Kenny Burrell

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Kenny Burrell
Burrell in Buffalo, New York, 1977
Burrell in Buffalo, New York, 1977
Background information
Birth nameKenneth Earl Burrell
Born (1931-07-31) July 31, 1931 (age 90)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
GenresJazz, blues, soul jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, educator
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1951–present
LabelsBlue Note, Prestige, Verve, Fantasy, Fortune, Concord Jazz, Highnote
Associated actsJimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine

Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit Verve album Organ Grinder Swing.[1] He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.[2][3][4]

Burrell is a professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.[5]

Early life[]

Burrell was born in Detroit, Michigan. Both his parents played instruments,[6] and he began playing guitar at the age of 12 after listening to Charlie Christian's recordings. During World War II, due to metal shortage, he abandoned the idea of becoming a saxophonist, and bought an acoustic guitar for $10. He was inspired to play jazz after listening to Oscar Moore, but it was Django Reinhardt who showed him "that you could get your own individuality on an instrument."[7] He went on to study composition and theory with Louis Cabara and classical guitar with Joe Fava. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his recording debut as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951,[8] followed by the "Rose of Tangier"/"Ground Round" single recorded under his own name at Fortune Records in Detroit. While in college, Burrell founded the New World Music Society collective with fellow Detroit musicians Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef.[2][3][4][5]

Career[]

Kenny Burrell in San Francisco, California, March 8, 1984

Burrell toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955[6] and then moved to New York City in 1956 with pianist Tommy Flanagan. Within months, Burrell had recorded his first album as leader for Blue Note and both he and Flanagan were sought-after as sidemen and studio musicians, performing with singers Tony Bennett and Lena Horne and recording with Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons, and Kenny Dorham, among others. From 1957 to 1959, Burrell occupied the former chair of Charlie Christian in Benny Goodman's band. Since his New York debut Burrell has had a prolific recording career, and critics have cited The Cats with John Coltrane in 1957, Midnight Blue with Stanley Turrentine in 1963, and Guitar Forms with arranger Gil Evans in 1965 as particular highlights.[2][3][4]

In 1978, he began teaching a course at UCLA called "Ellingtonia," examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington. Although the two never collaborated directly, Ellington called Burrell his "favorite guitar player,"[9] and Burrell has recorded a number of tributes to and interpretations of Ellington's works. Since 1996, Burrell has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kamasi Washington.[4][5][10][9]

Awards and honors[]

Burrell wrote, arranged, and performed on the 1998 Grammy Award-winning album Dear Ella by Dee Dee Bridgewater, received the 2004 Jazz Educator of the Year Award from Down Beat, and was named a 2005 NEA Jazz Master.[4]

Burrell was a Grammy Salute To Jazz Honoree in 2010. The Grammy website states that between "...1956 and 2006, Mr. Burrell has excelled as a leader, co-leader and sideman releasing recordings with stellar musicians in the world of jazz."[11]

Personal[]

In 2019, concerns arose about Burrell's well-being and living circumstances as he became increasingly socially and physically isolated in his home and major frictions developed between his wife, Katherine Goodrich, 37 years his junior, and others living in their Westwood, California, apartment building. A GoFundMe account was set up to pay medical bills and other putative expenses, which became controversial because he was covered by medical insurance through employment at UCLA and through Medicare.[12] Subsequently, a letter from Burrell was published, providing a detailed explanation of the situation and justification for the GoFundMe campaign.[13]

Discography[]

As leader[]

