Although he was schooled in classical piano at Juilliard, Burger's musical interests expanded quickly, leading him to study improvisation with Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp and Max Roach at the University of Massachusetts. Burger found himself drawn to the Hammond organ and the accordion, and to the many musical traditions associated with those instruments.

He has toured North America and Europe performing on accordion with Bill Frisell alongside jazz luminaries Don Byron and Joey Baron, and has contributed to several of Frisell's soundtracks, including the television special "Tales from the Far Side" and the film "La Scuola."

Burger is one of the Bay Area's busiest musicians, working with the Old Joe Clarks, Tipsy, MixMaster Mike, and Jim Campilongo. He is a member of the band Oranj Symphonette, which released its second CD on Rykodisc in October 1998, and of the burgeoning "tin hat trio," which released its first CD, Memory is an Elephant, on Sony's Angel label.