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Kenny Burrell

Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit Verve album Organ Grinder Swing.[1] He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.[2][3][4]

Kenny Burrell

Kenneth Earl Burrell

(1931-07-31) July 31, 1931
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Musician, educator

Guitar

1951–present

Burrell is a professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.[5]

Early life[edit]

Burrell was born in Detroit. Both his parents played instruments,[6] and he began playing guitar at the age of 12 after listening to Charlie Christian's recordings. During World War II, due to metal shortage, he abandoned the idea of becoming a saxophonist, and bought an acoustic guitar for $10. He was inspired to play jazz after listening to Oscar Moore, but it was Django Reinhardt who showed him "that you could get your own individuality on an instrument."[7] He went on to study composition and theory with Louis Cabara 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,[8] followed by the "Rose of Tangier"/"Ground Round" single recorded under his own name at Fortune Records in Detroit. While in college, Burrell founded the New World Music Society collective with fellow Detroit musicians Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef.[2][3][4][5]

Awards and honors[edit]

Burrell 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.[4]


Burrell was a Grammy Salute To Jazz Honoree in 2010. The Grammy website states that between "...1956 and 2006, Mr. Burrell has excelled as a leader, co-leader and sideman releasing recordings with stellar musicians in the world of jazz."[11]

Personal life[edit]

In 2019, concerns arose about Burrell's well-being and living circumstances as he became increasingly socially and physically isolated in his home and major frictions developed between his wife, Katherine Goodrich, 37 years his junior, and others living in their Westwood apartment building. A GoFundMe account was set up to pay medical bills and other putative expenses, which became controversial because he was covered by medical insurance through employment at UCLA and through Medicare.[12] Subsequently, a letter from Burrell was published, providing a detailed explanation of the situation and justification for the GoFundMe campaign.[13]

(Blue Note, 1956)

Introducing Kenny Burrell

(Blue Note, 1957)

Kenny Burrell

(Prestige, 1957)

All Night Long

(Prestige, 1957)

All Day Long

(Prestige, 1957)

Earthy

(Prestige, 1957)

Kenny Burrell

with Jimmy Raney (Prestige, 1957)

2 Guitars

(Blue Note, 1958)

Blue Lights Vol. 1

with Art Blakey (Blue Note, 1960)

On View at the Five Spot Cafe

(Argo, 1960)

A Night at the Vanguard

(Columbia, 1961)

Weaver of Dreams

(Blue Note, 1961)

Blue Lights Vol. 2

(New Jazz, 1962)

Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane

with Jimmy Smith (Verve, 1963)

Blue Bash!

(Moodsville, 1963)

Bluesy Burrell

Lotsa Bossa Nova! (Kapp, 1963)

(Blue Note, 1963)

Midnight Blue

(Prestige, 1964)

Crash!

(Prestige, 1964)

Soul Call

Guitar Soul with & Tiny Grimes (Status, 1965)

Bill Jennings

(Verve, 1965)

Guitar Forms

(Cadet, 1966)

The Tender Gender

(Cadet, 1966)

Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas

Man at Work (Cadet, 1966) – reissue of A Night at the Vanguard

(Cadet, 1967)

Ode to 52nd Street

(Verve, 1967)

A Generation Ago Today

(Verve, 1968)

Blues – The Common Ground

(Verve, 1968)

Night Song

(Verve, 1969)

Asphalt Canyon Suite

Kenny Clarke Meets the Detroit Jazzmen (BYG, 1970)

Guitar Genius in Japan with , Jim Hall (Overseas, 1970)

Attila Zoller

(CTI, 1971)

God Bless the Child

Cool Cookin (Cadet, 1972)

(Fantasy, 1972)

'Round Midnight

(Fantasy, 1973)

Both Feet on the Ground

(Fantasy, 1974)

Up the Street, 'Round the Corner, Down the Block

(Fantasy, 1975)

Ellington Is Forever

(Fantasy, 1976)

Sky Street

(Fantasy, 1977)

Ellington Is Forever Volume Two

(Concord Jazz, 1977)

Tin Tin Deo

Monday Stroll (Savoy, 1978)

(Muse, 1978)

Handcrafted

(Fantasy, 1978)

Stormy Monday

(Concord Jazz, 1979)

When Lights Are Low

(Blue Note, 1979)

Freedom

(Blue Note, 1979)

K. B. Blues

(Blue Note, 1980)

Swingin'

(Muse, 1980)

Live at the Village Vanguard

(Concord Jazz, 1980)

Moon and Sand

(AudioSource, 1980)

Heritage

(Muse, 1981)

Kenny Burrell in New York

(Muse, 1983)

Listen to the Dawn

(Columbia, 1983)

Bluesin' Around

(Muse, 1984)

Groovin' High

(Muse, 1985)

A la Carte

with Grover Washington Jr. (Blue Note, 1985)

Togethering

(Blue Note, 1987)

Generation

(Blue Note, 1988)

Pieces of Blue and the Blues

(Contemporary, 1990)

Guiding Spirit

(Contemporary, 1991)

Sunup to Sundown

(Muse, 1993)

Ellington a la Carte

Midnight at the Village Vanguard (Bellaphon, 1994)

No Problem with Ray Bryant (EmArcy, 1994)

(Concord Jazz, 1995)

Lotus Blossom

Then Along Came Kenny (Evidence, 1996)

Live at the Blue Note (Concord Jazz, 1996)

Laid Back (32 Jazz, 1998)

Love Is the Answer (Concord, 1998)

Stormy Monday Blues (Fantasy, 2001)

Lucky So and So (Concord Jazz, 2001)

Blue Muse (Concord, 2003)

75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note, 2007)

(HighNote, 2009)

Prime: Live at the Downtown Room

Be Yourself (HighNote, 2010)

Tenderly (HighNote, 2011)

Special Requests and Other Favorites: Live at Catalina's (HighNote, 2013)

The Road to Love (HighNote, 2015)

Unlimited 1: Live at Catalina's (HighNote, 2016)

NAMM Oral History Library (2008)

Kenny Burrell Interview