  • Introducing Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956)
  • Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956)
  • Kenny Burrell (Prestige, 1957)
  • All Day Long (Prestige, 1957)
  • All Night Long (Prestige, 1957)
  • 2 Guitars with Jimmy Raney (Prestige, 1957)
  • Blue Lights Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 1958)
  • On View at the Five Spot Cafe with Art Blakey (Blue Note, 1960)
  • A Night at the Vanguard (Argo, 1960)
  • Weaver of Dreams (Columbia, 1961)
  • Blue Lights Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1961)
  • Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane (New Jazz, 1962)
  • Blue Bash! with Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1963)
  • Bluesy Burrell (Moodsville, 1963)
  • Lotsa Bossa Nova! (Kapp, 1963)
  • Midnight Blue (Blue Note, 1963)
  • Crash! (Prestige, 1964)
  • Soul Call (Prestige, 1964)
  • Guitar Soul with Bill Jennings & Tiny Grimes (Status, 1965)
  • Guitar Forms (Verve, 1965)
  • The Tender Gender (Cadet, 1966)
  • Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (Cadet, 1966)
  • Man at Work (Cadet, 1966)
  • Ode to 52nd Street (Cadet, 1967)
  • A Generation Ago Today (Verve, 1967)
  • Blues – The Common Ground (Verve, 1968)
  • Night Song (Verve, 1968)
  • Asphalt Canyon Suite (Verve, 1969)
  • Kenny Clarke Meets the Detroit Jazzmen (BYG, 1970)
  • Guitar Genius in Japan with Attila Zoller, Jim Hall (Overseas, 1970)
  • God Bless the Child (CTI, 1971)
  • Cool Cookin (Cadet, 1972)
  • 'Round Midnight (Fantasy, 1972)
  • Both Feet on the Ground (Fantasy, 1973)
  • Up the Street, 'Round the Corner, Down the Block (Fantasy, 1974)
  • Ellington Is Forever (Fantasy, 1975)
  • Sky Street (Fantasy, 1976)
  • Ellington Is Forever Volume Two (Fantasy, 1977)
  • Tin Tin Deo (Concord Jazz, 1977)
  • Monday Stroll (Savoy, 1978)
  • Handcrafted (Muse, 1978)
  • Stormy Monday (Fantasy, 1978)
  • When Lights Are Low (Concord Jazz, 1979)
  • Freedom (Blue Note, 1979) – recorded in 1963–1964
  • K. B. Blues (Blue Note, 1979) – recorded in 1957
  • Swingin' (Blue Note, 1980) – recorded in 1956–1959
  • Live at the Village Vanguard (Muse, 1980)
  • Moon and Sand (Concord Jazz, 1980)
  • Heritage (AudioSource, 1980)
  • Kenny Burrell in New York (Muse, 1981)
  • Listen to the Dawn (Muse, 1983)
  • Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1983)
  • Groovin' High (Muse, 1984)
  • A la Carte (Muse, 1985)
  • Togethering with Grover Washington Jr. (Blue Note, 1985)
  • Ellington a la Carte (Muse, 1993)
  • Generation (Blue Note, 1987)
  • Pieces of Blue and the Blues (Blue Note, 1988)
  • Guiding Spirit (Contemporary, 1990)
  • Sunup to Sundown (Contemporary, 1991)
  • Midnight at the Village Vanguard (Bellaphon, 1994)
  • No Problem with Ray Bryant (EmArcy, 1994)
  • Lotus Blossom (Concord Jazz, 1995)
  • Then Along Came Kenny (Evidence, 1996)
  • Live at the Blue Note (Concord Jazz, 1996)
  • Laid Back (32 Jazz, 1998)
  • Love Is the Answer (Concord, 1998)
  • Stormy Monday Blues (Fantasy, 2001)
  • Lucky So and So (Concord Jazz, 2001)
  • Blue Muse (Concord, 2003)
  • 75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note, 2007)
  • Prime: Live at the Downtown Room (HighNote, 2009)
  • Be Yourself (HighNote, 2010)
  • Tenderly (HighNote, 2011)
  • Special Requests and Other Favorites: Live at Catalina's (HighNote, 2013)
  • The Road to Love (HighNote, 2015)
  • Unlimited 1: Live at Catalina's (HighNote, 2016)

As sideman[]

With Gene Ammons

With Donald Byrd

  • Motor City Scene (Bethlehem, 1961)
  • A New Perspective (Blue Note, 1964)
  • Up with Donald Byrd (Verve, 1965)

