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Review: [untitled]Author(s): Wayne E. GoinsSource: American Music, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Winter, 2004), pp. 604-606Published by: University of Illinois PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3593000

Accessed: 18/08/2009 21:55

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 Music.

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RECORDING

REVIEW

Kenny Burrell-Lucky

So

and So. Edward

Kennedy

Ellington, George

T.

Simon,

and

Bobby Troup.

The

Feeling Of

Jazz.

Walter Gross and

Jack

Lawrence.

Tenderly.Kenny

Burrell.

Bluescape.

Edward

Kennedy Ellington.

My

Ship.

Edward

Kennedy Ellington. Squeeze

Me. Edward

Kennedy

El-

lington.

In

a Sentimental

Mood.

Onaje

Allan

Gumbs

and

Clinton

E.

Norton.

Too

Soon.

Jimmy

Dorsey

and Paul M.

Mertz.

I'm

Glad

There

s You.

Kenny

Burrell.

Bass Face.

David

Mack and

Edward

Kennedy Ellington. Lucky

So

and

So.

Kenny

Burrell,

guitar

and

vocals;

Onaje

Allan

Gumbs,

keyboards;

Rufus

Reid,

bass;

Akira

Tana,

drums. Liner

notes

by

Jim

Ferguson.

2001.

Concord

Jazz

CCD-4951-2.

Even before

Wynton

Marsalis,

whom

everyone

knows

by

now

is

a

life-long

Duke

Ellington devotee-Kenny

Burrell

was one of the most

outspoken

musicians

who

rarely

missed

a

chance

to

sing Ellington's

praises.

One can

easily

track his

musical tributes to

Duke,

gradually increasing

in

number over the last several

decades.

While

on the

Blue Note

label,

c.

1958-59,

Burrell recorded

few

Ellington

titles,

and

recorded even

fewer on his earlier

Prestige

recordings.

Devout followers now have more than a few albums

appointed

solely

for the

elevation of the

maestro's

legacy

from Burrell's mid- to late

career.

Still,

Burrell

was not

doing

too

bad a

job

at

creating

his own

legacy

early

on

during

the matura-

tion

period.

Indeed,

most

consider the Blue

Note

era

as some

of

his finest

work,

which still

stands under

scrutiny-Blue Lights

(volumes

1

and

2;

originally

issued

in

1958;

reissued in

1997

on

Blue

Note

1596/1597),

On View at

the

Five

Spot Cafe

(originally

issued

in

1959;

reissued

in

1988 on Blue

Note

46538),

and

Midnight

Blue

(originally

issued

in

1963;

reissued

in

1999 on Blue Note

95335).

One of the

best, however,

is

a

rare

post-Blue

Note

recording

for

an

unlikely

label,

Chess,

which

spawned

A

Night

at the

Village Vanguard(originally

issued

in

1959;

reis-

sued

in

1999 on BMG

21610842).

This album

boasts

every

trademark

that

earned

him

the

reputation

that

he still

enjoys-superior

chord

solos,

ingenious

melodic

forays,

and an

impeccable

swing

factor.

American Music Winter 2004

?

2004

by

the

Board of Trustees

of the

University

of

Illinois

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Recording

Review

Among

jazz

guitar

aficionados,

Burrell's

reputation

grew,

for lack of

a

better

term,

as

a

calm

that came

after

the fire and brimstone sermons delivered

by

none

other

than

Jimmy

Smith,

particularly

on the seminal

albums,

Midnight Special

(originally

issued

in

1960;

reissued

in

1989 on Blue Note

84078)

and

Backat the

ChickenShack(originally issued in 1960; reissued in 1990 on Blue Note 46402).

Never

disappointing,

Burrell's lines were

unfailingly

articulate,

elegant,

and

pithy.

Like an excellent relief

pitcher,

listeners

always

knew

they

could count

on

a reliable

performance

at

every outing.

True to

form,

there

really

are

not

any

Kenny

Burrell solos that come to mind where

Burrell

did

anything

less

than

come

in,

fire it

right

down the middle

with

some

steam,

and

get

the

job

done.

