Jazz Articles about Kenny Burrell

Kenny Burrell: 12*15*78

by Douglas Payne
September 1, 1999

This period of Kenny Burrell's career found the guitarist playing more -- and better -- than ever. But he had long before abandoned his high-profile role as house guitarist for Prestige and Blue Note (in the 1950s and 1960s) and as a studio guitarist on a staggering number of jazz, pop and film dates (during the 1960s). By the late 1970s, he was devoting more of his time to his role as an educator (at UCLA, where he still is ...

Kenny Burrell: 12-15-78

by Jim Santella
September 1, 1999

The Kenny Burrell Trio recorded Live At The Village Vanguard and Kenny Burrell In New York on December 15, 1978; hence, the title for this two-disc reissue. It doesn’t get much better for those who appreciate a guitar trio performing mainstream jazz. Burrell combines a great respect for the lyrical with harmonic chorded lines and a sweet tone in his work. It was in 1978 that the guitarist began teaching a course at UCLA on the life and music of ...

Kenny Burrell with Coleman Hawkins: Bluesy Burrell

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 1999

This is the third Prestige album Burrell made with Coleman Hawkins, each with a different mood. The first, SOUL, was a gentle small group session with a nice version of “Greensleeves". The next, the underrated THE HAWK RELAXES, was a graceful ballad set, originally for the Moodsville label. This record was also for Moodsville, but this mood is sad, contemplative, and at times gentle. It's also the last Hawkins session for Prestige. He clearly enjoys playing with Burrell, as much ...

Kenny Burrell: Laid Back

by Jim Santella
June 1, 1998

Recorded between 1978 and 1983, this compilation offers an hour and fifteen minutes of the guitarist's small group sessions, selected from his Muse albums Handcrafted, Groovin' High, Listen To The Dawn, A La Carte, Live At The Village Vanguard, Ellington A La Carte, and Kenny Burrell in New York. All except “In A Mellow Tone, “St. Thomas" and “Tenderly" are trio sessions; these three classic tunes are performed as guitar / bass duos.

The album title Laid Back describes Burrell's ...

Kenny Burrell: Love Is the Answer

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 1998

This is lovely music that conveys a lovely theme of peace, tolerance, understanding and self-reliance. Although it draws on Jazz for inspiration, and several Jazz musicians are involved including composer/guitarist Burrell, it's not really Jazz, nor is it classical, blues or gospel, but rather a combination of those elements and others woven together to make up the fabric of Burrell's warmhearted message, which is summed up in the disc's candid title, “Love Is the Answer." Its centerpiece is the 17-part ...

Kenny Burrell: Love Is The Answer

by Jim Santella
May 1, 1998

Kenny Burrell wrote the music and lyrics for this vocal album, which places the 32-member Boys Choir of Harlem in the spotlight along with jazz accompaniment from Burrell's easy-to-recognize-anywhere guitar and a rhythm team of drummer Ben Riley and bassist Ray Drummond. Pianist James Williams and electric bassist Greg Ryan also lend support on specific tracks.

Recalling the arrangements Duke Pearson wrote over thirty years ago for trumpeter Donald Byrd and the 8-voice Coleridge Perkinson Choir, Burrell's draws vocal arrangements ...

Kenny Burrell, Leny White, et al.: Primal Blue

by Douglas Payne
February 1, 1997

Drummer Lenny White never shortchanges his listeners on star talent--or tremendous musical combinations. Here, he nominally leads a dream band featuring guitarist Kenny Burrell (who, by virtue of the alphabet, gets first billing), pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter, trumpeter Tim Hagans and reedman Craig Handy. This set of easy, relaxed blues seems, at first listen, predictable and as programmatic as White's other Hip Bop all-star aggregates (Essence of Funk with Tom Browne and Benny Maupin and Afro Cubano Chant ...