Continued: Final Notes

The Emporium operated for 25 years, featuring the Hall Brothers on many weekends and bringing to Minnesota the last of the old New Orleans originals, such as Kid Thomas, Punch Miller and the other Preservation Hall figures, along with the best of the contemporary performers of traditional jazz. The Hall Brothers band and the Emporium are included in the Minnesota Historical Society's current sesquicentennial exhibit recognizing 150 people, places and ideas that helped shape the state's first 150 years.

Like many musicians, Berg had another career in parallel to his music. After serving in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, the Wausau, Wisc., native attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, then graduate school at the University of Minnesota after the 1962 move to Minneapolis. In 1968 he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

He was a respected and well-liked associate professor of Spanish, credited with establishing the university's semester-abroad program in Mexico. Sandra Soares, a retired professor of modern languages, said Berg was "a terrific colleague, a wonderful teacher. The kids loved him. He taught all levels of Spanish," including the language, literature and culture.

Berg retired from the university in 1995 after 27 years and began to devote all his time to music and travel. In addition to Twin Cities performances, he was a regular player at the New Orleans French Quarter Festival and with the late Norrie Cox's Wisconsin-based New Orleans Stompers, notably at the 2003 Tribute to Bix.

"We traveled the world," his wife, Mimi Trudeau, said. They did indeed see much of the world on a 2007 tour and had musical friends in Japan, Europe and Australia. She said that the leader of the New Orleans Rascals, a Japanese band, told her the Rascals were dedicating their June 28 concert in Osaka to Doggie.

"I went to all the gigs," Berg's wife said. "That was the deal we had in our marriage. His music was my life." She said she knew and loved him as "a raspy, bluesy singer, a raconteur, wordsmith and a walking dictionary. His life was filled with optimism, joy and hilarious jokes."

Charlie DeVore said that Berg was a good "collegiate dixieland" drummer when the two met in 1957 and Berg developed a true New Orleans style by the time he joined the Hall Brothers band. "He embraced it 100 percent," DeVore said. "He loved Sammy Penn," an old New Orleans colleague of Kid Thomas whom Berg came to know, "and admired Baby Dodds." DeVore praised Berg's emphasis on the snare drum and agreed with a fan's assessment that Berg was one of the best snare drummers of his generation.

The Bill Evans band, with DeVore's son, Chuck, 48, on drums, will appear as the reconvened Hall Brothers Jazz Band at the Great River Jazz Festival Aug. 8-10 in LaCrosse, Wis. (www.lacrossejazz.com). Evans said their sets will serve as a memorial to Berg as well as a tribute to founder Stan Hall, who is not expected to attend because of health problems. Others expected to play are Russ Hall, DeVore, Butch Thompson and Mike Polad.

In addition to his wife, Berg is survived by sons Clint, Nashville, Tenn., and Jason, Minnetonka, Minn.; stepsons Brent Griffin, Burnsville, Minn., and Philip Griffin, Minneapolis, and a brother, Stu Berg, of Wausau. A celebration of Berg's life was held June 30 in River Falls, Wisc. Friends in Toronto, New Orleans, Australia and Japan remembered him in tributes at the same time.

Memorials are preferred to the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, 2820 Napolean Ave., #890, New Orleans, LA 70115.

Swing Pioneer Nat Temple Dies

by Derek Coller

Nat Temple was an early swing pioneer on the British dance band scene. Born in London on July 18, 1913, he worked in clarinetist and singer Harry Roy's band for nine years, from 1931 to 1940, when he joined the Grenadier Guards. He played on records for Roy in the same way that Benny Goodman did for Ted Lewis! During the war he made a few recordings with drummer Joe Daniels, Geraldo's orchestra (including his own composition "Canzonetta") and Phil Green's Dixieland Band. After the war he led his own band, later becoming well-known for his work on numerous popular radio and television shows. He provided accompaniments for many touring singers, including Hoagy Carmichael and Mel Torme. In 1993 he was nominated for an Emmy for his soundtracks to two television documentaries. Nat Temple died May 30, 2008.

July 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

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