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Kenny Burrell

Kenny Burrell is an NEA Jazz Master

After 40 years as a jazz professional, appearing on several hundred albums as leader and sideman, Kenny Burrell is among the handful of guitar greats who have forever changed the role of their instrument.

Staunch musical integrity and discriminate taste coupled with matchless technique have made the guitarist nonpareil among his peers. "My goal is to play with good tone, good phrasing and to swing," says Burrell, "I strive for honesty in playing what I feel."

"Master instrumentalist and composer," "virtuoso," "historic figure of American guitar." "Ellington's favorite guitar player"—this is a typical sampling of the critical praise routinely bestowed on Burrell, who pioneered the guitar-led trio with bass and drums in the late Fifties. Although he has since worked in countless other formats, from big band to three guitars plus rhythm to solo, he has remained constant in his quest to get the most out of a natural, low-volume, acoustic sound. "My audience has developed so that they come to listen and are quiet," he explains. "Thus I can work in a limited volume range and explore all the subtleties that can happen, which is my favorite part of the music."

Aside from his performing and recording schedule, Kenny has been a teacher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for many years. Included in his teaching schedule is a special course that he developed on the music and life of Duke Ellington called "Ellingtonia". Started in 1978, it was the first regular college course on Ellington taught in the United States. In addition he is also the founder and director of the Jazz Studies Program at UCLA where he is a professor of music and ethnomusicology. He is also a lecturer and director of workshops on guitar and Jazz studies, founder and President Emeritus, of the Jazz Heritage Foundation, and all around crusader for the recognition of jazz as a classical art form.

Kenny Burrell is also a prolific composer whose work is more and more in demand. Kenny is composer of the 1998 Grammy Award winning song "Dear Ella", performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater. His compositions have been recorded by many other great artists such as Ray Brown, Jimmy Smith, Grover Washington Jr., John Coltrane, June Christy, Frank Wes and Stevie Ray Vaughn. More recently, he received a commission grant from Meet the Composer, Inc. to write an original, extended composition for the Boys Choir of Harlem which premiered at New York's Lincoln Center, and in 1997 was recorded for Concord Records.

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Radio & Podcasts

String Players: From Django Reinhardt to Joe Morris and Beyond

Read "String Players: From Django Reinhardt to Joe Morris and Beyond" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This program focuses on string players of all types, mostly guitarists but with some bassists and violinists also thrown in. The show ranges from classic players like Kenny Burrell and Barney Kessel to modernists like Joe Morris and Mary Halvorson. There is even a set on gypsy/Western swing. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) Bill Frisell “Monroe" from History, Mystery ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Listeners’ Favorites

Read "Listeners’ Favorites" reviewed by Marc Cohn


This week (drum roll....), it's listeners' favorites from shows 431 to 440. From classic jazz to today's music, our listeners have discerning and eclectic taste—never forgetting the blues and funk. Enjoy the show! Playlist Don Braden, Karl Latham “Grover Miles" from Big Funk Live (Creative Perspective) 00:00 Grant Green “Let The Music Take Your Mind" from Alive! (Blue Note) 08:49 Houston Person “Snake Eyes" from Soul Dance (Prestige) 17:12 David Sanborn “Benny" from Upfront (Elektra) 23:08 Kenny ...

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Reassessing

Back At The Chicken Shack

Read "Back At The Chicken Shack" reviewed by Thomas Fletcher


Back At The Chicken Shack celebrates 60 years since its recording date at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. The same session produced Midnight Special (Blue Note, 1961), though Back At The Chicken Shack would have to wait three years for its release. The label's co-founder, Alfred Lion, later revealed that the healthy sales of this album, alongside many others from Jimmy Smith, kept the record company afloat. The album features, at the time, a youthful but ...

6
Reassessing

Piano

Read "Piano" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Following his debut as a leader on, Wynton Kelly: New Faces -New Sounds (Blue Note, 1951), pianist Kelly surfaced again some seven years later, this time on Riverside Records, with the simply titled Piano. The length of time between leader recordings is a testament to the pianist's value in a supporting role for artists like Dinah Washington (with whom he recorded almost exclusively between 1952 and 1955) Lester Young, and Dizzy Gillespie. During this same period Kelly contributed to several ...

