Barney Kessel
Background information
Born	(1923-10-17)October 17, 1923
Origin	Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA
Died	May 6, 2004(2004-05-06) (aged 80) San Diego
Genres	Jazz, pop
Occupations	Guitarist
Instruments	guitar
Years active	1940's–1992
Associated acts	Chico Marx, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Sonny Rollins, Phil Spector, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, The Wrecking Crew, many others

Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century,^[1] he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies. He was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions. Kessel was a member of the group of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew.

Biography[link]

Kessel began his career as a teenager touring with local dance bands before moving on to bands such as that led by Chico Marx. He quickly established himself as a key post-Charlie Christian jazz guitarist. In 1944 he participated in the film Jammin' the Blues, which featured Lester Young, and in 1947 he recorded with Charlie Parker's New Stars on the Relaxin' at Camarillo session for Dial Records. He is featured on the compilation Charlie Parker on Dial.^[2] He was rated the No. 1 guitarist in Esquire, Down Beat, and Playboy magazine polls between 1947 and 1960.^[3]

Barney Kessel is known for his innovative work in the guitar trio setting. In the 1950s, he made a series of albums called The Poll Winners with Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. He was also the prominent guitarist on Julie London's definitive recording of "Cry Me a River". Also from the '50s, his three Kessel Plays Standards volumes contain some of his most polished work.

Kessel was also a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown for a year, leaving in 1953. The guitar chair was called the hardest gig in show business since Peterson often liked to play at breakneck tempos. Herb Ellis took over from Kessel. Kessel also played with Sonny Rollins in the late '50s and can be heard on the Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders album on songs like "How High the Moon".

A "first call" guitarist at Columbia Pictures, during the 1960s Kessel became one of the most in-demand session guitarists in America, and is considered a key member of the group of first-call session musicians now usually known as The Wrecking Crew. In this capacity he played on hundreds of famous pop recordings including albums and singles by Phil Spector, The Beach Boys, The Monkees and many others. He appeared in an acting part playing a jazz guitarist named "Barney" in one episode of the Perry Mason TV show. He also wrote and arranged the source music, including a jazz version of "Here Comes the Bride", provided by the jazz combo that figured in the story.

In 1961 The Gibson Guitar Corporation introduced The Barney Kessel model guitar onto the market and continued to make them until 1973.

One custom instrument Kessel played was essentially a 12-string guitar neck attached to a mandolin body (similar to Vox's mando guitar), which may have been played on the intro to The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

He played Mister Spock's theme on bass, which first appeared in the Star Trek episode Amok Time.

During the 1970s, Kessel presented his seminar 'The Effective Guitarist' in various locations around the world, and he performed extensively with Ellis and Charlie Byrd as the "Great Guitars."

Kessel's sons David and Daniel also became session musicians, working with Phil Spector during the 1970s.^[4] He was married to B. J. Baker.

On Pete Townshend's 1983 album Scoop, Townshend paid homage to the guitarist with the instrumental song "To Barney Kessel".

Kessel died of a brain tumor in San Diego. He had been in poor health after suffering a stroke in 1992.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

Kessel playing a Guild guitar.

• Vol. 1: Easy Like (Contemporary 1953/1955)
• Vol. 2: Kessel Plays Standards (Contemporary 1954/1955)
• Vol. 3: To Swing or Not to Swing (Contemporary 1955) with Sweets Edison, Georgie Auld, Jimmy Rowles
• Music to Listen to Barney Kessel by (Contemporary 1956)
• The Poll Winners (Contemporary 1957) with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
• Let's Cook! (Contemporary 1957)
• The Poll Winners Ride Again (Contemporary 1958) with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
• Kessel plays Carmen (Contemporary 1958)
• The Poll Winners Three! (Contemporary 1959) with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
• Some Like It Hot (Contemporary 1959) with Art Pepper
• The Poll Winners – Exploring the Scene! (Contemporary 1960) with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
• Barney Kessel's Swingin' Party at Contemporary (Contemporary 1960)
• Bossa Nova (1962)
• Workin' Out with the Barney Kessel Quartet (Contemporary 1961)
• Feeling Free (Contemporary 1969) with Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones
• Autumn Leaves (Black Lion Records, 1969)
• The Poll Winners – Straight Ahead (Contemporary 1975) with Shelly Manne, Ray Brown
• Solo (Concord Records, 1981)
• Spontaneous Combustion (Contemporary 1987) with the Monty Alexander Trio
• Red Hot and Blues (Contemporary 1988) with Bobby Hutcherson, Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid, Ben Riley

