Hi, I’m Marc from JazzGuitarLessons.net and you're listening to Album Deep
Dives.
In this episode we’ll focus our attention on one of the finest Soul Jazz and Hard
Bop pioneers: Kenny Burrell. We will be discussing his famous record “Midnight
Blue”, so, let’s get right to it.
Kenneth Earl Burrell was born on July 31st, 1931 in Detroit, Michigan. Born into a
very musical family, he began taking piano lessons at 8, but they didn’t really stick.
As many musicians of his era, he was drawn towards the saxophone, but his family
couldn’t afford the instrument at the time, so he bought his first guitar at a very
cheap price in a pawn shop when he was 12 years old. Only 3 years later he would
start gigging, and by 1948 he would be playing with his peer Tommy Flanagan at
the Club Sudan. His big break came when he was only 19, that is in 1951, when
Dizzy Gillespie hired him for a 10-day gig with a band that included John Coltrane
and Milt Jackson. He then was offered to go on tour, but he decided to enroll at
Wayne University instead (which is now Wayne State University) as a composition
major. Here he also took classical guitar lessons with the renowned teacher Joe
Fava, and this would forever influence his playing style. Right after finishing
college, Kenny Burrell went on tour with none other than Oscar Peterson, the
famous piano player, and his career skyrocketed after that. Kenny Burrell became
the de facto guitarist for Blue Note and Prestige records in the late 50s and
became one of the most influential guitar voices of the decade. During his career
Kenny Burrell recorded roughly 100 albums as a leader and appeared in more than
500 recordings as a sideman. He played and recorded with virtually everyone that
was relevant in jazz during this time. People like Louis Armstrong, Coleman
Hawkins, Gillespie, Billy Holiday, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and
even James Brown and Aretha Franklin. So, Kenny Burrell is a true jazz legend,
so, let’s learn more about his particular style.
[music clip “Chitlins Con Carne” 00:00 – 00:35]
As you can probably tell by listening to this short example on the record, Kenny’s
sound is deeply rooted in the electric blues, and “Midnight Blue” certainly highlights
this side of his writing and playing. This album was released in 1963 on the Blue
Note label, and it features the sounds of Stanley Turrentine on sax, Major Holley
on bass, Billy Gene English on drums, and Ray Barretto on congas. This recording
contains all original compositions by Kenny Burrell, except for one theme. The
story behind the creation of this record is pretty interesting because it was
conceived at a time when Kenny was extremely busy with studio work and touring,
which he felt was not allowing him enough time to practice and advance as a
musician. And it so happened that in 1960 he was offered a couple of gigs on
Broadway, which gave him a steady income and time to practice and compose
again. This is when most of the tunes featured on this record were written.
The opening track (of which we just listened to the melody before this short
introduction here) is titled “Chitlins Con Carne”, and it’s a relaxed latin minor blues.
Here, Kenny shows his electric blues credentials, and they are heavy. Growing up
in Detroit, blues was present in Burrell’s life everywhere he went. Blues was played
on the radio, at live shows, on the streets, and as a result, the use of the electric
blues language became one of Kenny’s signature sounds throughout his career.
During the solo, Kenny plays pure blues with his round, mellow tone; making use of
bends, blue notes, repetition, and call and response, just like Muddy Waters or
B.B. King would. It’s as if with this opening track he makes a statement that is this:
blues is in my blood.
[music clip “Chitlins Con Carne” 00:57 – 01:41]
As a fun fact, “Chitlins Con Carne”, the song, became very popular in the blues
world, so much so, that artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan made famous covers of the
tune.
But let’s move on. Kenny Burrell’s sound, although deeply rooted in the electric
blues, also had other major influences, and this combination is what made him so
special. He always had stated that three of his main influences were Charlie
Christian (of course, the inventor of the guitar solo, if you will, and one of the
pioneers of bebop), then Oscar Moore (most noticeably that’s Nat King Cole’s
guitarist for more than 10 years), and the great Django Reinhardt. These more
“jazzy” influences are first presented on this record during the solo on the second
track of the album titled “Mule”. During his blowing on this slow blues, we can hear
Kenny spelling out the changes with single note lines making use of chord tones
with great lyricism, proof of his swing language and expertise. We can also
appreciate him making use of more chromatic language, and bebop licks. Let’s
listen.
[music clip “Mule” 01:30 – 02:05]
Another characteristic that shaped Kenny Burrell’s sound was his love for classical
guitar. As mentioned earlier, Kenny got to know this music pretty deeply while
studying with Joe Fava at Wayne University. Kenny, being the amazing artist that
he is, not only studied classical guitar, but internalized this music and made it a
part of his own sound. This particular characteristic of his playing can be specially
appreciated on the third track of the album called “Soul Lament”. It is a dark and
longing, through composed solo guitar piece. He performs it with his signature mid-
heavy tone on the electric guitar, and it oozes his musical personality. It has a
distinct blues sound to it, combined with jazz harmony. Although it appears to have
been performed with a pick, the classical guitar influence here is evident. The
smooth voice leading, the highlighting of the melody, his ability to shift the listeners
attention to different voices during the arrangement, and the compositional
techniques used, all speak of his deep understanding of classical guitar music.
