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Burrell shines in debut CD
as a principal songwriter
Kenny Burrell has been a world
class guitarist since emerging from
Detroit in the 19560 s but, even
though he is a household name in
the jazz world, there is one aspect
to his musicality that many of his
fans probably do not realize. “Most
&le do not know that I have
writing songs with words since
I was a teenager,” says Burrell.
“Because I have been so busy as a
guitarist, I'm mostly known for
laying instrumental music, but
Fvy actually been composing for a
long time.” In the past he has had
v songs recorded by June
C and Jimmy Witherspoon,
most recently his “Dear Ella”
the title track for Dee Dee
Bridgewater’s Grammy award
wihning album.
Love Is The Answer (Concord
Concerto CCD-42053-2) is a very
different type of Kenny Burrell
re¢ording than one might expect.
Buyrrell has been working with the
32}voice Boys Choir of Harlem (un
der the direction of Dr. Walter
Tyrnbull) on an occasional basis
fox a decade and his commissioned
:zrk “Love Suite” (which has 17
seftions heard in two movements)
is ithe centerpiece of the project.
'thad the world premiere of the
piece at Lincoln Center and I have
continued from time to time work
ing with the Boys Choir, some
times as a special guest. When
they performed on Broadway to
celebrate their 25th anniversary, |
was one of the artists that was
picked to appear. They inspire
me‘”
Although Love Is The Answer
has solos by Burrell and contribu
tions from James Williams on pi
ano and synthesizer, bassist Ray
Drummond and drummer Ben
Riley, the music is quite difficult to
easily classify. “Ifelt that the ‘Love
Suite’ should be recorded and I
submitted it to several record com
panies” remembers the composer.
“Theirresponse wasthat theyliked
the music but didn’t know quite
what to do with it in terms of mar
ketingbecauseit draws from many
different areasincludingjazz, clas
sical, blues and gospel. Because
themusiccontains many elements,
the labels shied away from it. A
couple years ago I signed with Con
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cord and one of the projects that I
talked about with John Burk was
recording the long work along with
some other shorter pieces. I am
very grateful to John, Glen Barros,
and everyone else at Concord for
their enthusiasm and support.”
The basic idea behind the “Love
Suite” and the briefer pieces (“Lis
ten to the Dawn,” “Be Yourself,”
“We Must Find a Way” and “I'm
Gonna Do”) can be summed up in
the words “Love is the Answer.”
“Love is a very powerful and the
real answer to most of our prob
lems. I'm not the first one to say
that, but it is still a solution that is
still waiting to be tried.” The lyrics
are inspirational, the voices of the
Boys Choir sometimes border on
the miraculous and the musicians
are well integrated into the perfor
mance. “The project did not take
long to record at all, a few days in
the studio and a few days editing;
it was completed within a week.
Considering the amount of music
involved and some of the complex
ity, this was very impressive. I'm
8o delighted with the boys in the
choir (who range in age from 8-18)
and the way they handled the whole
project from start to finish. As I
told them, I have worked with many
other professional groups, vocal
andotherwise,and very rarely have
I been this satisfied with the out
come. They nailed it!”
Kenny Burrell has been a part of
many successful projectsin the jazz
world for decades. Born in Detroit,
Michigan onJuly 31, 1931, Burrell
grew up surrounded by music. His
mother sang in the church choir
and practiced piano at home while
his father was skilled on banjo and
ukulele. Kenny’s two brothers
played guitar before he started at
age 12. “I studied classical guitar
for a couple years and gave a couple
recitals. Although I appreciated
the repertoire and the technique,
after playing a piece a few times,
I'd want to change some notes and
chords, and you can't do that! I
much preferred the spontaneous
composing of jazz.”
Part of the very fertile Detroit
music scene of the 1940 s and 50s,
Burrell and such friends as pianist
Tommy Flanagan, trumpeter
Donald Byrd, cornetist Thad Jones,
drummer Elvin Jones and
tenorman Yusef Lateef among
many other young talents were
inspired by such innovators as
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and
Charlie Christian.
The guitarist made his record
ing debut with Dizzy Gillespie in
1951 (John Coltrane was asideman
on the date), graduated from
Wayne State University in 1956
and moved to New York the follow
ing year. It did not take him long
to become established for tasteful
and technically proficient guitar
ists who can swing are never in
short demand! Both as a sideman
(with the likes of Jimmy Smith,
John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Gene
Ammons, Gil Evans and a count
less number of studio, pop and r&b
sessions) and on his own dates
(starting in 1956), Kenny Burrell
has been a consistent force in jazz
for over 40 years; in fact Love Is
The Answer in his 91st recording
as a leader. When asked which
were his personal favorite record
ings (prior to the new one), Burrell
found it impossible to specifically
answer. “I feel good about most of
my albums and I do not feel bad
about any of them. I have tried to
do a good job on each one, I gave
them my best and, although look
ing back I of course see some things
that could be better, that was my
state of development at the time. I
never compromised in what I be
lieved in.”
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