Kenny Burrell Plays Special Requests

Recorded live at Catalina's in Hollywood, Special Requests (And Other Favorites) on HighNote Records is the latest album by NEA JazzMaster Kenny Burrell. Its an auspicious career that started in 1951 with Dizzy Gillespie and has resulted in 108 records and CDs as stated by Bubba Jackson in the liner notes. On this release, he certainly shows no signs of slowing down in the least. It combines favorites and some audience requests (hence the title) and on this, Burrell is supported by a group that includes Justo Almario on tenor saxophone and flute; Tom Rainier on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Clayton Cameron on drums. It is a wonderful group that swings effortlessly. Almario specifically will certainly grab one's attention with his very robust saxophone and lyrical flute, and Rainier has a clean and fluid style.

Burrell throughout is terrific. His clean, deft and precise playing is laced with melodic invention and wonderful tone that matches well with his band from his opening notes on Benny Golson's Killer Joe (and Almario's tenor makes its first impression here" to his fresh reworking of his classic Chitlins Con Carne. There are his interpretations of Duke Ellington from the familiar In a Sentimental Mood, to the lesser known Sunset and the Mockingbird (from The Queen's Suite) along with an amiable vocal from Burrell on The Feeling of Jazz. There is the lovely rendition of Freddie Hubbard's Little Sunflower, with lovely flute from Almario, and Burrell plays his acoustic guitar on The Summer Knows. 

Other songs are standards like Make Someone Happy and Bye Bye Blackbird, as well as J.J. Johnson's Lament. Listening to Burrell's spoken comments at the end of this CD, where he talks about the late show, one might hope more from this night at Catalina’s by may be forthcoming.

I received my review copy from HighNote. Here is a video of Kenny in performance with Stevie Wonder as a surprise guest at Catalina's in 2011, a year before Special Requests was recorded.

Kenny Burrell Lively Guitar Remains True to Himself

Be Yourself: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (HighNote) is the latest recording by the great guitarist Kenny Burrell. It comes from a live performance at the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue with a group that includes Tivon Pennicott on tenor sax and flute; Benny Green on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums. This is a strong, what might have once been called, mainstream session, matching Burrell’s fleet and fluent lyricism with a strong rhythm section and Pennicott’s robust playing on a program of mostly jazz standards.

Pennicott’s sax and flute provide an energizing bite that can be reflected in Burrell’s playing on the solid rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s Raincheck, with a nice latin groove and Benny Green’s piano also sounding dynamic. Opening was a nice Tin Tin Deo, from the Dizzy Gillespie repertoire with Burrell sounding quite lyrical. Pennicott’s impressive flute playing is impressively featured on Burrell’s ballad, Listen to the Dawn, followed by the leader with some precious playing. This is followed by a lively rendition of Kenny Dorham’s classic Blue Bossa, with Pennicott and Burrell standing out and Cameron is outstanding pushing the groove and his use of dynamics especially in his use of brushes during his solo. Be Yourself is a solo guitar feature for the leader, while Bass Face, with a prancing melodic hook, was originally written by Burrell for Ray Brown and spotlights Washington here.

Pennicott is featured on Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood, and responds with some wonderful playing. Will Davis, a Detroit pianist, wrote Mark I, in the mid-fifties, and Burrell is scintillating on this. Burrell and the group close this with the classic Milt Jackson blues, Bag’s Groove. A solid hour plus of swinging bop-inflected jazz that is beautifully recorded. Be Yourself is a solid addition to Kenny Burrell’s formidable body of recordings.

This review was written originally for Jazz & Blues Report from whom I received the review copy.

Classic Witherspoon With MacShann

Jimmy Witherspoon is among my favorite singers in the blues and jazz realms, who was able to sound good in a variety of settings. His earliest recordings were made on the West Coast with Jay McShann in strong little big band combos while in latter years his recordings with Robben Ford impressed in their own vein. Few could handle material made famous by his hero Big Joe Turner as well as that of Jimmy Reed with equal conviction. The following review appeared in the April 2007 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 292).

Among the most recent releases in the Mosaic Singles series this classic 1957 recording by Jimmy Witherspoon with Jay McShann and His Band, Goin' to Kansas City Blues. Originally on RCA, I believe this has been on CD but undoubtedly deleted. Mosaic has made available the entire album with three other recordings from the sessions that had been issued on a French vinyl reissue.


Opening up with Jumpin’ the Blues from the pen of McShann and Charlie Parker, Witherspoon handles other McShann classics as Hootie Blues and Confessin’ the Blues, along with Until the Real Thing Comes Along, the classic ballad made famous by Andy Kirk’s Clouds of Joy along with the Joe Turner-Pete Johnson Piney Brown Blues. Witherspoon contributed a couple of originals, Rain is Such a Lonesome Sound and Blue Monday. He shines throughout backed by the swinging big little band McShann led. Others on the session included Kenny Burrell on guitar, Hilton Jefferson on alto sax, Seldon Powell on tenor sax, Al Sears or Hayward Henry on baritone sax, Emmett Berry or Ray Copeland on trumpet, J.C. Higginbotham on trombone, Gene Ramey on bass and Mousey Alexander on drums. Stereo masters were found for all but two of the thirteen songs heard here.


