Rob Burger

Biography

Burger began playing piano at an early age, starting his formal training at age 6 with renowned pianist Jeffrey Marcus. He played in local and school bands during his youth, and then went on to study classical performance at the University of Massachusetts with pianist Nigel Cox, as well as African American Studies and improvisation under the direction of Yusef Lateef. In 1994, he was recruited as accordionist, to the Bill Frisell Band, featuring Joey Baron, Kermit Driscoll, and Don Byron. Burger moved to San Francisco in 1995 and formed the Tin Hat Trio. With them, he co-wrote and co-produced four critically acclaimed recordings for various major labels. The group's recordings Helium and The Rodeo Eroded each feature guest vocal performances by Tom Waits and Willie Nelson. In 2001, Burger moved back to New York where he worked closely with composer John Zorn, contributing as a featured soloist to many of his scores and recordings. He has released two full-length solo recordings on the Tzadik label, entitled Lost Photograph (2002) and City of Strangers (2009)

Composer and Improvisor

Burger has scored and contributed as a soloist to a number of feature and documentary films including Everything is Illuminated, directed by Liev Schreiber; Diminished Capacity, directed by Terry Kinney; 360, directed by Fernando Meirelles; The Treatment, directed by Oren Rudavsky; The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta; East Of Acadia; Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch; The Disappearance of McKinley Nolan, directed by Henry Corra; Chelsea on the Rocks, directed by Abel Ferrara; and the Oscar nominated film Nebraska, directed by Alexander Payne.

A versatile composer and player, Rob has also served as a "do-it-all, one-stop shop" for commercials seeking original music. In 2013 and 2014, he worked with clients including Toyota, Safeway, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Scholastic, and Mercedes-Benz.

In 2017, Burger scored the film Trouble, directed by Theresa Rebeck, and starring Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman, and David Morse.

Instrumentalist, Arranger, and Music Director

Burger has teamed up with some of the greatest names in music for much larger scale productions. Beginning in 2003, Burger became an active arranger and music director for various live performances produced by Hal Willner, that celebrated the artistry of Leonard Cohen, Bill Withers, Doc Pomus, among others.

In 2008, he performed the music of Bernard Herrmann as a featured soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has shared the stage with, and has contributed to the recordings of many acclaimed artists including Elvis Costello, David Hidalgo, Marianne Faithfull, Sting, Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Antony & the Johnsons, Lucinda Williams, Tracy Chapman, Iron & Wine, Beth Orton, and Laurie Anderson. He has collaborated in the studio with musicians Jim Keltner, Brian Blade, Marc Ribot, Greg Cohen, and Bill Laswell.

In 2011, after several years of working with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Burger was asked to produce the song “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” for the soundtrack of Twilight Breaking Dawn – Part 1. He then went on to arrange and provide music direction for the band’s fifth release Ghost On Ghost, and a world tour that followed.

In 2014, he was invited to perform in Hal Willner's project Sleeping in the Devil’s Bed: The Music of Daniel Lanois, as part of Toronto's Luminato Festival. Daniel Lanois was present and featured, along with Emmylou Harris.

In 2017, Burger was reunited with Iron & Wine to record their sixth album, Beast Epic. The recordings took place in Chicago at the band Wilco's studio, The Loft.

As leader

As session musician

As composer of score

As composer of featured works

As featured soloist

(Discography and soundtrack credits collected from AllMusic) and Rob Burger’s official website