As sideman[link]

With Milt Jackson

• Ballads & Blues (Atlantic, 1956)

With Oliver Nelson

• Soulful Brass with Steve Allen (Impulse!, 1968)

With Sonny Rollins

• Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders (Contemporary, 1958)

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Barney Kessel biography at Allmusic
• http://members.aol.com/kenbrowgtr/kessel.html
• "Barney Kessel". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8729480. Retrieved August 10, 2010. 

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

Herb Ellis
Background information
Birth name	Mitchell Herbert Ellis
Born	(1921-08-04)August 4, 1921 Farmersville, Texas United States
Died	March 28, 2010(2010-03-28) (aged 88) Los Angeles, California United States
Genres	Mainstream jazz Bebop Swing Cool jazz West Coast jazz
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1941–2010
Labels	Norgran Records
Associated acts	Charlie Byrd Johnny Frigo Oscar Peterson
Notable instruments
Herb Ellis ES-165

Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis (August 4, 1921^[1] – March 28, 2010^[2]) was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow^[3] as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a slight country twang to his sound."

Biography[link]

Born in Farmersville, Texas and raised in the suburbs of Dallas, Ellis first heard the electric guitar performed by George Barnes on a radio program. This experience is said to have inspired him to take up the guitar. He became proficient on the instrument by the time he entered North Texas State University as a music major. Ellis majored in music, but because they did not yet have a guitar program at that time, he studied the string bass. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, his college days were short lived. In 1941, Ellis dropped out of college and toured for 6 months with a band from the University of Kansas.

In 1943, he joined Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and it was with Gray's band that he got his first recognition in the jazz magazines. After Gray's band, Ellis joined the Jimmy Dorsey band where he played some of his first recorded solos. Ellis remained with Dorsey through 1947, traveling and recording extensively, and playing in dance halls and movie palaces. Then came a turnabout that would change Ellis's career forever. Then, as pianist Lou Carter told journalist Robert Dupuis in a 1996 interview, "The Dorsey band had a six-week hole in the schedule. The three of us had played together some with the big band. John Frigo, who had already left the band, knew the owner of the Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Buffalo. We went in there and stayed six months. And that's how the group the Soft Winds were born."

The Soft Winds group was fashioned after the Nat King Cole Trio. They stayed together until 1952. Ellis then joined the Oscar Peterson Trio (replacing Barney Kessel) in 1953, forming what Scott Yanow would later on refer to as "one of the most memorable of all the piano, guitar, and bass trios in jazz history".

Ellis became prominent after performing with the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1953 to 1958 along with pianist Peterson and bassist Ray Brown. He was a somewhat controversial member of the trio, because he was the only white person in the group in a time when racism was still very much widespread.

In addition to their great live and recorded work as the Oscar Peterson Trio, this unit served as the virtual "house rhythm section" for Norman Granz's Verve Records, supporting the likes of tenormen Ben Webster and Stan Getz, as well as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, and Sweets Edison and other jazz stalwarts. With drummer Buddy Rich, they were also the backing band for popular "comeback" albums by the duet of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

The trio were one of the mainstays of Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts as they swept the jazz world, almost constantly touring the United States and Europe. Ellis left the Peterson Trio in November 1958, to be replaced not by a guitarist, but by drummer Ed Thigpen. The years of 1959 through 1960 found Ellis touring with Ella Fitzgerald.

The three provided a stirring rendition of "Tenderly" as a jazz improvisational backdrop to John Hubley's 1958 cartoon The Tender Game, Storyboard Film's version of the age-old story of boy falling head over heels for girl.^[4]

With fellow jazz guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd and Tal Farlow, he created another ensemble, the Great Guitars.

Herb Ellis was also featured on the television show Sanford and Son accompanying Fred's singing.

Ellis gave cartoonist and The Far Side creator Gary Larson guitar lessons in exchange for the cover illustration for the album Doggin' Around (Concord, 1988) by Ellis and bassist Red Mitchell.