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Album Review

Kenny Burrell: Unlimited 1, Live at Catalina's

Read "Unlimited 1, Live at Catalina's" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Guitarist Kenny Burrell, who isn't generally known for hanging out with big bands, now has one of his own: the Los Angeles-based Jazz Orchestra Unlimited, for which he serves as music director on its debut album, Unlimited 1, Live at Catalina's. While the ensemble is splendid, individually and collectively, there's no doubt that Burrell is the star attraction. Any misgiving about that is erased by the fact that the names of orchestra members aren't listed in the Catalina's booklet except ...

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My Blue Note Obsession

Kenny Burrell: Blue Lights – 1958

Read "Kenny Burrell: Blue Lights – 1958" reviewed by Marc Davis


The name on the cover is Kenny Burrell, but Blue Lights isn't really a Kenny Burrell album. He may be the leader, but the stars are everyone else. This is truly a democratic 1950s jam session. I came to Blue Lights fresh from Burrell's Midnight Blue, expecting another laid-back blues guitar vehicle. Not even close. Midnight Blue is where Burrell wound up in 1963. Blue Lights is where he came from in 1958 --a pretty straightforward hard bop ...

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My Blue Note Obsession

Laid-Back Jazz Guitar: Kenny Burrell and Grant Green

Read "Laid-Back Jazz Guitar: Kenny Burrell and Grant Green" reviewed by Marc Davis


When I'm in the mood for jazz guitar, I have two go-to albums: Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue and Grant Green's Idle Moments. It always surprises me. Growing up in the 1960s and '70s, I was a big fan of hard and fast rock guitars. Who wasn't? Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Pete Townsend. The Clash. The Pretenders. Joan Jett. Prince. Chuck Berry and George Harrison. It's got a backbeat you can't lose it. So when ...

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Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Burrell With Brother Jack

Backgrounder: Burrell With Brother Jack

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Guitarist Kenny Burrell recorded four albums with organist Brother Jack McDuff in late 1962 and '63. The one I'm sharing with you today is Crash!, the last of the bunch that was recorded by Burrell for Prestige in February 1963. It featured Burrell with Harold Vick (ts), Brother Jack McDuff (org), Joe Dukes (d) and Ray Barretto (cga). The album has a great soul groove, and Burrell and McDuff played off each other well, with Vick's tough tenor rolling through ...

Video / DVD

Frank Wess + Kenny Burrell

Frank Wess + Kenny Burrell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Some of the hippest small-group albums recorded in the mid-1950s were those by Frank Wess for Savoy. These include Flutes and Reeds (1955), Opus de Jazz (1955) led by Milt Jackson, North South East Wess (1956), Trombones & Flutes (1956), No Count led by Frank Foster, Jazz for Playboys (1957), Flute Suite and Jazz Is Busting Out All Over led by A.K. Salim, and Opus De Blues (1959). One of my favorites is Opus in Swing. Recorded in June 1956, ...

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Video / DVD

John Jenkins & Kenny Burrell

John Jenkins & Kenny Burrell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Alto saxophonist John Jenkins never recorded a bad album—as a leader or a sideman. When you hear him, the first person you think of is Jackie McLean. Both had an urgent, insistent edge, particularly on the saxophone's upper register. Remarkably, Jenkins recorded just 11 albums, only three of which were leadership dates. Given how special Jenkins was, his studio output was shockingly scant. My favorite of the three leadership albums is John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell. Recorded for Blue Note ...

Video / DVD

Kenny Burrell: Dream Weaver

Kenny Burrell: Dream Weaver

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

I recently posted on leading jazz instrumentalists who also happened to have great singing voices. I skipped the obvious ones, such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Nat King Cole, and focused instead on ones that would likely surprise you. I also didn't include my favorite musician-vocalist—Kenny Burrell. I wanted to save him for a separate post. I have no idea whether Burrell took vocal lessons or when exactly he began singing professionally. But his talent had been widely known. ...

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Recording

Kenny Burrell: Freedom

Kenny Burrell: Freedom

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In March 1963, guitarist Kenny Burrell was at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey to record singles for Blue Note or songs for an album. For whatever reason, the musicians on the date only could manage to get through three songs, with each one requiring a high number of takes. Burrell returned to Van Gelder's studio in October 1964 to record five songs with a completely different group. Here again, a sizable number of takes were needed on most ...

