With the floating—and often melancholic—sound of the pedal steel guitar, Luke Bergman tells stories that find a unique resonance in the nocturnal atmosphere of St. Thomas Church during his Leipzig debut.

“It’s my singing voice,” the legendary musician and producer Daniel Lanois once said about the pedal steel guitar. A metaphor, of course. But at the same time, it’s much more than that—with its characteristic vibrato and smooth transitions between notes, this stringed instrument, which revolutionized country music in the United States a good 100 years ago, can indeed be made to sing. 

No one knows this better than Luke Bergman: Many people know this American multi-instrumentalist for his work as a bassist, for example in the Bill Frisell Trio. However, as he never tires of emphasizing, he sees the pedal steel as his primary voice. With its ethereal—and often melancholic—sound, he is able to tell stories that find a unique resonant space during his Leipzig debut in the nocturnal atmosphere of St. Thomas Church.

Bergmann’s playful finesse can be heard, for example, on his most recent trio album, recorded with Jason Burger and Martin Nevin. Despite the music’s melodic accessibility, he never resorts to overly predictable sounds. Instead, he repeatedly incorporates harmonic twists that continue to amaze even upon repeated listening.

Bergman’s musical openness is particularly evident in pieces such as “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and “Reflections in D,” which blend the rhythmic complexity of jazz with the melodic simplicity of popular Americana music. But the harmonic diversity of experimental music also shines through in his playing time and again. In this way, he proves himself to be the personification ofa melting pot ofmodern 20th-century American sounds.