Ellis died of Alzheimer's disease at his Los Angeles home on the morning of March 28, 2010, at the age of 88.

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

As leader[link]

• Ellis in Wonderland (1956)
• I Love John Frigo...He Swings (1957)
• Nothing But the Blues (Verve, 1957) with Eldridge, Stan Getz, Peterson, Ray Brown, Stan Levey, Gus Johnson
• Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre (1959)
• Thank you Charlie Christian (1960)
• Softly... But With That Feeling (1962)
• The Midnight Roll (Epic, 1962), with Ray Bryant, Israel Crosby, Jimmy Rowser, Gus Johnson, Roy Eldridge, Frank Assunto, and Buddy Tate
• Jazz/Concord (Concord, 1972) with Joe Pass, Ray Brown, Jake Hanna
• Seven, Come Eleven (1973)
• Two for the Road (1974)
• Soft Shoe (Concord, 1974) with Harry Sweets Edison, George Duke
• Hot Tracks (Concord, 1975) with Sweets Edison, Plas Johnson, Monty Budwig, Jake Hanna
• Soft & Mellow (Concord, 1978)
• Hello Herbie (PA USA, 1981) with Oscar Peterson
• Doggin' Around (Concord, 1988) Duo with Red Mitchell
• Roll Call (Justice, 1991) with Melvin Rhyne
• An Evening with Herb Ellis (Jazz Focus, 1995) with Chuck Israels
• Joe's Blues (Laserlight, 1998) with Joe Pass

As sideman[link]

This section requires expansion.

With Mel Brown

• Chicken Fat (Impulse!, 1967)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Roy and Diz (Clef, 1954) - with Roy Eldridge
• For Musicians Only (Verve, 1956) - with Stan Getz and Sonny Stitt

With Gábor Szabó

• Wind, Sky and Diamonds (Impulse!, 1967)

With Oscar Peterson

• At The Stratford Shakespearean Festival

Honors[link]

• 1994 — Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame
• Nov 15, 1997 — Honorary Doctorate, University of North Texas College of Music

References[link]

External links[link]

• Herb Ellis at Find a Grave
• Herb Ellis on the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame website
• Another Bio
• Obituary – Los Angeles Times
• Obituary – New York Times
• Herb Ellis - Daily Telegraph obituary

Tal Farlow
Background information
Birth name	Talmage Holt Farlow
Born	June 7, 1921
Origin	Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Died	July 25, 1998 (aged 77), New York City, New York
Genres	Mainstream jazz, bebop, cool jazz
Occupations	Guitarist, Sign Painter
Instruments	Guitar
Associated acts	Red Norvo, Artie Shaw

Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", for his extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles, he is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Where other similar players of his day combined rhythmic chords with linear melodies, Farlow preferred placing single notes together in clusters, varying between harmonically richened tones based on a startling new technique.

Biography[link]

Farlow was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1921. Nearly as famous for his reluctance to perform publicly as for his outstanding abilities, he did not take up the instrument until he was 21, (actually, his father introduced him to the mandolin, which is tuned in fifths instead of fourths, where he showed Tal a few basic chords. from here he was self taught. He switched the a full size guitar as a teenager, around the time he started working as a sign painter(a fall back source of cash for many years). but within a year (by which is meant, after several years of working as a part time giging musician in his home town) was playing professionally and in 1948 was with Marjorie Hyams' band. While with the Red Norvo Trio (which originally included Charles Mingus) from 1949–1953, Farlow became famous in the jazz world. His huge hands and ability to play rapid yet light lines, which earned him the nickname "Octopus", made him one of the top guitarists of the era. After six months with Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five in 1953, Farlow put together his own group, which for a time included pianist Eddie Costa.

In 1958, Farlow retired from full-time performing and settled in Sea Bright, New Jersey, returning to a career as a sign painter. He continued to play occasional dates in local clubs, however.^[1] In 1962 the Gibson Guitar Corporation, with Farlow's participation, produced the "Tal Farlow" model in their prestigious Artist Model line. The guitar seen in the picture at right is a prototype model. The production model has a mandolin-style scroll at the top of the body.

