Two great and favorite records. Two great tenor players and as different as they are great. Interesting to compare indeed.
First, one has to consider that they are (sadly, “were” in the case of the younger Berg) about twenty years apart in age. Coleman was earning his stripes during the heyday of the bebop era. He started on alto saxophone and, no surprise, he credits Charlie Parker as his main early influence. He later switched to tenor. He is an extremely lyrical player and very much a traditionalist in overall concept having escaped the Coltrane tsunami that would shape, to one degree or another, the styles of almost every tenor player that came up from about the mid 1950s forward.
Two solos that come to mind as great examples of his lyricism:
https://youtu.be/hwmRQ0PBtXU
https://youtu.be/XdrAzpYdOYs
Bob Berg was undeniably and unabashedly a Coltrane disciple. Very expressive player with a much more aggressive tone concept that would sometimes sound to me like the horn was splitting at the seams. The Coltrane influence can also be heard in his more “outside” (the harmony) harmonic language and a much more angular shape to his improvised phrases; as compared to Coleman’s more linear and lyrical style. Like other “post-Coltrane“ players of his generation the influence of Fusion and Funk can be heard in some of his playing.
https://youtu.be/8DOh352DetI
https://youtu.be/jzcgAaWK5GM
First, one has to consider that they are (sadly, “were” in the case of the younger Berg) about twenty years apart in age. Coleman was earning his stripes during the heyday of the bebop era. He started on alto saxophone and, no surprise, he credits Charlie Parker as his main early influence. He later switched to tenor. He is an extremely lyrical player and very much a traditionalist in overall concept having escaped the Coltrane tsunami that would shape, to one degree or another, the styles of almost every tenor player that came up from about the mid 1950s forward.
Two solos that come to mind as great examples of his lyricism:
https://youtu.be/hwmRQ0PBtXU
https://youtu.be/XdrAzpYdOYs
Bob Berg was undeniably and unabashedly a Coltrane disciple. Very expressive player with a much more aggressive tone concept that would sometimes sound to me like the horn was splitting at the seams. The Coltrane influence can also be heard in his more “outside” (the harmony) harmonic language and a much more angular shape to his improvised phrases; as compared to Coleman’s more linear and lyrical style. Like other “post-Coltrane“ players of his generation the influence of Fusion and Funk can be heard in some of his playing.
https://youtu.be/8DOh352DetI
https://youtu.be/jzcgAaWK5GM