This is a most welcome reissue and available directly from mosaic at http://www.mosaicrecords.com/.

Ronnie Earl Spreads The Love

I first saw Ronnie Earl (Horvath) in 1978 when he was the guitarist with Sugar Ray & the Bluetones where they were backing J.B. Hutto at a New York club. At that time I bought an EP which included his rendition of some Earl Hooker number and his wonderful way with a guitar was evident then. In the years since he had a stint with Roomful of Blues before starting his own group, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, initially with vocalists, but increasingly oriented towards a straight instrumental focus. At the same time he collaborated on numerous recordings with a variety of blues greats and had such as Robert Lockwood guest on his own recordings. He is a dazzling guitarist who plays with a voice-like tone and can evoke mentors like Lockwood, Albert Collins and Guitar Slim while also displaying his awareness of the lessons of Grant green, Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery. I would be hard-pressed to think of another guitarist than can play straight blues, straight jazz and them a mix of the two that is so completely unforced, natural sounding.


His latest recording with the Broadcasters, “Spread the Love” (Stony Plain), was recorded in March 2010 with Dave Limina on keyboards, Jim Mouradian on bass and Lorne Entress on drums with Paul Kochanski playing bass on a couple selections, and Tim O’Connor and Jason James playing on “Blues For Slim.” From the opening moments of his take on Albert Collins’ “Backstroke,” to the last lingering country blues styled licks on “Blues For Bill,” one can be dazzled by Earl’s virtuosity yet soothed by his taste and soulfulness. “Blues For Donna” seems inspired by Lightnin’ Hopkins and one can almost Hopkins or Lowell Fulson singing “Lord have mercy, forgive me for my sins,” against his playing as he well spin of a cluster of notes and then a chord and a few riffs. His playing exhibits awareness of the lesson that Albert king that the silence and space between the notes say as much as what one plays.


Kenny Burrell’s “Chitlins’ Con Carne,” is given a lively reading with Limina sounding quite nice on organ and then followed by a moving version of Duke Pearson’s “Christo Redentor,” that was first on a Donald Byrd album. Blues fans will know of this from Charlie Musselwhite, but Earl is really wonderful here with his guitar sounding vocalized here against Lumina’s deep organ backing. This is a rendition that will certainly join the others as a classic performance. The trio of instrumentals, “Happy,” “patience,” and “Miracle,” are marvelous tone poems, followed by Lumina’s rollicking “Spann’s Groove,” which he sets the tone on piano playing some boogie-laced piano before Earl enters with responsive, rocking riffs and complimentary chords and then takes off with some explosive playing. My favorite blues instrumental here is “Blues For Slim,” which Earl builds upon the foundation that Eddie ‘Guitar Slim’ Jones, provide for “Things I Used To Do,” and while he evokes Slim’s playing, it is as inspiration as opposed to simply copying. Earl also gives Jones co-composing credits here.


Ronnie Earl can takes us from the alley up into the heavens with his playing. He can play with grit yet touch us in our hearts and soothe our minds. As Earl’s friend, Rev. Deborah J. Blanchard, states about when Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters play, they “spread the love when their soulful notes brush the hearts of all of us who gather to listen and receive.” The level of Ronnie Earl’s recordings is generally of such a consistently high level and the superb “Spread the Love,” is simply the latest demonstration of this.




Per FTC requirements, I received the review copy from the firm handling publicity for Stony Plain Records’

Witherspoon Goes TO KC

Mosaic Records has a well deserved reputation for superb boxed sets of many different giants of jazz. In recent years they have started new series of reissues including Mosaic Select, three CD sets by various artists (often underlooked) and most recently Mosaic Singles that makes available out-of-print classic albums.
Among the most recent releases in the Mosaic Singles series is a classic 1957 recording by Jimmy Witherspoon with Jay McShann and His Band, Goin’ to Kansas City Blues. Originally on RCA, I believe this has been on CD but undoubtedly deleted. Mosaic has made available the entire album with three other recordings from the sessions that had been issued on a French vinyl reissue. Opening up with Jumpin’ the Blues from the pen of McShann and Charlie Parker, Witherspoon handles other McShann classics as Hootie Blues and Confessin’ the Blues, along with Until the Real Thing Comes Along, the classic ballad made famous by Andy Kirk’s Clouds of Joy and the immortal celebration of a legend of KC night life by Joe Turner-Pete Johnson, Piney Brown Blues. Witherspoon contributed a couple of originals, Rain is Such a Lonesome Sound and Blue Monday. He shines throughout backed by the swinging big little band McShann led. Others on the session included Kenny Burrell on guitar, Hilton Jefferson on alto sax, Seldon Powell on tenor sax, Al Sears or Hayward Henry on baritone sax, Emmett Berry or Ray Copeland on trumpet, J.C. Higginbotham on trombone, Gene Ramey on bass and Mousey Alexander on drums. Stereo masters were found for all but two of the thirteen songs heard here. This is a most welcome reissue and available directly from Mosaic at http://www.mosaicrecords.com.

This is an edited version of my review that first appeared in Jazz & Blues Report. www.jazz-blues.com.