Farlow only made one record as a leader during 1960–1975, but emerged a bit more often during 1976–1984, recording for Concord fairly regularly before largely disappearing again. He was profiled in the documentary film, Talmage Farlow, made in 1980/81. The guitarist can be heard on his records for Blue Note (a 10" LP in 1954), Norgran (later Verve, 1954–60), and Prestige (1969), aa well those for Concord. He died of cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City on July 25, 1998 at the age of 77.^[2]

Discography[link]

• The Tal Farlow Quartet (1954; Blue Note)
• The Tal Farlow Album (1954; Norgran)
• The Artistry of Tal Farlow (1955; Norgran)
• The Interpretations of Tal Farlow (1955; Norgran)
• A Recital by Tal Farlow (1955; Norgran)
• Swing Guitars (1955; Norgran)
• Poppin' and Burnin' (1955; Verve)
• Guitar Player (1974; Prestige)
• Tal (1956; Norgran)
• Fuerst Set (1956; Xanadu Records)
• Second Set (1956; Xanadu)
• Metronome All-Stars, 1956 Verve MGV 8030
• The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow (1957; Verve)
• This is Tal Farlow (1958; Verve)
• The Guitar Artistry of Tal Farlow (1960; Verve)
• Tal Farlow Plays the Music of Harold Arlen (1960; Verve)
• The Return of Tal Farlow (1969; Prestige Records)
• Trinity (1976; CBS Sony)
• A Sign of the Times (1977; Concord)
• Tal Farlow '78 (1978; Concord)
• On Stage (1981; Concord)
• Chromatic Palette (1981; Concord)
• Cookin' on all Burners (1983; Concord)
• The Legendary Tal Farlow (1985; Concord)
• All Strings Attached (1987; JazzVisions)
• Standards Recital (1993; FD Music)
• Project G-5: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (1993; Evidence Records)
• Jazz Masters 41 Tal Farlow (1995; Verve)
• Tal Farlow (1996; Giants of Jazz)
• Chance Meeting (1997; Guitarchives Tal Farlow & Lenny Breau - Music from the Soundtrack of Talmage Farlow.)
• Live at the Public Theatre (2000; Productions A-Propos The Tal Farlow Trio (with Tommy Flanagan & Red Mitchell - Music from the Soundtrack of Talmage Farlow.)
• Tal Farlow's Finest Hour (2001; Verve)
• Tal's Blues (2002; Past Perfect)
• Two Guys with Guitars (2004; Frozen Sky Records)
• The Complete Verve Tal Farlow Sessions (2004; Mosaic)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tal Farlow page at Allmusic
• [ Tal Farlow film site]
• [ Tal Farlow] at Find A Grave

Grant Green (St. Louis, Missouri, June 6, 1935 – New York, January 31, 1979; some sources erroneously give the birth year as 1931^[1]) was a jazz guitarist and composer.

Recording prolifically and almost exclusively for Blue Note Records (as both leader and sideman) Green performed well in hard bop, soul jazz, bebop and Latin-tinged settings throughout his career. Critics Michael Erlewine and Ron Wynn write, "A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar ... Green's playing is immediately recognizable -- perhaps more than any other guitarist."^[2] Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as "lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy".^[3] He often performed in an organ trio, a small group with an organ and drummer.

Apart from Charlie Christian, Green's primary influences were saxophonists, particularly Charlie Parker, and his approach was therefore almost exclusively linear rather than chordal. The simplicity and immediacy of Green's playing, which tended to avoid chromaticism, derived from his early work playing rhythm and blues and, although at his best he achieved a synthesis of this style with bop, he was essentially a blues guitarist and returned almost exclusively to this style in his later career.^[4] Green used a Gibson ES-330, then a Gibson L7 with a Gibson McCarty pickguard/pick-up, an Epiphone Emperor (with the same pick-up) and finally had a custom built D'Aquisto. George Benson said he would turn all the bass and treble off the amp, and max the midrange. This way he could get his signature punchy, biting tone.

Biography[link]

Green was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He first performed in a professional setting at the age of 12. His influences were Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker, Ike Quebec, Lester Young, Jimmy Raney, Jimmy Smith and Miles Davis, he first played boogie-woogie before moving on to jazz. His first recordings in St. Louis were with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest for the Delmark label. The drummer in the band was Elvin Jones, later the powerhouse behind John Coltrane. Grant recorded with Elvin again in the early Sixties. Lou Donaldson discovered Grant playing in a bar in St. Louis. After touring together with Donaldson, Grant arrived in New York around 1959-60.

