| Gary Burton | |
|---|---|
Photo by Tom Beetz |
|
| Background information | |
| Born | January 23, 1943 Anderson, Indiana United States |
| Genres | Jazz, Jazz Fusion |
| Occupations | Musician, Composer Educator |
| Instruments | Vibraphone, Marimba |
| Years active | since 1960 |
| Labels | ECM, Concord Records, Mack Avenue Records |
| Associated acts | Stan Getz Chick Corea Pat Metheny |
| Website | www.garyburton.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Musser M-48 Vibraphone | |
Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943, Anderson, Indiana) is an American jazz vibraphonist.
A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in jazz education.
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Beginning music at six years old, Burton for the most part taught himself to play marimba and vibraphone.[1] He also began studying piano at age sixteen as he finished high school in Princeton, Indiana (56-60). Burton has cited jazz pianist Bill Evans as a main inspiration for his approach toward the vibraphone.
Burton attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston[1] in 1960-61. He studied with Herb Pomeroy and soon befriended the composer and arranger Michael Gibbs. After establishing his career during the 1960s, he returned to join the staff of Berklee from 1971–2004, serving first as Professor, then Dean and finally as Executive Vice President during his last decade at the college.
Early in his career, at the behest of noted Nashville saxophonist Boots Randolph,[1] Burton moved to Nashville and recorded with several notable Nashville musicians including guitarist Hank Garland, pianist Floyd Cramer and guitarist Chet Atkins.
After touring both the U.S. and Japan with pianist George Shearing[2] in 1963, Burton went on to play with saxophonist Stan Getz from 1964-1966. It was during this time with the Stan Getz Quartet that Burton appeared with the band in a feature film, "Get Yourself a College Girl", playing "Girl From Ipanema" with Astrud Gilberto. In 1967 he formed the Gary Burton Quartet along with guitarist Larry Coryell, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Steve Swallow. Predating the jazz-rock fusion[2] craze of the 1970s, the group's first record, Duster, combined jazz, country and rock and roll elements. However, some of Burton's previous albums (notably Tennessee Firebird and Time Machine, both from 1966) had already shown his inclination toward such experimentation with different genres of popular music. After Coryell left the quartet in the late-1960s, Burton hired a number of well-regarded guitarists: Jerry Hahn, David Pritchard, Mick Goodrick, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and most recently Julian Lage, who played guitar in Burton's group Next Generation.
Burton was named Down Beat magazine's 'Jazzman of the Year' in 1968 (the youngest ever to receive the title) and won his first Grammy award in 1972, Burton began a now 38 year-long collaboration with pianist Chick Corea,[3] recognized for popularizing the format of jazz duet performance. Their half dozen recordings won the pair Grammy awards in years 1979, 1981, 1997, 1999, and most recently in 2009, for The New Crystal Silence.
Burton has played with a variety of jazz musicians, including Carla Bley, Hank Garland, Gato Barbieri, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Steve Lacy, Pat Metheny, Makoto Ozone, Adam Nussbaum, Tiger Okoshi, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, B.B. King, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Tommy Smith, Eberhard Weber, Stephane Grappelli and tango legend Ástor Piazzolla.
From 2004-2008 Burton hosted a weekly jazz radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. From September 2006 - April 2008, Burton toured worldwide with Chick Corea celebrating 35 years of working together. Most recently Burton has toured and recorded with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, and Antonio Sanchez (The Gary Burton Quartet Revisited), reprising music from the Burton's 1970s group.
Burton's available recordings, as of 2010, are mainly those from Atlantic Records, ECM Records, GRP Records and the Concord Jazz label.
On Wednesday, February 23, Mack Avenue Records announced that they signed Burton. He plans to release his next project, entitled "Common Ground" featuring The New Gary Burton Quartet (featuring Julian Lage, Scott Colley, and Antonio Sanchez) on June 7.
Following an early marriage in his 20's, Burton married for a second time in 1975 to Catherine Goldwyn, granddaughter of film producer Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974). Together for nearly a decade, the couple had two children, a daughter Stephanie (born 1978), and a son, Sam, (born 1980). In 1985, Burton publicly declared himself as a gay man, making him one of only a few openly gay jazz musicians. His longtime partner is Jonathan Chong.
With Chet Atkins
With Bob Brookmeyer
With Bruce Cockburn
With Floyd Cramer
With Hank Garland
With Stan Getz
With k. d. lang
With George Shearing
With Eberhard Weber
With Jon Weber
Over the years, Gary Burton has been nominated for 15 Grammy Awards and he has won 6:
| 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) |
| 2009 | Best jazz instrumental performance | "The New Crystal Silence" (with Chick Corea) |