12 JAZZTIMES SEPTEMBER 2019
TUCAVIEIRA“It was intimidating at first,” she said.
“Going to jam sessions and meeting
people was scary for me. But I knew it
was something I had to do—I wanted to
get into the scene there.”
New York proved to be fertile ground
for Berliner. “I had a lot of mentors that
really looked out for me and helped me
network and introduced me to the right
people,” she said. Perhaps the most im-
portant of these was one of her teachers,
acclaimed vibes master Stefon Harris:
“He changed my playing permanently,
and my approach to music, to composi-
tion—and to my life. It was all-encom-
passing.” Slated to graduate in 2020,
Berliner admits she doesn’t spend much
time at school anymore, because she’s so
busy touring and performing.
A young female instrumentalist in
a predominantly male scene, Berliner
has had to deal with gender-bias issues,
and she has repeatedly spoken out in
support of women being recognized
equally for their musical ability. She did
that most notably two years ago in an
“Open Letter to Ethan Iverson (and the
Rest of Jazz Patriarchy)” on her website,
which responded to an interview that
Iverson had conducted with keyboard-
ist Robert Glasper for his Do the Math
blog, during which Glasper made someOPENING CHORUS
recording, slated to be released in Sep-
tember on Unseen Rain Records; it will
include all original compositions.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun—a
combination of sonic inspirations,”
Berliner said about the album. “It takes
its inspiration from rock, funk, alter-
native, and other genres, using synth
and strings. There’s also a good balance
of full-length songs and interludes that
will display a harmonic and rhythmic
palette that’s very diverse. It is definitely
going to take the listener on a journey.”
Berliner grew up in Oakland, Calif.,
listening to the rock & roll her parents
played, and started playing drums at
age eight. She auditioned for and got
into the Oakland School for the Arts,
where they asked her if she’d be willing
to learn the vibraphone. However, the
school only offered either a classical
or jazz path. “I didn’t think I had the
technical prowess to play classical, so
I decided to choose jazz,” she recalled.
“The chords are much more interesting
and complex, and I was intrigued by the
improvisational and harmonic aspects,
and by this idea of telling a story on the
spot, and learning how to perfect that.”
In 2016, Berliner moved to New York
to attend the School of Jazz and Con-
temporary Music at the New School.questionable comments about how
women relate to jazz. (You can still read
it at sashaberlinermusic.com/politi-
cal-and-social-commentary-1/2017/9/21/
an-open-letter-to-ethan-iverson-and-
the-rest-of-jazz-patriarchy.)
Fortunately, being her own bandlead-
er has given Berliner a lot of control over
her music and her career. You could see
that at SFJAZZ as she led her band for
that night (Chris McCarthy on piano,
Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, Christian
McGhee on drums, and Morgan Guerin
on saxophone and EWI) through two
sets of her original compositions with
steady grace. The arrangements were
tight and filled with inspired solos
from each of the highly skilled players,
including Berliner, who displayed her
formidable chops on vibes and Mall-
etKAT, a MIDI controller played with
mallets that she uses to create compel-
ling melodic, harmonic, and percussive
sound effects.
Next up for Berliner: further diversi-
fication. Citing Björk and Radiohead as
important influences, she said, “I’m not
tethered to the idea of just doing jazz. In
fact, I’d actually prefer to be more well-
versed in other genres, and be known as
someone who can do all of it.”
LILY O’BRIENJoão Gilberto, the Brazilian guitarist and
singer/songwriter who helped create
the bossa nova genre, died July 6 at
his home in Rio de Janeiro. He was 88.
Born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de
Oliveira, he famously arrived at a new
variation on samba in the mid-1950s by
bringing his guitar into the bathroom of
his sister’s house for extended practice
sessions. His 1959 recording of “Chega
de Saudade” is usually regarded as the
first bossa nova record and made him a
star in his native land. In 1963, Gilberto
and his then-wife Astrud moved to theU.S. and collaborated on a recording
with saxophonist Stan Getz. Their 1964
album Getz/Gilberto featured a new
song, “The Girl from Ipanema” (written
by colleagues Antonio Carlos Jobim and
Vinícius de Moraes), which became
a worldwide hit. With the exception
of a two-year stay in Mexico, Gilberto
remained in the United States until
1980, when he returned to Brazil. His
life thereafter was famously reclusive,
confined to a quiet residence in Rio’s
South Zone; his last live performance
was in 2008.João FAREWELLS
Gilberto
(1931-2019)
in 2006