Kenny Burrell | Artist
Kenny Burrell is an American jazz guitarist born 1931 in Detroit, Michigan. Alongside fellow pioneers Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery and Grant Green, Burrell is one of the leading jazz guitarists of the Bebop and Cool Jazz eras. Burrell began playing guitar at the age of 12 after listening to Charlie Christian's recordings and bought his first acoustic guitar for $10. He was most inspired to play jazz after listening to Django Reinhardt who showed that you could get your own individuality on the guitar, as a lead instrument. He went on to study composition and theory 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, followed by the "Rose of Tangier"/"Ground Round" single recorded under his own name at Fortune Records. While in college, Burrell founded the New World Music Society collective with fellow Detroit musicians Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef. Burrell toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 then moved to New York City in 1956 with pianist Tommy Flanagan. Within months, Burrell had recorded his first album for Blue Note and became a sought-after sidemen and studio musician, performing with singers Tony Bennett and Lena Horne and recording with Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons, and Kenny Dorham, among others. Burrell went on to record over 60 studio albums over as many years, as a soloist and in collaboration with the likes of John Coltrane, Herbie Mann, Coleman Hawkins, Jimmy Smith, and Stanley Turrentine. Standout albums include Introducing Kenny Burrell (1956), Kenny Burrell (1957), Blue Lights Vol.1&2 (1958), Midnight Blue (1963), Soul Call (1964), Guitar Forms (1965), and Ode to 52nd Street (1968). Additionally there are several excellent live releases such as A Night at the Vanguard (1959). Burrell's album Midnight Blue, which features Stanley Turrentine on sax, is regarded as of of the greatest cool Jazz albums of the period. Burrell also 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. In 1978, Burrell 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". Since 1996, Burrell has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kamasi Washington.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Kenny_Burrell
Featured Albums: Kenny Burrell
Related Artists: Charlie Christian, Oscar Peterson, John Coltrane, Gil Evans
