog grip on your consciousness. One moment of passionate virtuosity follows another in a progression of thematic and dramatic development that allows no inattention and immerses the listener in an experience that encompasses qualities of the best 20th Century classical music and the epitome of ensemble jazz. And it does all this while integrating individual solo contributions from the players that maintain the complex textures and threads of the music while coloring them with personal expression. Dave Berger's music is a synthesis of musical cultures that has enduring value, not a cheapening of the art of jazz by the inclusion of mundane pop elements in place of the development of fresh jazz ideas. This is a real "fusion". - Chuck Israels, composer, bassist
