1981. Dad took me to see Kenny Burrell at a San Jose jazz club. I was an 18 y.o. guitar player. I expected the place to be jam packed for a legend like Kenny Burrell. Imagine my shock when only 12 people showed up to see Kenny play that night. But all 12 of us had front row tables and Kenny played superbly.
hey thats like me ! went to see barney asshole ...I mean kessel here at a hotel gig , during a break he was out in a foyer and I asked him about a real outside kinda rake arpeggio riff and he told me to fuck myself , real nice , never forget that either
a jazz club in San Jose back then!...I am trying to think where...that´s awesome you got so see that!...I was more into rock back in the day, I was 15 and went to see Leon Russel at the Fillmore and Miles opened up the show (!!!), the Bitches Brew tour....I have never been the same...it was my intro into jazz, which eventually overtook rock as my favorite music....of course I went back in Miles´catalogue, learned to love it all, I discovered jazz via Miles....I did not hear Burrel until the 80s when I heard a Trane album with KB on it and as far as I know that is the onlyguitarist Trane ever recorded with...funny, 12 people at that show...that was Jose back in the day, very square...good for you
It's cool playing for 12 people! I went to a gig by two jazz guitarists and there was only me , my video camera , the sound guy and the barperson there at the start! The modern music taste in society is weird but out of it I think is emerging some quality!
For those who were curious, the first half of his performance is Azure by Duke Ellington and the second is The Single Petal of a Rose, also by Ellington. I had the pleasure of playing in his Ellingtonia band at UCLA last year and he is a great human being and an amazing musician!
+Daniel Coles And while we're on the subject of Ellington (as well as the opening remarks and tributes), wasn't it The Duke who said, "Kenny Burrell plays fine guitar. Others may play better, but no one plays finer guitar than Kenny Burrell" -or words to that effect? Without wanting to appear to be arrogant, I have to say I agree.
I had the honor and the pleasure of having met Kenny at the age of 20, on my first trip to New York (I come from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) , back on the early 70's and heard from him "dont leave Music off your life" and he is the guy who gave me this advice for life, and got me to study hard and become a professional musician. How lucky I am...r getting this advice from such a GREAT MASTER. Thanks, Kenny...I love you and your Music, a lot.
Curious indeed! My experience is quite the opposite. I first saw him in 1969 in Paris, playing with Barney Kessel and Grant Green. Back then, I was 18 and I realized the huge gap between an amateur like me and true pro artists. I decided to stick to my medical school...
I MET HIM IN 1971 AT THE KEYSTONE CORNER IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, I WAS SITTING NEXT TO HIM AT THE BAR AND HE BOUGHT ME A DRINK, I DIDN'T KNOW WHO HE WAS UNTIL I HEARD THE MC SAY, CAN WE GET MR KENNY BURRELL BACK TO THE STAGE, AND HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, WELL, I GOTTA GO TO WORK, AND HE WENT UP AND STARTED PLAYING HIS GUITAR, I WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED AND BLOWN AWAY. I STARTED LEARNING HIS SONGS ON GUITAR AT THE AGE OF 15, AND HERE I WAS SITTING NEXT TO THE MAN I ADMIRED AS A GUITARIST AND HE WAS BUYING ME A DRINK! I'M 72 YEARS OLD NOW AND I STILL LEARN HIS SONGS. I THANK GOD THAT I HAD THAT MOMENT OF TIME WITH A LEDGEND.
99%? Are you kidding? Are you trying to say that 1% of guitarists are as good or better as Kenny Burrell? Conservative estimates say there are about 50 million guitarists in the world. So about 500,000 are as good as Kenny Burrell? I guess it was supposed to be a compliment, but it didn't work out :-)
everyone understands what he meant. only a women would expect specific exact stats wtf like arguing over the color of his jacket, "it's orange, no its not, it's tangerine"
His contribution to this music, not only to jazz guitar, spans more than 65 years! The first time I met him was in 1973 in Japan. I heard him play number of times in Chicago once I moved to the US and most recently in 2015 in LA. One of my favorite ballad performances of any instrument is his" I Surrender Dear" from A Generation Ago Today album. I leaned a lot from his playing and what stands out is his great taste. Thank you Mr.Kenny Burrell. I just don't understand this many people could put "dislike" on this video. That is disrespectful.
I would rather hear him now than most of the multi--note players of today. He has been one of my favorites since the the Pythodd days. Thanks Kenny for the many years of great inspirational, tasty playing.
