Gary Burton (b. January 23 1943, Anderson, Indiana) is an American jazz vibraphonist and composer. Having been self-taught on the vibraphone, Burton developed a style of four-mallet chording as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique were widely imitated. Burton is notable as one of very few openly gay musicians in jazz history, and has stated that his coming out in his 40s had no adverse consequences for his career as he had feared.[1]
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Biography
At six years old, Burton taught himself to play piano and formally studied piano and composition when in high school. Burton has cited jazz pianist Bill Evans as a main inspiration for his approach toward the vibraphone. A self-taught vibraphonist, Burton attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the early 1960s. He studied with Herb Pomeroy and soon befriended the composer and arranger Michael Gibbs. He has been on the staff of Berklee since 1971, most recently serving as Executive Vice President since 1996. Touring both the U.S. and Japan with pianist George Shearing in 1963, Burton went on to play with saxophonist Stan Getz from 1964 to 1966. In 1967 the Gary Burton Quartet was formed along with guitarist Larry Coryell, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Steve Swallow. Predating the jazz-rock fusion craze of the 1970s, Duster combined jazz, country and rock and roll elements, and has been cited as being among the first of its kind. However, some of Burton's previous albums (notably Tennessee Firebird and Time Machine, both from 1966) had already shown his inclination toward such experimentation. After Coryell left the quartet in the late-1960s, Burton hired guitarists: Jerry Hahn, Mick Goodrick, and, since 1975, Pat Metheny, who would later go on to a successful solo career. Burton has composed for and played with a variety of well-known jazz musicians, including Carla Bley, Gato Barbieri, Jimmy Knepper, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Steve Lacey, Pat Metheny, Howard Johnson, Michael Mantler, Makoto Ozone, Adam Nussbaum, Tiger Okoshi, Dan Gottlieb, Larry Coryell, Jon Weber, Tommy Smith, Stephane Grappelli and Ástor Piazzolla, to name just a few. Burton also hosts a radio show on the "Pure Jazz" station on Sirius Satellite Radio. In June of 2006, Burton performed with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, and Antonio Sanchez in The Gary Burton Quartet Revisited. His available recordings, as of the mid-2000s, are mainly those from Atlantic Records, ECM Records and the Concord Jazz label.
Selected discography
- New Vibe Man in Town (RCA, 1961)
- Who Is Gary Burton? (RCA, 1962)
- 3 in Jazz (RCA, 1963)
- Something's Coming (RCA, 1963)
- The Groovy Sound of Music (RCA, 1964)
- The Time Machine (RCA, 1966)
- Tennessee Firebird (RCA, 1966)
- Duster (RCA, 1967)
- Lofty Fake Anagram (RCA, 1967)
- A Genuine Tong Funeral (RCA, 1968) with compositions by Carla Bley
- Gary Burton Quartet in Concert Live (RCA, 1968)
- Country Roads and Other Places (RCA, 1968)
- Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett (Atlantic, 1969) with Sam Brown session-member
- Throb (Atlantic, 1969)
- Good Vibes (Atlantic, 1970)
- Paris Encounter (Atlantic, 1970)
- Live in Tokyo (Atlantic, 1971)
- Alone at Last (Atlantic, 1971)
- Crystal Silence (ECM, 1972) with Chick Corea
- The New Quartet (ECM, 1973)
- Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber Orchestra (ECM, 1974) featuring music by Mike Gibbs
- Hotel Hello (ECM, 1974) with Steve Swallow
- Matchbook (ECM, 1974) with Ralph Towner
- Ring (ECM, 1974) with Eberhard Weber
- Dreams So Real (1975) featuring music by Carla Bley (ECM)
- Passengers (ECM, 1976) with Eberhard Weber
- Times Square (ECM, 1978)
- Duet (ECM, 1979) with Chick Corea
- Easy as pie (ECM, 1980)
- In Concert, Zurich, October 28, 1979 with Chick Corea (ECM, 1980)
- Picture This (ECM, 1982)
- Real life hits (ECM, 1984)
- Gary Burton and the Berklee All-Stars (JVC, 1985)
- Whiz kids (ECM, 1986)
- Slide Show (ECM, 1986) with Ralph Towner
- Times Like These (GRP, 1988)
- The New Tango (1988) with Ástor Piazzolla
- Reunion (GRP, 1989) with Pat Metheny, Will Lee, Peter Erskine, Mitchel Forman
- Right Time, Right Place (GNP Crescendo, 1990)
- Cool Nights (GRP, 1991)
- Six Pack (GRP, 1992)
- It's Another Day (GRP, 1993)
- Face to Face (GRP, 1994)
- Live in Cannes (Jazz World, 1996)
- Ástor Piazzolla Reunion: A Tango Excursion (Concord Jazz, 1996)
- Departure (Concord Jazz, 1997)
- Like Minds with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland (1998)
- Libertango: The Music of Ástor Piazzolla (Concord Jazz, 2000)
- For Hamp, Red, Bags, and Cal (Concord Jazz, 2001)
- Virtuosi (Concord, 2002)
- Music of Duke Ellington (LRC Ltd, 2003)
- Generations (Concord Jazz, 2004)
- Next Generation (Concord, 2005)
- Live in Montreux 2002 (Eagle Eye, 2006)
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) |
References
- ^ Antone, Richard (August 30, 2005), Jazz artist Gary Burton, The Advocate. Retrieved November 13, 2006.
See also
External links