Lou Donaldson introduced Grant to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records. Lion was so impressed with Grant that, rather than testing Grant as a sideman, as was the usual Blue Note practice, Lion arranged for him to record as a bandleader first. Green's initial recording session went unreleased until 2001, however, owing to a lack of confidence on Green's behalf. [1] [2]

Despite the shelving of his first session, Green's recording relationship with Lion and Blue Note was to last, with a few exceptions, throughout the Sixties. From 1961 to 1965, Grant made more appearances on Blue Note LPs, as leader or sideman, than anyone else. Grant's first issued album as a leader was Grant's First Stand. This was followed in the same year by Green Street and Grantstand. Grant was named best new star in the Down Beat critics' poll, 1962, and, as a result, his influence spread wider than New York. He often provided support to the other important musicians on Blue Note, including saxophonists Hank Mobley, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine and Harold Vick, as well as organist Larry Young.

Sunday Mornin' , The Latin Bit and Feelin' the Spirit are all loose concept albums, each taking a musical theme or style: Gospel, Latin and spirituals respectively. Grant always carried off his more commercial dates with artistic success during this period. Idle Moments (1963), featuring Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, and Solid (1964), featuring the Coltrane rhythm section, are acclaimed as two of Grant's best recordings.

Many of Grant's recordings were not released during his lifetime. These include Matador, in which Grant is once again in the heavyweight company of the Coltrane rhythm section, and a series of sessions with pianist Sonny Clark. In 1966 Grant left Blue Note and recorded for several other labels, including Verve. From 1967 to 1969 Grant was, for the most part, inactive due to personal problems and the effects of heroin addiction. In 1969 Grant returned with a new funk-influenced band. His recordings from this period include the commercially successful Green is Beautiful and the soundtrack to the film The Final Comedown. Grant was also a huge influence on guitarists, from George Benson to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Still to this day guitarists try to get his signature sound, Idle Moments is considered one of the top 100 jazz albums of all time.

Grant left Blue Note again in 1974 and the subsequent recordings he made with other labels divide opinion: some consider Green to have been the 'Father of Acid Jazz' (and his late recordings have been sampled by artists including US3, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy^[5]), whilst others have dismissed them (Michael Cuscuna wrote in the sleeve notes for the album Matador that "During the 1970s he made some pretty lame records").

Grant spent much of 1978 in hospital and, against the advice of doctors, went back on the road to earn some money. While in New York to play an engagement at George Benson's Breezin' Lounge, Grant collapsed in his car of a heart attack in New York City on January 31, 1979. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and was survived by six children. Since Green's demise, his reputation has grown to legendary status and many compilations of both his earlier (post-bop/straight ahead and soul jazz) and later (funkier/dancefloor jazz) periods, exist.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

Blue Note Records

Other labels

As sideman[link]

1959

• Jimmy Forrest - All the Gin Is Gone (Delmark)
• Jimmy Forrest - Black Forrest (Delmark)

1960

• Sam Lazar - Space Flight (Argo)
• Willie Dixon - Blues Roots Series, Vol. 12 (Chess)

1961

• Lou Donaldson - Here 'Tis (Blue Note)
• Baby Face Willette - Face to Face (Blue Note)
• Baby Face Willette - Stop and Listen (Blue Note)
• Brother Jack McDuff - The Honeydripper (Prestige)
• Stanley Turrentine - Up at "Minton's" (Blue Note)
• Dave Bailey - Reaching Out (Jazztime)
• Hank Mobley - Workout (Blue Note)
• Horace Parlan - Up & Down (Blue Note)
• Brother Jack McDuff - Steppin' Out (Prestige)
• Brother Jack McDuff - Goodnight, It's Time To Go (Prestige)
• Stanley Turrentine - ZT's Blues (Blue Note)
• Lou Donaldson - A Man with a Horn (Blue Note)
• Sonny Red/Grant Green/Barry Harris - The Mode (Jazzland)
• Sonny Red - Images (Jazzland)
• Ike Quebec - Blue and Sentimental (Blue Note)

