Gary Burton
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Gary Burton (born on January 23, 1943 in Anderson, Indiana) is a jazz vibraphone player, known for developing the then-innovative technique of playing the instrument with four mallets, rather than the usual two.
He studied with Herb Pomeroy at the Berklee College of Music, where he met the composer and arranger Michael Gibbs, with whom he subsequently collaborated frequently.
Burton, who released his debut album in 1961 at the age of 18, spent the early parts of his career playing with George Shearing and then in Stan Getz's piano-less mid-sixties quartet.
In the late sixties, he assembled like-minded players for a series of electric sessions that melded jazz elements with rock and blues. Burton's album Duster (with guitarist Larry Coryell, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Roy Haynes) is regarded by a minority of jazz critics to be the first jazz-rock fusion album, as it predates Miles Davis' In A Silent Way by two years.
He has been on the staff of Berklee since 1971, most recently serving as Executive Vice President since 1996.
He has recorded with Makoto Ozone, Carla Bley, Chick Corea, Tommy Smith , Stephane Grappelli, Jon Weber and Ástor Piazzolla, among others. Burton has led his own groups as well, and was the first major jazz figure to feature guitarist Pat Metheny. John Scofield, Ralph Towner, Mick Goodrick, and Julian Lage have also played guitar with Burton.
Burton also hosts a radio show on the "Pure Jazz" station on Sirius Satellite Radio.
In June of 2006, he performed with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, and Antonio Sanchez in The Gary Burton Quartet Revisited.
Contents |
[edit] Selected discography
- Duster (1967)
- A Genuine Tong Funeral (1968)
- Throb (1969)
- Paris Encounter (1969)
- Alone at Last (1971)
- Crystal Silence (1972) with Chick Corea (ECM)
- Ring (1974) with Eberhard Weber (ECM)
- Dreams So Real (1975) (ECM)
- Hotel Hello (1975) with Steve Swallow (ECM)
- Passengers (1976) with Eberhard Weber (ECM)
- Times Square (1977) (ECM)
- Duet (1978) with Chick Corea (ECM)
- Easy as pie (ECM)
- In Concert, Zurich, October 28, 1979 with Chick Corea (ECM)
- Picture This (ECM)
- Real life hits (ECM)
- Whiz kids (ECM)
- Times Like These (1988)
- The New Tango (1988) with Ástor Piazzolla
- Reunion (1989) with Pat Metheny, Will Lee, Peter Erskine, Mitchel Forman
- Like Minds with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland (1998)
- Next Generation (2005)
[edit] Awards
Over the years, he has been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards out of which he has won 5:
| Year | Award | Album/song |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist | Alone at Last |
| 1979 | Best jazz instrumental performance, group | Duet (with Chick Corea) |
| 1982 | Best jazz instrumental performance, group | In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 (with Chick Corea) |
| 1998 | Best instrumental solo | "Rhumbata", Native Sense (with Chick Corea) |
| 2000 | Best jazz instrumental performance | Like Minds (with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes and Dave Holland) |
