arts & entertainment Free-For-All Music lovers will enjoy a multitude of free jazz concerts this Labor Day weekend. I Suzanne Chessler Contributing Writer avid Berger's most recent record- ing introduces unpublished songs by the late film composer Harry Warren, but none of those will be heard as he appears in three separate concerts at the 34th annual Detroit Jazz Festival. With his band from New York featur- ing vocals by brilliant, young jazz phenom Cecile McLorin Salvant, Berger will be conducting some 15 new arrangements he planned for her performance on Saturday evening, Aug. 31. On Sunday afternoon, he will be conduct- ing an arrangement he wrote for a Dave Brubeck tune showcased in the Dave Brubeck Tribute Series. On Monday afternoon, he will lead the Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra play- ing The Music of Duke Ellington. "I'm happy to be in three shows," says Berger, 64, in a phone conversation from his New York home. "Each one is quite different from the others and will be high quality. "Last year, I conducted a Duke Ellington concert of sacred music at the festival. That was the first time I was there, but I've performed several times in Michigan. I've been in the state conducting the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and The Harlem Nutcracker. "I think Detroit has the best festival in the world. Every performer is handpicked by artistic director Chris Collins, a great musician, and selections are presented in a very tasteful and professional way." Berger, also a composer, has many proj- ects in the works as he travels to the Motor City — a Broadway musical about politics and romance, a jazz version of Porgy and Bess, a Duke Ellington Christmas show and arrangements for other performers. In October, his will be the house band for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, a televised public television show honoring Carol Burnett. "There's a lot of variety in my work, which I like he says. "I'm fortunate that I have a profession that pays me to travel:' Berger, raised in a Jewish home where classical and pop music were appreciated, became fascinated with the piano as he watched his mother play; he started taking lessons by the time he was 5. "We spent Sundays with my grand- parents, and my grandfather always had to watch The Ed Sullivan Show," Berger recalls. "When Louis Armstrong came on, my grandfather would call him 'the great- est musician in the world: "When I was in third grade, we saw a film that had different musicians playing different instruments and were asked if we wanted to play. Since Louis Armstrong was playing the trumpet, I wanted to play the trumpet. "In junior high school, I was in the concert band playing classical music and was asked to join the dance band. That was the first time I played jazz, and I was hooked:" Berger wrote music for his high school band, and the director introduced him to professional instrumentalists in New York, paving the way for early performance and writing associations with those players. After attending Ithaca College, Berger spent summers at the Berklee College of Music and the Eastman School of Music. He earned his master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music and played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the National Jazz Ensemble. "I got a reputation for being able to write and copy sounds off recordings and started to work on shows, mov- ies and records," he recalls. "I've taught at Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School for about 30 years. "In 1988, I started working with Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center, and we formed the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. I con- ducted that for the first six years and still write for them and occasionally conduct "I've had my own group, the David Berger Jazz Orchestra, on and off for 40 years. We've had most of the same people since 1996, and it's been like a family and inspiring for me:' Over the years, Berger has noted some changes in jazz with the addition of longer pieces, although improvisation remains at the core of the style. "Jazz encourages musicians to be them- selves and create music of the moment," says Berger, divorced with two grown children and two grandchildren. "Imitating any other musician means being a second-rate someone else. Anyone playing jazz well is modern. "I think I was drawn to jazz by the individuality. The rhythm of swing and the language of the blues spoke to me as American. I can't escape those sounds. It's all about who I am:" Berger, who has recorded a number of albums, came to play Harry Warren's songs at the suggestion of a longtime friend, attorney Robert Schwartz, also a musician and producer of two of Berger's albums — I Had the Craziest Dream: The Music of Harry Warren and his latest, Sing Me a Love Song — Harry Warren's Undiscovered Standards. Moving on to the Detroit Jazz Festival, Berger thinks of the outdoor setting. "When we perform indoors, we don't need any amplification," he explains. "It's all acoustic except for the singers. "When we're outdoors, we're playing for thousands of people. Acoustic sounds would just go up into the atmosphere so we need amplification for people to hear what we're playing. have starred in moody, "darker" films. Foster, who has been dating Penn's ex-wife, Robin Wright, 47, for the last two years, co- stars in Ain't Them Bodies Saints, a gritty, modern film that evokes the clas- sic Western. It opens Foster Friday, Sept. 6. Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara star as a couple who go on a Texas crime spree. Affleck's character is finally jailed and, not long after, Mara's char- acter gives birth to his child. Foster plays a deputy sheriff who looks in on Mara's character and the baby – and maybe he is being more than just nice. Opening Friday, Aug. 30, is Getaway, starring Ethan Hawke as a race-car driver whose wife is kidnapped. David Berger appears in Detroit Jazz Festival concerts on Aug. 31, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. "The real upside of being outdoors is that we get to play for more people. Because it's all free, we're playing for people who love the music, whether they're rich, poor or in- between. Everybody is equal, and that's the American way:" ❑ The Detroit Jazz Festival runs Friday- Monday, Aug. 30-Sept. 2, in Hart Plaza and Campus Martius in Downtown Detroit. David Berger appears 9:30- 10:45 p.m. Saturday, 4:30-5:45 p.m. Sunday and 3:15-4:30 p.m. Monday on the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage. For a complete schedule, call (313) 447- 1248 or go to www.detroitjazzfest.com . Labor Day Fun Other Labor Day weekend events inc lude: Peach Festival of Romeo: Aug. 29 Sept. 2, various locations. Savor peach pies amid carnival rides, sports tournaments and craft shows. www.peachfestromeo. - 31-Sept. 2, various locations. Take in parades, boat races and rides along with ethnic music and foods. www. hamtownfest.com . COM. Arts, Beats & Eats: Aug. 30 Sept. 2, - downtown Royal Oak. Become a char- ity partner with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, JARC or other organizations while enjoying music, art- istry and foods. www.artsbeatseats.com. Michigan State Fair: Aug. 30 Sept. 2, - Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. Experience the Shrine Circus, farming achievements, music, and fun contests. www.michiganstatefairl1c.org . Hamtramck Labor Day Festival: Aug. Michigan Renaissance Festival: Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Holly (the festival continues weekends through Sept. 29). Go back in time with costumes, competitive meets and foods. www.michrenfest.com . Dancing in the Streets: Sept. 1, Main and Washington streets, Ann Arbor. Try different styles of dance, and watch con- certs. www.aactmad.org . Village of Franklin Roundup: Sept. 2, central Franklin. See some fine art, and participate in activities. www.franklin. mi.us . ❑ Jews Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News At The Movies Sean Penn, 52, and Ben Foster, 33, have much in common. Both are sons of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers (Foster was raised Jewish; Penn was raised secu- lar). Both started young and, after a couple of early "sunny" roles, mostly 118 August 29 • 2013 JN Toronto native Courtney Solomon, 41, directs this flick, which is part of a whole series of action films Solomon is producing that are being made relatively cheaply and are tai- lored to an interna- tional audience that loves action. ❑ Solomon