[music clip “Soul Lament” 00:57 – 01:35]
Up next, the title track of the album, “Midnight Blue”, is a great example of why
Kenny Burrell’s influence expands throughout many genres. He was not only
recognized by jazz musicians, but also by R&B, rock, and blues players such as
Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and all sang his praise. The melody of this
tune is extremely catchy, and it is no wonder that it appeals to both, jazz
aficionados, and the general public alike. His solo features a lot of rhythmic
interest, starting and ending phrases at different spots on the bar, making use of
triplets, eighth, and sixteenth notes alike, and Kenny’s playing here stands out
among the rest of his peers because of his preference for short, rhythmically rich
melodic phrases. He leaves a lot of space in between his ideas to allow them to
sink better, and when he plays a long phrase like the one at the end of the short
clip we are about to listen to, they have a bigger impact.
[music clip “Midnight Blue” 02:13 – 02:47]
The next track on this album, “Wavy Gravy”, features Burrell’s magical ability to
solo while comping for himself. The tune is a blues in 3/4, so kind of a waltz feel,
with a substantial introduction in which Kenny solos while the congas take a lot of
rhythmic liberties. Turrentine’s saxophone eventually comes in playing a riff behind
the guitar, until both instruments play the head of the tune in unison. They lock in
masterfully, showing everyone just how great their groove is. So, the sax takes the
first solo, with Kenny comping behind pretty, let’s say, sparingly with great taste.
After this, the guitar solo comes in strong, repeating the saxophone’s last idea,
leaving lots of space, again, after this first statement. This space is filled by what is
seemingly another guitar comping, but we soon realize that it’s Kenny comping for
Kenny during Kenny’s solo. So, what makes this so effective is the way he is
controlling the dynamics, and the different phrasing he is applying to his melodic vs
his harmonic playing. He lowers the volume dramatically when he plays chords,
and his melodic phrases are short and based on eight note triplets. In contrast, he
uses quarter notes for his comping figures, for the chords, and then he adds a little
slide to the first two chords of every phrase. This makes his comping quite distinct
from his melodic content, which makes it sound like there are two different guitars
playing. Let’s listen here.
[music clip “Wavy Gravy” 03:18 – 04:00]
To close out the album, we have “Saturday Night Blues”. Unlike the opening track,
it is played with a swing feel (or a shuffle feel), and it’s even much slower. So, the
band really feels in sync here, making the song groove hard, and Kenny’s rhythm
guitar playing is fantastic. Which shouldn’t be too surprising, as Kenny Burrell had
vast experience playing in R&B rhythm sections in the recording studio, making his
time feel extremely solid. The comping during the saxophone’s solo is particularly
interesting, as it showcases a different facet of Kenny’s playing. We’ve heard him
comp for himself, we’ve heard him comp during a latin-tinged blues tune, a slow
blues, and a blues in 3/4. Now, Burrell choses to play very percussively for all of
these in order to create forward motion and keep the momentum going, but the mid
swing tempo in “Saturday Night Blues” is perfect for a different kind of approach.
The big difference here is the phrasing. When I mentioned that in his comping
during the previous tracks he was more percussive, what I really meant was that
he doesn’t leave the notes ringing for the most part. He plays short chord shots,
often making use of rhythmic cycles to keep a steady groove going, or
accentuating certain off beats. In this track, in “Saturday Night Blues”, Kenny uses
a much more open type of comping, making use of held chords and longer
rhythmic figures like dotted quarter notes and half notes. The forward motion is
kept by anticipating chords, and using lots of syncopation, but he doesn’t make use
of too many repeated rhythmic figures, or short chord punctuations. Let’s listen to
an example of this.
[music clip “Saturday Night Blues” 01:35 – 02:05]
Now, if you want to listen to more of Kenny Burrell’s music, I would recommend
listening to his debut album “Introducing Kenny Burrell” (1956). Another fantastic
record is “Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane” (1959), and that’s the one on which we
have the famous bird blues in Ab “Freight Train”, and I mean, you know… what
else is there to say about this record besides what the title can tell you? It’s Kenny
Burrell and John Coltrane playing together. And then there’s another record called
“A night at the Vanguard” (1959) it’s another fantastic album featuring none other
than Roy Haynes on drums.
Thank you for listening to this episode of album deep dives, I hope that you
enjoyed it. Kenny’s contributions to the jazz guitar world are vast, not only with his
playing and composition, but as an academic as well. He has been at the front of
the UCLA jazz program since the 70s and he has been a big part of the flourishing
of that program that was experienced in these last years. So, Kenny Burrell has
inspired countless guitarists, and I hope that this episode has served to inspire you
as well.
