Shelly Berg

Berg began his career at San Jacinto College North in Northshore, Houston, Texas, as chair of instrumental music from 1979 to 1981. He then served as chair of instrumental music and commercial music at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas from 1981 to 1991.[8] He performed with trumpeter Larry Martinez and singer Marilyn Savage in Larry and Marilyn and the Brass Connection [4] He learned to play Latin montunos from Kido Zapata during this time. He composed and arranged music for regional and national advertising campaigns[8] and worked with Mickey Gilley and Bill Watrous.[9]

In 1991, Berg moved to Los Angeles to join the music faculty at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.[10] He was the McCoy/Sample endowed professor of jazz from 2004 to 2007,[11] chair of Jazz Studies from 1994 to 2004, professor from 1998 to 2007, associate professor from 1995 to 1998, and assistant professor from 1991 to 1995.

Berg was president of the International Association for Jazz Education from 1996 to 1998.[12] He was named one of three "Educators for the Millennium" by The Los Angeles Times in 1999[4] and received the Dean's Award for Scholarship and Research from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2005.

He wrote Jazz Improvisation: The Goal-Note Method (Kendor), the Chop-Monster jazz improvisation series (Alfred), Essentials of Jazz Theory series (Alfred), and co-wrote Rhythm Section Workshop for Jazz Directors (Alfred) plus arrangements for big band published by Kendor and Walrus.

Berg worked with Hollywood studio arranger Dick Marx and Tom Halm at Sunset Sound Recording Studios. He was a composer and arranger for the CBS television series A League of Their Own (1993), the weekly ABC television series Fudge (1995–1997), and was orchestrator for the motion picture Almost Heroes. He recorded with the Shelly Berg Trio, including The Joy (DMP, 1995), The Will: A Tribute to Oscar Peterson (CARS, 1998), and Blackbird (Concord, 2005). In 2006, he arranged songs on the album Ray Sings, Basie Swings (Concord, 2006) and was music director and pianist on the Great Performances television show We Love Ella! A Tribute to the First Lady of Song (PBS, 2007).[13]

In 2007, Berg was named dean of Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.[14] He is a teacher for the Frost Experiential Music Curriculum.[15] Berg is a Steinway artist,[16] music director of The Jazz Cruise, artistic advisor to Larry Rosen's JazzRoots Series at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, and host of the monthly Generation Next radio show on Sirius XM.

• The Joy (DMP, 1996)
• The Will (CARS, 1997)
• First Takes (Azica, 2005)
• Blackbird (Concord Jazz, 2005)
• Meeting of Minds with Dick Hyman (Victoria, 2008)
• The Nearness of You (Arbors, 2009)
• The Deep (Chesky, 2017)
• Gershwin Reimagined (Decca, 2018)

With Lorraine Feather

• Ages (Jazzed Media, 2010)
• Attachments (Jazzed Media, 2013)
• Dooji Wooji (Sanctuary, 2005)
• Flirting with Disaster (Jazzed Media, 2015)
• Language (Jazzed Media, 2008)
• Math Camp (Relarion, 2018)
• Such Sweet Thunder (Sanctuary, 2003)
• Tales of the Unusual (Jazzed Media, 2012)

With Bill Watrous

• Bone-ified (GNP Crescendo, 1992)
• A Time for Love (GNP Crescendo, 1993)
• Space Available (Double-Time, 1997)

With others

• Patti Austin, Sound Advice (Shanachie, 2011)
• Carmen Bradford, Home with You (Azica, 2004)
• Ray Charles & Count Basie, Ray Sings Basie Swings (Hear Music/Concord, 2006)
• Bruce Eskovitz, Regions (Backstage, 2003)
• Renee Fleming, Christmas in New York (Decca, 2014)
• Keb Mo, Moonlight, Mistletoe & You (Concord, 2019)
• Kiss, Psycho Circus (Mercury, 1998)
• Monica Mancini, Ultimate Mancini (Concord, 2004)
• Rich Matteson, Pardon Our Dust We're Making Changes (Four Leaf Clover, 1990)
• Arturo Sandoval, A Time for Love (Concord Jazz, 2010)
• Arturo Sandoval, Dear Diz (Concord Jazz, 2012)
• Livingston Taylor, Safe Home (Chesky, 2017)