Gary Burton

Gary Burton (b. January 23 1943, Anderson, Indiana) is an American jazz vibraphonist.

Having been self-taught 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 were widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz.

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. [Antone, Richard (August 30, 2005), [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2005_August_30/ai_n15383926 Jazz artist Gary Burton] , "The Advocate". Retrieved November 13, 2006.]

Biography

At six years old, Burton taught himself to play marimba and vibraphone and formally studied piano when in high school. 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 in the early 1960s. He studied with Herb Pomeroy and soon befriended the composer and arranger Michael Gibbs. After establishing his career during the 1960's, he returned to join the staff of Berklee from 1971-2004, serving first as Professor, then Dean and as Executive Vice President during his last decade at the college.

After 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, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Julian Lage, who played guitar in the most recent Burton group, Next Generation.

After being named Downbeat Magazine's Jazzman of the Year in 1968 (the youngest ever to receive the title) and winning his first Grammy award in 1972, Burton began a now 36 year-long collaboration with pianist Chick Corea, recognized for popularizing the concept of jazz duet performance. Their half dozen recordings won the pair Grammy awards in years 1979, 1981, 1997, and 1999.

Burton has played with a variety of well-known jazz musicians, including Carla Bley, Gato Barbieri, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Steve Lacy, Pat Metheny, Makoto Ozone, Adam Nussbaum, Tiger Okoshi, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, B.B. King, Larry Coryell, Tommy Smith, Stephane Grappelli and tango legend 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. From September 2006 - April 2008, Burton toured world-wide with Chick Corea celebrating their 35 years of working together.

His available recordings, as of 2008, are mainly those from Atlantic Records, ECM Records, GRP Records and the Concord Jazz label.

elected discography

* "After the Riot at Newport" (1960)
* "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)
* "The New Crystal Silence" (Concord Jazz 2008) with Chick Corea

Awards

Over the years, he has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards out of which he has won 5:

References

ee also

*Vibraphone
*List of vibraphonists
*

External links

* [http://www.garyburton.com/home.html Gary Burton official site]
* [http://www.music-city.org/Gary-Burton/discography/ Gary Burton's discography from Music City]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/profiles/gary_burton.shtml BBC's profile on Gary Burton]