Dick Berk was born Richard Alan Berk on May 22nd, 1939 in San Francisco, California. He started playing drums very soon, backing many different artists.
Probably his most remarkable fact is that he was the last drummer for the mythical Billie Holiday until her death in July 1959, as well as the 5 years spent with Cal Tjader.
Dick Berk also founded his own combo, called Jazz Adoption Agency, releasing some albums under this monicker.
Dick Berk passed away on February 8th, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. He was 74. This is my tribute to him, although I´m still missing lots of info.
BILLIE HOLIDAY GROUP
This was the powerful Billie Holiday Group around October 1958:
|
BILLIE HOLIDAY GROUP #? |
1958 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Billie Holiday † vocals | Eddie Kahn bass | Mal Waldron † piano | Gerry Mulligan † sax | Benny Carter † sax | Buddy De Franco clarinet |
Dick Berk † drums |
| Other info on members of Billie Holiday Group (I know up to 28 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (2): | Frank Foster, Chico Hamilton |
| To be covered (21): | Benny Carter, Henry Coker, Wendell Culley, Buddy De Franco, Charlie Fowlkes, Freddie Green, Billie Holiday, Bill Hughes, Gus Johnson, Eddie Jones, Reunald Jones, Thad Jones, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Newman, Benny Powell, Don Rendell, Marshall Royal, Tony Scott, Mal Waldron, Frank Wess, Ernie Wilkins |
| Not enough info (4): | Carl Drinkard, Sanford Gold, Eddie Kahn, Joe Springer |
GABOR SZABO GROUP
This was the Gabor Szabo Group in 1967:
Although Dick Berk´s stay in the band was quite brief.
|
GABOR SZABO GROUP #? |
1967 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gabor Szabo † guitar | Jimmy Stewart guitar | Louis Kabok bass | Hal Gordon percussion | Dick Berk † drums |
Although Dick Berk´s stay in the band was quite brief.
| Other info on members of Gabor Szabo Group (I know up to 40 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (39): | Staffan Abeleen, Jan Allan, Joe Beck, Lynn Blessing, Tom Bryant, George Cables, Bruce Carter, John Clauder, Mailto Correa, Tom Coster, Sandra Crouch, John Dentz, Tony Dumas, Felix Flaco Falcon, Sherman Ferguson, Ronnie Gardiner, Mimi Gina, Hal Gordon, Joanne Grauer, Bob Harris, Louis Kabok, Jim Keltner, Greg Lee, Bobby Lyle, Peter Marshall,... up to 39 musicians. |
MILT JACKSON GROUP
This was the Milt Jackson Quintet featuring Ray Brown that recorded the live albums That´s the way it is and Just the way it had to be in August 1969:
|
MILT JACKSON GROUP #? |
1969 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Milt Jackson † vibraphone | Ray Brown † bass | Monty Alexander piano | Teddy Edwards † sax | Dick Berk † drums |
| Other info on members of Milt Jackson Group (I know up to 18 members) | |
|---|---|
| Already covered (1): | James Moody |
| To be covered (16): | Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Eddie ´Lockjaw´ Davis, Lou Donaldson, Ray Drummond, Teddy Edwards, Otis Candy Finch Jr, Billy Higgins, Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Mickey Roker, Jimmie Smith, Clark Terry, Stanley Turrentine, Cedar Walton |
GEORGE DUKE BAND
This was the George Duke Trio around 1969:
|
GEORGE DUKE BAND #? |
1969 |
|
|---|---|---|
George Duke † keyboards | John Heard bass | Dick Berk † drums |
| Other info on members of George Duke Band (I know up to 40 members) | |
|---|---|
| Old pages (1): | Katie Kissoon |
| To be covered (38): | Gabriela Anders, Dean Brown, Ronald Bruner, Jonathan Butler, Gorden Campbell, Leon Ndugu Chancler, Chante, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Ray Cooper, George Duke, Nathan East, Steve Ferrone, Gina Foster, Ray Fuller, Siedah Garrett, Rayford Griffin, Ronnie Gutierrez, Everette Harp, John Heard, Paul Jackson, Jeff Lee Johnson, Arlington Jones, Billy Kilson, Larry Kimpel,... up to 38 musicians. |
CAL TJADER GROUP
Dick Berk stayed in Cal Tjader Group for 5 years and a half, from June 1970 to November 1975, but don´t know all the lineups. Help would be very welcomed!