Playing a Kenny Burrell Heritage through a Kenny Burell Heritage tube amp, both companies by the way have nothing in common with each, other than the name. I have the Heritage Brighton 2x12 amp and two Heritage H-175 and H-150 both mid 90's. Sad the company Heritage amplifiers went out of business but Heritage guitars is still alive. People need to keep this sort of dedication of jazz alive. If you learn to play jazz guitar it will seriously help you greatly no matter what type of music you play.
such a beautiful feeling in his music,......all you have to do is listen, thanks Kenny....thanks Guitar Player for honoring this master of the guitar, we owe him .
From the 60s I followed and admired Mr. Burrell. Incredible mastery of the guitar, but what he's truly mastered is his audiences. I once heard him say something to the effect that it's most important that the audience gets greater enjoyment from what's being played than the musician. It's obvious that he's lived by that.
Everyone who have been listening to Kenny Burell over the years has to remark that he is such a kind and gentle human beign. I admit he is a wonderful guitar player but at my stage of life I am always impressed first with virtues and character.
Balanced and intimate, a great privilege to hear someone who can express themselves so well . A man still in love and grooving with his guitar , such an intelligent and artful musician .
As both a fan and player, Kenny and so many other Jazz players humble me. The phrasing and articulation of notes and chords are certainly a product of some magical gift only a few souls in the Universe get.
Amazing! I saw Kenny at Yoshi's in Oakland a few years back and that wasn't the first time. The first time was at the Crest Theater in Sacramento, must have been around 30 years ago. The first time I saw him he played his rendition of the Flintstones, amazing and fun to watch at the same time. Anyways, when I saw him at Yoshi's, I got to take a pic with him, and I told him that I had seen him at the Crest and he said, yeah that was a long time ago. Amazing and humble man, one of the greatest I've ever come across and I hope to see him again.
I’ve loved music, especially guitar music most of my life, and am just now at age 70 discovering KB. I was reading about SRV and read that KB was an inspiration and listening to some of his tracks can hear it. WOW! I have deprived myself of one of the finest I’ve ever heard. I’m extremely sad for the years lost but sooo glad for the new found love I’ve discovered😍
while listening to my favorite Stevie Ray slow numbers like Lenny and Riviera Paradise i realized where he got his playing style from. Anyone who knows anything about guitar playing and doesn't think that this man is a master of his craft is a fool. Age is the only factor affecting his playing and is barely noticeable.
I have loved Kenny's playing for so long, and wore out an LP of his called "Ode To 52nd Street" which had a tune side, and a suite on the other side depicting musical interpretations of New York, rush hour traffic in there, even morning coffee percolating, and a the coolest resolution of a blues piece at the end that will stay playing in my head forever. He is the ultimate of so mean and blue, but so laid back and cool! He was a guitar God to me for so long in my life, it is hard to see him as human even now. I wish they would re issue the Suite, but I did manage to buy a CD with all of the other side of the ode album on it. Always wanted to see him play his Dangelico New Yorker! At least I got to see him play once in the Sydney Opera House!
@ Rory: According to his online biography, Kenny Burrell never collaborated directly with Duke Ellington, but Ellington knew of him and termed Burrell his "favorite guitarist." He did occupy Charlie Christian's chair for a while with Benny Goodman's band during the 1950s. After a long and distinguished career as a sideman and leader, he began teaching at UCLA in 1978, a course called "Ellingtonia," which examined the life and music of Duke Eillington. This is apt, since Burrell is one of the acknowledged experts on his music. I've been fortunate-enough to see Burrell several times live and in person, and he is simply wonderful. Tremendous performer and a tremendous person.
His sound and recordings have been the accompanying music to decades of my life and experiences. Any idea of what cool or bluesy is, has to echo his playing to me.
A truely great Jazz guitarist of the highest order. Went on to influence, the great Wes Montgomery, George Benson & many more. Even the great BB King. Jimi Hendrix was also knocked out by Kenny Burrell.
How I wish I could be a guitar master at 85 as he is, it´s true that in the past he could play better but come on guys he is 85 and he still can play the guitar
@ Mupsic: I saw Kenny Burrell live a quarter century ago, several times in fact before he quit traveling by air after 2001 - and he was undeniably great then, but he is playing just as well here. Solo chord melody work is very demanding, regardless of one's age - and Burrell pulls it off like the champ and old pro that he is. One of the great geniuses of jazz guitar.
Whoa ,this experienced old guitar man plays so extraornarily nice music , he knows everything about music, i ment jazz is such a music like came from haeven, as classic music from the years 1600,sic !!!
Before he tunes the E string, he plays the d string and since its a semiacoustic, the d string should make the D note slightly vibrate. So little that its actually only noticable with your Eyes. I used to play the cello and an a on different string would make the A string vibrate. I dont own a guitar like that, so im not able to check it out, but thats my assumption of how he does it. Still takes a lot of experience to do that just like this.
