“The great drummer Art Blakey once told a young musician: ‘Play with conviction. The audience isn't interested in self-doubt.’ With this album, his first for Concord Records, Shelly Berg flies the Blakey flag proudly, delivering a stunning set packed with thrills and surprises. It's not just music with conviction: it's the pianistic equivalent of a day on the roller coaster followed by a night of intimacies by the fire…There is rapture in this music and a good deal more. Wit. Humanity. And bravura performances by three artists playing at the very top of their game. Grab a seat: Professor Berg's seminar on The Art of Jazz is about to begin.”—from liner notes by David Browning "Shelly Berg is a great jazz pianist who seems to have total command of his instrument. He is talented, too, as a composer, arranger and group leader, which is evident in the way he utilizes in his trio the excellent playing of his drummer and bassist." —Dave Brubeck