Fast forward

from

the late fifties to about fifteen

years

later,

and the

Ellington

fascination

appears

in full bloom in the

mid-seventies,

although

Burrell had

already

provided

more than

a

hint at

becoming

a

college

music

professor

as far

back

as the mid-fifties.

He

most

certainly

achieved

his

goal-students

are still

attending

his

legendary Ellingtonia

courses at UCLA, where Burrell teaches

his

disciples

all about

the

Gospel According

to

Duke.

Fast forward once

again,

and

yet

another

side

of

Kenny

Burrell

emerges-that

of

jazz

guitar

sensei,

who has now achieved

guru

status

among

an

entire

genera-

tion

of

comers-Russell

Malone,

Mark

Whitfield,

Kevin

Eubanks,

Bobby

Broom,

et al. It was

an

incredibly delightful

gesture

to see

Burrell

sharing

his

wisdom

with his

apprentices

on the

album,

Generation

Blue

Note

85137).

In

Burrell's

recent

CD,

Lucky

So and

So,

he still stands

supreme

as one

of our

greatest

treasures

in

the

pantheon

of

jazz

guitar.

Burrell starts his album in the

way

that he loves

most,

with a

nod to Duke

Ellington.

His

lifelong

love of Duke's

music

is well

known,

as evidenced

by

his

consistently

tasteful treatments of

Ellington's originals.

The

solo

on

Tenderly

achieves as

high

a

level

of both

succinctness and

ar-

ticulation

as

any

guitarist

could ever strive

for,

while

simultaneously

breathing

new life into old

standards.

His

original,

Bluescape,

is

a classic blues form

that Burrell

has

mastered

over

the

years,

a

facet of his

playing

for which he has

consistently

received his

highest praise-the ability

to deliver

hard-hitting bop

lines

laced with

heavy

doses

of

homegrown

blues.

The

greatest

gift

the album

offers,

however,

is to

get

a

rare

glimpse

of Burrell's

vocal

approach.

He

sings

with

the same warmth

and

grace

as his

guitar lines,

particularly

on I'm

Glad

There Is You.

Likewise,

My Ship

is a

perfect

ve-

hicle for Burrell's

understated,

yet

unwavering

melodic

lyricism.

He returns

to

the

Ellington songbook

with

a

tasty singing,

solos

and,

yes,

even

scatting,

in

Squeeze

Me. Burrell's

rendering

of

In a Sentimental

Mood

easily captures

the

introspective

mood that

Duke must have

intended.

Burrell's

sidemen,

Onaje

Allen

Gumbs

(keyboards), longtime

Burrell sideman

Akira Tana

(drums),

and the

unmistakably

solid Rufus Reid

(bass)

keep

the CD

percolating

from start to finish. The album's sound

quality

is first

rate-consistent

throughout,

with

a mix

that offers as

much

clarity emanating

from

each

instru-

ment as anyone could wish for. The Concord label continues to demonstrate

what

appears

to

be

a

reinvigorated

burst of

creativity,

from the

beefed-up

roster

of

new

signings,

to

the

complementary

artwork

that

gives

a

veteran like Burrell

the

ultimate

respect

he deserves.

Jim

Ferguson,

former Guitar

Player magazine

605

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606

American

Music,

Winter 2004

columnist, author,

and

long-time

veteran of

jazz,

does

a

splendid job outlining

the

album's

content,

while

simultaneously capturing

Burrell's aura in his liner

notes.

Few

musicians

have seen

the

kind

of success

that

Kenny

Burrell has

had,

and upon further inspection, it is even rarer still that one has managed to do

so with the

kind

of

consistency

and

dignity

that we

have

come

to

expect

of the

few

remaining

veterans

of his caliber.

Indeed,

we are the

lucky

so-and-so's

to

witness

yet

another

round

of

vintage

sparring

between Burrell and his cohorts.

Somewhere,

Ellington

is

smiling.

Wayne

E. Goins

Kansas State

University