Event

Kenny Burrell Big Band Tribute Concert Benefits The World Stage, South LA's Home For Jazz And Their Education Programs

Kenny Burrell Big Band Tribute Concert Benefits The World Stage, South LA's Home For Jazz And Their Education Programs

Source: Chuck Koton

Los Angeles, CA: The big band tribute concert honoring guitar legend Kenny Burrell at the Ford Amphitheatre on August 18 will benefit The World Stage Performance Gallery, South LA’s home for jazz, and their incredible jazz education programs. With music direction by John Beasley, the benefit will be an evening of contemporary large ensemble sounds from Burrell’s Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Unlimited and Beasley’s MONK’estra. Legendary guitarist Lee Ritenour and singers Gretchen Parlato, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dwight Trible are ...

Music Industry

Shirley Scott + Kenny Burrell

Shirley Scott + Kenny Burrell

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In February 1964—smack in the middle of two recording sessions with then husband and tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine—organist Shirley Scott recorded with guitarist Kenny Burrell. She had just wrapped Hustlin' with Turrentine at the end of January and would be back in the studio for Blue Flames at the end of March. Backing Scott and Burrell on this Ozzie Cadena-produced album for Prestige were bassist Eddie Khan and drummer Otis “Candy" Finch. What makes this album so exciting is what's ...

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Interview

Guitarist Kenny Burrell Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Guitarist Kenny Burrell Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz

Kenny Burrell has appeared on so many essential jazz recordings that jazz history and his story seem irretrievably intertwined. Billie Holiday's valedictory rumination Lady Sings the Blues (Verve, 1956)? Jimmy Smith's epochal funk throwdown Back at the Chicken Shack (Blue Note, 1960)? Tony Bennett's Carnegie Hall debut? Kenny Burrell played guitar for them all. Even Jimi Hendrix once famously remarked, “Kenny Burrell—that's the sound I'm looking for." Burrell has shown no sign of slowing down in the ensuing decades. He ...

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Contest

Enter the "HighNote 2-CD" Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Enter the "HighNote 2-CD" Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the HighNote 2-CD giveaway contest starting today. FIVE winners will receive Kenny Burrell's Tenderly and Pat Martino's Undeniable. We'll select the winners at the conclusion of the contest on December 11th. Click here to enter the contest (Following Kenny Burrell at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.) Good luck! Your Friends at HighNote Click here to listen to samples from and read more about Kenny Burrell's Tenderly, and click here to ...

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Interview

Kenny Burrell, Octogenarian

Kenny Burrell, Octogenarian

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Kenny Burrell has joined the parade of major jazz artists entering octogenarianism and performing at a high level. The guitarist is of a generation of Detroit musicians including Tommy Flanagan, Pepper Adams, Elvin Jones, Roland Hanna and Louis Hayes that made a significant impact on jazz. Burrell's 80th birthday was a week ago. He is preparing for a concert next weekend. Here's more from a Scott Zimberg profile of the guitarist in The Los Angeles Times: Part of what's kept ...

"Burrell is the grand master of jazz guitar." - Dizzy Gillespie

"There is no finer guitarist than Kenny Burrell." - George Benson

"Kenny Burrell that's the sound I'm looking for." - Jimi Hendrix

"Kenny Burrell is a great musician and his music has helped to make me what I am today." - Stevie Wonder

"Kenny Burrell is one of my favorite guitarists." - Pat Metheny

Adam Levy
guitar
Ben Bishop
guitar, electric
Bob Roetker
guitar, electric
Marlina Teich
guitar and vocals
John Stein
guitar
Henry Johnson Jazz
guitar and vocals
Tim Sparks
guitar
Sol Roots
guitar and vocals
Alex Anest
guitar
Samuel Bonnet
guitar, acoustic
Peter Novelli
guitar, electric
Joe Wittman
guitar
Tibor Debreceni
guitar, electric
Ari Joshua
guitar
Beat Baumli
guitar
Kai Gluska
guitar
The Jazz Kings
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Moon and Sand...

Arkadia Records
2022

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More Jazz Guitar...

The Intense Media
2017

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Unlimited 1, Live at...

HighNote Records
2016

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Tenderly

HighNote Records
2011

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