With Red Garland

  • Red Garland Revisited! (Prestige, 1969)
  • Stepping Out (Galaxy, 1980)
  • So Long Blues (Galaxy, 1984)

With Stan Getz

  • Reflections (Verve, 1964)
  • Getz Au Go Go (Verve, 1964)
  • What the World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays Burt Bacharach and Hal David (Verve, 1968)

With Milt Jackson

With Illinois Jacquet

  • Illinois Jacquet (Epic, 1963)
  • The Message (Argo, 1963)
  • Desert Winds (Argo, 1964)

With Johnny Hodges

With Etta Jones

  • Love Shout (Prestige, 1963)
  • Hollar! (Prestige, 1963)
  • Etta Jones Sings (Roulette, 1965)

With Hank Jones

With Wynton Kelly

With Jack McDuff

With Gary McFarland

With Jimmy Smith

  • House Party (Blue Note, 1958)
  • The Sermon! (Blue Note, 1959)
  • Home Cookin' (Blue Note, 1961)
  • Midnight Special (Blue Note, 1961)
  • Back at the Chicken Shack (Blue Note, 1963)
  • Any Number Can Win (Verve, 1963)
  • Softly as a Summer Breeze (Blue Note, 1965)
  • The Cat (Verve, 1964)
  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Verve, 1964)
  • Christmas '64 (Verve, 1964)
  • Monster (Verve, 1965)
  • Organ Grinder Swing (Verve, 1965)
  • Got My Mojo Workin' (Verve, 1965)
  • Hoochie Coochie Man (Verve, 1966)
  • Confirmation (Blue Note, 1979)
  • Second Coming (Mojo, 1981)
  • Keep On Comin (Elektra Musician, 1983)
  • Go for Whatcha Know (Blue Note, 1986)
  • Fourmost (Milestone, 1991)
  • Standards (Blue Note, 1998)
  • Six Views of the Blues (Blue Note, 1999)
  • Fourmost Return (Milestone, 2001)

With Stanley Turrentine

  • Hustlin' (Blue Note, 1964)
  • Joyride (Blue Note, 1965)
  • The Look of Love (Blue Note, 1968)
  • Always Something There (Blue Note, 1968)
  • The Sugar Man (CTI, 1975)
  • Jubilee Shout!!! (Blue Note, 1986)

With Frank Wess

With Kai Winding

  • Soul Surfin' (Verve, 1963)
  • Rainy Day (Verve, 1965)
  • More Brass (Verve, 1966)

With Jimmy Witherspoon

With others

References[]

  1. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (20 November 1965). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. pp. 143–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Collar, Matt. "Kenny Burrell". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Cohassey, John. "Kenny Burrell: Guitarist, Educator." Contemporary Musicians. Profiles of the People in Music. Ed. Julia M. Rubiner. Vol. 11. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1994. 29-31. Print
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Nash, Sunny. "Kenny Burrell Biography." PRLog, May 13, 2009.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c O'Connell, Sean J. (January 24, 2014). "A Jazz Elder Becomes A UCLA Professor". NPR. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Sallis, James. "Middle Ground: Herb Ellis, Howard Roberts, Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow." Jazz Guitars: An Anthology. First ed. New York: Quill, 1984. 197-207. Print.
  7. ^ Timberg, Scott (November 6, 2011). "Kenny Burrell's 80th means a party for listeners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  8. ^ "Professor and legendary jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell: 80 years young". UCLA School of Music. November 9, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Kenny Burrell, 1999 - Los Angeles Jazz Society". Lajazz.org. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  10. ^ Teddy Rosenbluth (August 26, 2018). "Ethnomusicology department adds an interdisciplinary global jazz studies major". Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "Kenny Burrell — 2010 GRAMMY Salute To Jazz Honoree". December 2, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  12. ^ Geoff Edgers (July 11, 2019). "A jazz legend said he was in desperate need of money. His friends had questions". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  13. ^ JazzTimes Exclusive: A New Statement from Kenny Burrell, , Kenny Burrell, July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.

External links[]

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