1962

• Joe Carroll - Man with a Happy Sound (Charlie Parker Records)
• Dodo Greene - My Hour of Need (Blue Note)
• Don Wilkerson - Elder Don (Blue Note)
• Lou Donaldson - The Natural Soul (Blue Note)
• Don Wilkerson - Preach Brother! (Blue Note)

1963

• Lou Donaldson - Good Gracious! (Blue Note)
• Jimmy Smith - I'm Movin' On (Blue Note)
• Jimmy Smith - Special Guests (Blue Note Japan)
• Booker Ervin - Back from the Gig (Blue Note)
• Herbie Hancock - My Point of View (Blue Note)
• Horace Parlan - Happy Frame of Mind (Blue Note)
• "Big" John Patton - Along Came John (Blue Note)
• Gloria Coleman - Soul Sisters (Impulse!)
• Harold Vick - Steppin' Out! (Blue Note)
• "Big" John Patton - Blue John (Blue Note)
• Don Wilkerson - Shoutin' (Blue Note)
• George Braith - Two Souls in One (Blue Note)
• Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ of the Andes (Saba/MPS)
• George Braith - Soulstream (Blue Note)
• Bobby Hutcherson - The Kicker (Blue Note)

1964

• Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land (Blue Note)
• George Braith - Extension (Blue Note)
• "Big" John Patton - The Way I Feel (Blue Note)
• Larry Young - Into Somethin' (Blue Note)
• Donald Byrd - I'm Tryin' to Get Home (Blue Note)

1965

• Johnny Hodges/Wild Bill Davis - Joe's Blues (Verve)
• Grassella Oliphant - The Grass Is Greener (Atlantic)
• "Big" John Patton - Oh Baby! (Blue Note)
• Lou Donaldson - Musty Rusty (Cadet)
• Johnny Hodges/Wild Bill Davis - Wings and Things (Verve)
• "Big" John Patton - Let 'em Roll (Blue Note)

1966

• George Braith - Laughing Souls (Prestige)
• "Big" John Patton - Got a Good Thing Goin' (Blue Note)
• Art Blakey - Hold On, I'm Coming (Limelight)
• Stanley Turrentine - Rough 'n' Tumble (Blue Note)

1969

• Rusty Bryant - Returns (Prestige)
• Charles Kynard - The Soul Brotherhood (Prestige)
• Reuben Wilson - Love Bug (Blue Note)
• Don Patterson - Brother-4 (Prestige)
• Don Patterson - Donnybrook (Prestige)
• Don Patterson - Tune Up! (Prestige)

1970

• Charles Kynard - Afro-Disiac (Prestige)
• Fats Theus - Black Out (CTI)
• Houston Person - Person to Person! (Prestige)

1973

• Houston Person - The Real Thing (Eastbound)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Great Jazz Guitar Players: Grant Green
• Grant Green discography at MusicBrainz
• Grant Green Pages
• The Grant Green Tone
• Grant Green Discography Project
• Evergreen - Grant Green Tribute Page
• German Grant Green site with fully illustrated discography
• Grant Green discography with cover photos

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell in Buffalo, New York, 1977
Background information
Birth name	Kenneth Earl Burrell
Born	(1931-07-31) July 31, 1931 (age 80) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Bebop, cool jazz
Occupations	Guitarist
Instruments	Guitar, banjo, vocals
Years active	1951–present
Labels	Blue Note, Prestige, Verve, Fantasy

Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell (born July 31, 1931)^[1] is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.

Biography[link]

Burrell was born in Detroit, Michigan to a musical family and began playing guitar at the age of 12. His influences as a guitar player include Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Wes Montgomery. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his debut recording as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951. He toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956.^[1]

A consummate sideman, Burrell recorded with a wide range of prominent musicians. He also led his own groups since 1951 and recorded many well received albums.^[1]

In the 1970s he began leading seminars about music, particularly Duke Ellington's. A highly popular performer, he has won several jazz polls in Japan and the United Kingdom as well as the United States.

He has recorded about 106 albums, including Midnight Blue (1963), Blue Lights, Guitar Forms, Sunup To Sundown (1990), Soft Winds (1993), Then Along Came Kenny (1993), and Lotus Blossom (1995).

In 2001, Burrell performed "C Jam Blues" with Medeski, Martin & Wood for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

As of 1996, Burrell has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kalil Wilson.^[2] Burrell teaches a course entitled "Ellingtonia", examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington.

