Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell (born July 31 1931) is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is founded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.

Biography

Burrell was born in Detroit, Michigan to a musical family and began playing guitar at the age of 12. His influences as a guitar player include Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Wes Montgomery. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his debut recording as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951. He toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956. A consummate sideman, Burrell recorded with a wide range of prominent musicians, including: John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Benny Goodman, Wes Montgomery, Billie Holiday, Milt Jackson, Thad Jones, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson,Jimmy Raney, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Smith, Art Taylor, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Witherspoon and Cedar Walton. He also led his own groups since 1951 and recorded many well received albums, most notably Midnight Blue with Stanley Turrentine for Blue Note Records, which is considered a classic of 60s jazz now.

Later work

In the 1970s he began leading seminars about music, particularly Duke Ellington's. A highly popular performer, he has won several jazz polls in Japan and the United Kingdom as well as the United States.

He has recorded about 40 LPs, including Midnight Blue (1967), Blue Lights, Guitar Forms, Sunup To Sundown (1990), Soft Winds (1993), Then Along Came Kenny (1993), and Lotus Blossom (1995).

On Saturday, December 2 2006, Burrell recorded his 99th album, live at UCLA's Royce Hall. As of 2007, Burrell serves as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA. In fact, one of Burrell's courses which he teaches is "Ellingtonia", examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington. This program was the first university-level course in the country focusing on the artist.

Select discography

• Introducing Kenny Burrell (1956), Blue Note
• All Day Long (1957), Prestige
• Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1958), Prestige
• Blue Lights (1958), Blue Note
• On View At The Five Spot Cafe (1959), Blue Note
• Bluesy Burrell (1962), Moodsville
• Midnight Blue (1967), Blue Note
• Guitar Forms (1964), Verve
• Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (1967), Cadet
• God Bless the Child (1971), CTI
• ?Round Midnight (1972), Fantasy
• Ellington Is Forever (1975-77), Fantasy
• 12-15-78 (1999), 32 Jazz
• Lucky So and So (2001), Concord Jazz

References

• Owens, Thomas. "Kenny Burrell". New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.
• "Jazz Legends - Kenny Burrell". Jazz Improv Magazine

See also

• Organ trio, a type of small jazz ensemble in which Burrell often performed

External links

• Kenny Burrell - Verve Records

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