Kenny Burrell is 90 years old today.
Burrell is a jazz guitarist known for his collaborations with Jimmy Smith, including the 1965 hit album, Organ Grinder Swing. He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues musicians, T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.
Burrell also serves as a professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Born in Detroit to a musical family (both of his parents played instruments), Burrell began playing guitar at the age of 12. He went on to study composition and theory with Louis Cabara and classical guitar with Joe Fava. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his recording debut as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951.
He followed that with the "Rose of Tangier/Ground Round," a single recorded under his own name at Fortune Records in Detroit. While at university, Burrell founded the New World Music Society collective with fellow Detroit musicians, Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones and Yusef Lateef.
Burrell toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956 with the pianist, Tommy Flanagan. Within months, Burrell had recorded his first album as leader for Blue Note and both he and Flanagan were sought-after as sidemen and studio musicians, performing with singers Tony Bennett and Lena Horne and recording with Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons and Kenny Dorham.
From 1957 to 1959, Burrell occupied the former chair of Charlie Christian in Benny Goodman's band. Since his New York debut, Burrell has had a prolific recording career. Critics have cited The Cats with John Coltrane in 1957, Midnight Blue with Stanley Turrentine in 1963 and Guitar Forms with arranger Gil Evans in 1965 as highlights.
In 1978, he began teaching a course at UCLA called "Ellingtonia," examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington. Although the two never collaborated directly, Ellington called Burrell his "favorite guitarist" and Burrell has recorded a number of tributes to and interpretations of Ellington's works.
In 2019, concerns arose about Burell's well being and living circumstances as he became increasingly socially and physically isolated in his home and major frictions developed between his wife, Katherine Goodrich, 37 years his junior, and others living their Westwood, California, apartment building.
A GoFundMe account was set up to pay medical bills and other putative expenses, which became controversial because he was covered by medical insurance through employment at UCLA and through Medicare. Subsequently a letter from Burrell was published, providing a detailed explanation of the situation and justification for the GoFundMe campaign.