Gary Burton: Alone At Last

Jim Santella

Senior Contributor since 1997

Jim Santella has been contributing CD reviews, concert reviews and DVD reviews to AAJ since 1997. His work has also appeared in Southland Blues, The L.A. Jazz Scene, and Cadence Magazine.

Recent articles (1,677 total)

Published: July 1, 1999

Vibraphonist Gary Burton joined the faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston the same year Alone At Last was recorded twenty-eight years ago. By that time he had already recorded over a dozen albums as leader and had formed critical professional relationships with (among others) Keith Jarrett, Steve Swallow, Larry Coryell, Roy Haynes, and Stan Getz. His four-mallet unaccompanied vibraphone improvisation, which appears on four tracks, is rich in harmony and remarkable in technique.

Burton won a Grammy award for Alone At Last. Bending notes on the vibraphone and selecting appropriate harmony to fully express intended emotions, his performance connects the listener to landscapes and other common natural elements. The vibraphonist performs "No More Blues" with mallets in a fluid and delicate manner that resembles the fingerstyle technique used on an acoustic guitar. Burton overdubs electric piano on the other three tracks for a unique effect. This reissue finds the creative artist alone in one of his most moving performances.

Track Listing: Moonchild/In Your Quiet Place; Green Mountain/Arise, Her Eyes; The Sunset Bell; Hand Bags and Glad Rags; Hullo, Bolinas; General Mojo