This was the lineup for Cal Tjader Group in August 1970:
This was the lineup for Cal Tjader Group that released the live album Down at Funky Quarters in 1972:
This was the lineup for Cal Tjader Group that recorded the live album Puttin´ it together in January 1973:
This was the lineup for Cal Tjader Group in August 1970:
|
CAL TJADER GROUP #? |
1970 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cal Tjader † vibraphone | Jim McCabe † bass | Al Zulaica keyboards | Michael Smithe percussion | Dick Berk † drums |
This was the lineup for Cal Tjader Group that released the live album Down at Funky Quarters in 1972:
|
CAL TJADER GROUP #? |
? |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cal Tjader † vibraphone | John Heard bass | Al Zulaica keyboards | Michael Smithe percussion | Dick Berk † drums |
This was the lineup for Cal Tjader Group that recorded the live album Puttin´ it together in January 1973:
|
CAL TJADER GROUP #? |
1973 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cal Tjader † vibraphone | Rob Redfield guitar | John Heard bass | Michael Wolff keyboards | Michael Smithe percussion | Dick Berk † drums |
| Other info on members of Cal Tjader Group (I know up to 24 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (10): | Francisco Aguabella, Willie Bobo, Buddy Catlett, Clare Fischer, Stan Getz, Vince Guaraldi, John Heard, Al McKibbon, Armando Peraza, Cal Tjader |
| Not enough info (13): | Robb Fisher, Ratzo Harris, Lonnie Hewitt, Jim McCabe, Harvey Newmark, Rob Redfield, Pete Riso, Poncho Sanchez, Mongo Santamaria, Michael Smithe, Frank Strazzeri, Michael Wolff, Al Zulaica |
CONTE CANDOLI GROUP
This was the Conte Candoli-Med Flory Quintet that recorded the live album Live at Cappozoli´s - Las Vegas late night sessions_0 in October 1998:
BANDS AND SELECTED RECORDINGS:
SOME SESSIONS:
|
CONTE CANDOLI GROUP #? |
1998 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Conte Candoli † trumpet | Med Flory sax | Tom Warrington bass | Frank Strazzeri piano | Dick Berk † drums |
| Other info on members of Conte Candoli Group (I know up to 6 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (2): | Conte Candoli, Med Flory |
| Not enough info (3): | Chuck Redd, Frank Strazzeri, Tom Warrington |
BANDS AND SELECTED RECORDINGS:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
| Conte Candoli Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Ted Curson Group | 3 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| George Duke Band | 3 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Billie Holiday Group |
| |||||||||
| Milt Jackson Group | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jazz Adoption Agency | 6 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Gabor Szabo Group |
| |||||||||
| Cal Tjader Group | 7 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
SOME SESSIONS:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
| Ron Anthony Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Walter Bishop Jr Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Lenny Breau Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Nick Brignola Group | 4 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Chicago Stompers | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Pete Christlieb Group | 3 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Cunninghams | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Don Friedman Group | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Groove Holmes Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jon Mayer | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Blue Mitchell Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jean-Luc Ponty Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Charlie Shoemake Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Frank Strazzeri Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Dick Sudhalter Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jessica Williams Group | 5 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| The Zeet Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
RELATED MUSICIANS:
Dick Berk mostly worked with these musicians: (name + number of credits)
John Heard (12)
Cal Tjader (7)
George Duke (6)
Ernie Watts (6)
Jessica Williams (6)
Ed Bogas (5)
Jeff Johnson (5)
Andy Martin (5)
Michael Smithe (5)
Nick Brignola (4)
Page created by Miguel Terol on: 28/February/2014 - Last modified on: 28/February/2014. If you want to contribute with info, please write to: molympus1@gmail.com
Please, note than you can check the indexes (musicians, bands, obituaries) at the top of this page.