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

As leader[link]

• Introducing Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956)
• Kenny Burrell Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1956)
• Swingin' (Blue Note, 1956)
• All Night Long (Prestige, 1956)
• Two Guitars (Prestige, 1957)^[3]
• All Day Long (Prestige, 1957)
• Earthy (Prestige, 1957)
• Kenny Burrell (Prestige, 1957)
• K.B. Blues (Blue Note, 1957)
• Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (Prestige, 1958)
• Blue Lights Volume 1 (Blue Note, 1958)
• Blue Lights Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1958)
• On View at the Five Spot Cafe (Blue Note, 1959)
• A Night at the Vanguard (Argo, 1959)
• Weaver of Dreams (Columbia, 1960)
• Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1961)
• Bluesy Burrell (Moodsville, 1962)
• Blue Bash! (with Jimmy Smith) (Verve, 1963)
• Crash! (with Jack McDuff) (Prestige, 1963)
• Midnight Blue (Blue Note, 1963)
• Freedom (Blue Note, 1963)
• Soul Call (Prestige, 1964)
• Guitar Forms (Verve, 1965)
• The Tender Gender (Cadet, 1966)
• Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (Cadet 1967)
• Blues - the Common Ground (Verve, 1968)
• Asphalt Canyon Suite (Verve 1969)
• God Bless the Child (CTI, 1971)
• ‘Round Midnight (Fantasy, 1972)
• Ellington Is Forever (Fantasy, 1975–77)
• When Lights Are Low (1978)
• Moon and Sand (1979)
• Generation (Blue Note, 1986)
• Pieces of Blue and the Blues (Blue Note, 1988)
• Guiding Spirit (Contemporary, 1989)
• Sunup to Sundown (Contemporary, 1991)
• Lotus Blossom (Concord, 1995)
• Love is the Answer, featuring The Boys Choir of Harlem (Concord Concerto, 1998)
• *12-15-78 (32 Jazz, 1999)
• Introducing Kenny Burrell: The First Blue Note Sessions (2000)
• Lucky So and So (Concord Jazz, 2001)
• 75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note, 2007)
• Be Yourself: Live at Dizzy's (Highnote, 2010)

As sideman[link]

• Jazzmen of Detroit with Tommy Flanagan, Pepper Adams, Paul Chambers, Kenny Clarke (1956; Savoy Records)

With Bill Evans

• Quintessence (1972)

With Paul Chambers

• Whims of Chambers (1956)
• Bass on Top (1957)

With Terry Gibbs

• Take It from Me (Impulse!, 1964)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Dee Gee Days: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy, 1951-52 [1976])

With Eddie Harris

• Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway (Columbia, 1964)

With Milt Jackson

• Bags & Flutes (Atlantic, 1957)
• Bean Bags with Coleman Hawkins (Atlantic, 1958)
• Vibrations (Atlantic, 1960–61)
• Much in Common with Ray Brown (Verve, 1964)

With John Jenkins

• John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell (1957)

With Thad Jones

• Detroit-New York Junction (1956)

With Wynton Kelly

• Piano (1958)
• Comin' in the Back Door (1963)
• It's All Right! (1964)

With Hubert Laws

• Laws' Cause (Atlantic, 1968)

With Ike Quebec

• Soul Samba (1962)

With Freddie Roach

• Down to Earth (1962)
• Mo' Greens Please (1963)

With Charlie Rouse

• Bossa Nova Bacchanal (1962)

With Lalo Schifrin

• Once a Thief and Other Themes (Verve, 1965)

With Jimmy Smith

• House Party (1957)
• Softly as a Summer Breeze (Blue Note, 1958)
• Home Cookin' (1958–59)
• Midnight Special (1961)
• Back at the Chicken Shack (1963)

With Stanley Turrentine

• Jubilee Shout!!! (1962)
• Hustlin' (1964)
• The Sugar Man (1971)

With Kai Winding

• More (Theme from Mondo Cane) (Verve V-8551) (1963)

With Sonny Rollins

• Alfie (1966)

With Johnny Hartman

• I Just Dropped by to Say Hello (1964)

See also[link]

• Organ trio, a type of small jazz ensemble in which Burrell often performed

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kenny Burrell - Verve Records
• Jazz Legends- Jazz Improv Magazine