Gary Burton (b. January 23, 1943, Anderson, Indiana) is an American jazz vibraphonist.
A true original 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 are widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in jazz education.
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.[1]
Biography
Beginning music at six years old, Burton for the most part taught himself to play marimba and vibraphone. He also began studying piano at age sixteen as he finished high school in Princeton, IN (56-60). Burton has cited jazz pianist Bill Evans as a main inspiration for his approach toward the vibraphone.
Burton attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston in 1960-61. He studied with Herb Pomeroy and soon befriended the composer and arranger Michael Gibbs. After establishing his career during the 1960s, he returned to join the staff of Berklee from 1971-2004, serving first as Professor, then Dean and finally as Executive Vice President during his last decade at the college.
Early in his career, at the behest of noted Nashville saxophonist Boots Randolph, Burton moved to Nashville and recorded with several notable Nashville musicians including guitarist Hank Garland, pianist Floyd Cramer and guitarist Chet Atkins.
After touring both the U.S. and Japan with pianist George Shearing in 1963, Burton went on to play with saxophonist Stan Getz from 1964-1966. In 1967 he formed the Gary Burton Quartet along with guitarist Larry Coryell, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Steve Swallow. Predating the jazz-rock fusion craze of the 1970s, the group's first record, Duster, combined jazz, country and rock and roll elements. However, some of Burton's previous albums (notably Tennessee Firebird and Time Machine, both from 1966) had already shown his inclination toward such experimentation with different genres of popular music. After Coryell left the quartet in the late-1960s, Burton hired a number of well-regarded guitarists: Jerry Hahn, David Pritchard, Mick Goodrick, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and most recently Julian Lage, who played guitar in Burton's 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 format of jazz duet performance. Their half dozen recordings won the pair Grammy awards in years 1979, 1981, 1997, 1999, and most recently in 2009, for "The New Crystal Silence."
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, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Tommy Smith, Eberhard Weber, Stephane Grappelli and tango legend Ástor Piazzolla, to name just a few.
FAMILY HISTORY: Following an early marriage in his 20's, Burton married for a second time in 1975 to Catherine Goldwyn, granddaughter of movie legend Samuel Goldwyn. Together for nearly a decade, the couple had two children, a daughter Stephanie born in '78, and a son, Sam, in '80. In the mid-80's, Burton came out as a gay man during a radio interview on Terri Gross's "Fresh Air" radio show on NPR. For the past five years, he has lived in Florida with his life partner, Jonathan Chong,
Recent activity: From 2004-2008 Burton hosted a weekly jazz radio show on on Sirius Satellite Radio. From September 2006 - April 2008, Burton toured worldwide with Chick Corea celebrating 35 years of working together. Most recently Burton has toured and recorded with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, and Antonio Sanchez (The Gary Burton Quartet Revisited), reprising music from the 70's era of Burton's group.
Burton's available recordings, as of 2009, are mainly those from Atlantic Records, ECM Records, GRP Records and the Concord Jazz label, his current record company.
Selected discography
- After the Riot at Newport (1960)
- New Vibe Man in Town (RCA, 1961)
- Who Is Gary Burton? (RCA, 1962)
- Bob Brookmeyer and Friends (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) with Stephane Grappelli
- 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)
- Native Sense with Chick Corea (1997)
- Like Minds with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland (1998)
- Alone At Last (solo album/CD) Live- cuts 1-3 @ Montreaux Jazz Festival 1971-, Studio- cuts 4-7. (32jazz, 1999)
- 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)
- L'Hymne a l'Amour (2007) with Richard Galliano
- "The New Crystal Silence" (Concord Jazz 2008) with Chick Corea
- "Quartet Live" (Concord Jazz 2009) with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, Antonio Sanchez
Awards
Over the years, Gary Burton has been nominated for 15 Grammy Awards and he has won 6:
See also
References
External links
