Jazz Articles about Kenny Burrell

About Kenny Burrell

Reassessing

Prestige Records released Red Garland Revisited in 1969. However, Rudy Van Gelder recorded the eight selections comprising the album 12 years earlier at his Hackensack, New Jersey studio. Using bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor as his rhythm section, adding guitarist Kenny Burrell on two pieces--Miles Davis's “Four" and “Walkin.'" Recorded May 24, 1957, this session took place during a busy period for Garland, between a date for trombonist Curtis Fuller on May 14 resulting in Curtis Fuller with ...

Multiple Reviews

Prestige Rara Avis: Kenny Burrell and Frank Wess

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 20, 2025

Over the past decade, music lovers and jazz collectors have enjoyed a wealth of opportunities thanks to the ongoing vinyl renaissance. Back in the 1980s and '90s, Fantasy Records became a favorite among enthusiasts with its Original Jazz Classics series, reissuing nearly a thousand titles from its vast catalog, which included Prestige, Riverside, and Contemporary. After going dormant for a time following Concord's acquisition of the vaults, Craft Recordings revived the OJC imprint in 2023 with a slate of meticulously ...

Liner Notes

Verve's Bossa Nova U.S.A.

by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
April 15, 2025

Paul Desmond: Samba with Some Barbecue Originally titled “Struttin' with Some Barbecue" in 1941, this Satchmo tune lost its Dixie beat and got a bossa groove in the hands of the infallible Don Sebesky. Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira, then a newcomer in the New York jazz scene, provides a fiery propulsion to Paul Desmond's lyrical approach and “dry martini" alto sound. Different from the sad results of pseudo-bossa albums by Gene Ammons, Sonny Rollins, and so many others, this is ...

Album Review

Kenny Dorham: From 'Round Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia To Matador Revisited

Read "From 'Round Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia To Matador Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
June 5, 2024

In his mostly sane and admirable book Black Nationalism and the Revolution In Music (Pathfinder Press, 1970), Frank Kofsky describes Kenny Dorham as “house trained." The calculated insult attempts to conflate Dorham's respect for form and structure with an Uncle Tom outlook on the world. Some might say Dorham would have been justified in following (or, rather, anticipating) the example of the writer Stanley Crouch, who on spotting in a Manhattan restaurant a critic who had recently dissed one of ...

Radio & Podcasts

String Players: From Django Reinhardt to Joe Morris and Beyond

by Jerome Wilson
April 15, 2022

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 ...

Radio & Podcasts

Listeners’ Favorites

by Marc Cohn
October 2, 2020

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 ...

Reassessing

Back At The Chicken Shack

by Thomas Fletcher
June 20, 2020

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 ...