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Event
Kenny Burrell Solo & Trio
With Kenny Burrell's two sets ringing in the final weekend, the Healdsburg Jazz Festival's Jazz Masters begin showing what it's like at the top of the artistic mountain. Kenny, who turned 80 last year, picked up his Jazz Masters knighthood from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, just another feather in the cap of a musician who's got a room full of them. But it was an occasion to consider what Kenny represents in jazz. If, of the other Jazz Masters at Healdsburg, Roy Haynes could be seen as determination and Sheila Jordan as innovation, then Kenny is definitely precision.
He's been hitting the sweet spots on his fretboard since 1951, when, as a young guitarist in Detroit, he landed a record date with Dizzy Gillespie. After a tour with Oscar Peterson in '55, Kenny arrived in New York and immediately became a hot ticket among the jazz elite. He had to figure out how to balance making his own records against demands for his services from people like John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith, Tony Bennett, Lena Horn and many more.
What's his secret? He told the Los Angeles Times that music "has to be a balance between heart and mind. The thing is to not let your technique or your analytical side overshadow your feelings."
On his way to recording over a 100 albums as a leader, and appearing on hundreds more, Kenny has demonstrated two sentiments: an abiding love of Duke Ellington's music (Ellington called him his favorite guitarist) and a penchant for teaching. He combined the two passions in 1978 when he created a class at UCLA called Ellingtonia, teaching it for 18 years until the university instituted a full-fledged Jazz Studies Department, naming Kenny the director. The guitarist teaches ethnomusicology, jazz studies, and leads a few guitar workshops all the while continuing to record albums and perform concerts. He was also involved with Herb Alpert and Herbie Hancock in folding the Thelonious Monk Institute into UCLA's jazz programs.
Kenny will play two sets at the Raven. The first will be solo guitar, where the audience is likely to hear the remarkable picking and finger-style technique he displayed on his new album of live solo guitar, Tenderly. On this casually paced, evocatively arranged tour de force surprisingly his first recording of unaccompanied guitar he balances original tunes with tributes to Billie Holiday, Wes Montgomery, Louis Armstrong and Ellington. At the second set he'll front a trio. Expect the polished drive and swing that has made Kenny Burrell arguably the most respected guitarist in jazz history.
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LocationThe Raven Theater (View)
115 North Street
Healdsburg, CA 95448
United States
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| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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