Happy Birthday, Kenny Burrell

Yesterday was guitarist Kenny Burrell's 87th birthday. 

Kenny Burrell is a great admirer of Duke Ellington's work and indeed ran a course  -Ellingtonia - in teaching his music at UCLA. A former student, Steve Bowie, incidentally, hosts a superb podcast Ellington Reflections.

In celebration of Mr Burrell's birthday, I have been listening to the second volume of his Ellington is Forever albums which has the added attraction of Ellington trombonist Quentin Jackson, who is also featured on a couple of vocals!

Here is a quotation about Ellington's Great Paris Concert album. This was posted to the Duke Ellington Society  group on Facebook by the group's organiser Jean-Marie Juif (the Society is recommended!)

The comments show one great musician's appreciation of the work of another.

KENNY BURRELL speaks about Duke's Great Paris Concert album (Atlantic Records) at the University of California, Los Angeles, May 7, 2013:

"The record the maestro recorded in Paris in 1963; there are many great things on this recording.

    It starts off with Rockin' in Rhythm which we all know has gotten it's own wings after Ellington.Written in 1929 - hello! - Zawinul and those guys were do it later.

Star Crossed Lovers from the Suite,the Theme from the Asphalt Jungle movie,couple of pieces featuring Cootie Williams, Concerto for Cootie, Tutti For Cootie and The Suite Thursday another suite by Ellington and Strayhorn.

One that I particularly like - well I have to say it's one of favourite pieces in all of Ellingtonia - and all music is Tone Parallel To Harlem known as Harlem Suite.

    This was commissioned in 1950 by Arturo Toscanini of The NBC Symphony Orchestra of New York.

    Ellington at that point was pretty popular and also gaining recognition as a serious composer so that's why he got the commission - at the time he was fifty one.

    That piece has been recorded in many formats including symphony orchestras both here and in Europe and on various occasions by Ellington himself with his band - this happens to be one of my favourite versions of it.

    First of all I love the composition, I think it's one of the most outstanding musical compositions ever written, certainly (ever written) by Ellington.

    It's a through composed piece of material - and it is jazz, not a lot of improvisation in this piece because it's through composed.

    But the main thing about this - it is a great extended composition of jazz music - that only Ellington could do.

    I would encourage anyone to listen this, it happens to be my favourite version of it - and this a live performance in Paris in 1963.

    One of the things you should listen to this piece of music is the huge variety of time changes - the huge variety of harmonic changes - the huge variety of tonal colour - of shifting around.

    It's amazing how he could get such variety with fifteen musicians - it's unbelievable, but he managed to do that and that's why he's considered many the greatest - not only the greatest jazz composer of the twentieth century but the greatest composer of the twentieth century and this is coming from some serious classical musicians who feel that way - let alone jazz musicians who feel that way.

    The classical people are starting to say this is some new - material done in a highly sophisticated way that has never been done before - so that's why I wanted to talk about this record!

    It's like all great art - the more you listen, the more you look - the more you hear, the more you see - I never tire of hearing this.

Listen closely and something else reveals itself."